False Assumptions Of The American Dream
In the novel The Great Gatsby (1925) by F. Scott Fitzgerald, we hear a story about Jay Gatsby through the eyes of a war veteran Nick Carraway. This novel is set just after the first World War, as the roaring twenties began. The novel itself portrays the American dream in a very unique way. The novel shows how unrealistic it was to get the “ideal” American dream back in the 1920’s. The themes of wealth, dreams and time all relate to each other in the novel. Throughout the story we all see the characters chasing three main things money, power, and respect. The Great Gatsby’s main characters are divided among three social classes: the wealthy elite social class, the newly rich social class, and the working class. In the novel, we see a clash between “old money” and “new money” manifests itself. While we also see privilege mistreat the poor repeatedly. The characters in the Great Gatsby show how it is impossible to truly have the so-called American dream. Which is having a very nice house, car, job and significant other and being truly satisfied with those things alone?
Jay Gatsby
In the Great Gatsby, we see how rich and successful Jay Gatsby really is. The parties are always nice and full of people and the house is huge. Jay Gatsby uses his money to throw extravagant parties, with the purpose of attracting Daisy’s interest. The parties are spectacular with orchestras and bars filled with guns, liquor, and cordials, despite the Prohibition (Fitzgerald 43). Gatsby’s parties are evidence of the fact that his wealth is a useful tool to win back his true love Daisy. According to Selvi Bunce, Gatsby was consumed with wealth and social status. The author explains how the top social classes view each other and how consumed they are with appearances. Bunce explains how Gatsby comes from a very poor family and desires more for himself. He is in love with Daisy, however, he does illegal things in order to have wealth and that is extremely to risky for Daisy. Daisy could never be with Gatsby after she realizes how he makes his money. As Hanzo stated in the text Gatsby is focused mainly on gaining money and power. In order to get the life he wanted for himself he first had to have the money and then had to demand the power. Gatsby focused on getting the perfect life he had always imagined with Daisy. However, as stated in the text Gatsby knew he had to be very high up socially and financially in order to get Daisy. Therefore, Gatsby chased after money and social status and would do whatever it took to reach the top in order to impress Daisy. She knew he would eventually get caught and would no longer be able to provide the lavish lifestyle she desires. Therefore, Daisy stayed with Tom knowing she would forever be taken care of financially. That hurt Gatsby the most knowing the one major thing he wanted he could never have which was Daisy. Gatsby had it all it seemed like the nicest clothes, cars, and the huge house however that wasn't enough if he didn't have Daisy. All of those things just provided Gatsby with temporary happiness. Although Gatsby had a great amount of fortune it didn't mean a thing without Daisy. Gatsby had everything you could possibly want when you think of the American dream yet he still wasn't satisfied because he couldn't have Daisy.
Tom Buchanan
We also see that the American Dream doesn't satisfy people when Tom Buchanan cheats on Daisy. Tom is old money and has everything that he could possibly want. Tom and Daisy Buchanan are the typical residents of the East Egg as they have been wealthy and possess the freedom that comes along with it. They are described as people without any future purpose drift: “here and there unrestful wherever people played polo and were rich together” (Fitzgerald 13). Which meant they worked for nothing and just lived life day by day with no real worries, unlike Gatsby. Although Tom had money he still felt the need to show his wealth and power to those who have less than him. He feels the need to show his power to his mechanic Wilson, who is the husband of his mistress Myrtle. Wilson wants Gatsby to buy a car from him but Gatsby delays the process because he knows it is important to Wilson and to demonstrate the power he holds. This goes to show Tom not only has an endless amount of money, an extremely nice house, and a beautiful wife. However, He still can't find happiness in all of those things alone so he turns to cheat on Daisy with Myrtle. Tom found someone from the lowest of social classes to satisfy him since everything else he had wasn't good enough in his eyes.
Daisy Buchanan
In the book, we also see how Daisy is never satisfied with the life she has with Tom. Tom provides Daisy with anything she could possibly want such an extravagant lifestyle. If Daisy was to choose Gatsby then she would lose her belonging to the superior breed which is wealthy and she is unwilling to sacrifice that because that is all she has ever known. When Daisy figures out what Gatsby does for a living she immediately distances herself from him, and nothing he says can ever change it. When Fitzgerald separates Gatsby and Daisy he stresses the importance of social status, as Daisy is unable to accept the negative impact of her social status that staying with Gatsby could mean. Although Daisy is deeply in love with Jay the whole time she will never leave the financial comfort Tom provides her. As stated by Lance automobiles are some of the major components when it comes to social class in “The Great Gatsby”. Majority of the characters have a huge obsession with having the nicest things such as the nicest automobiles. These material items will represent their wealth and social status throughout the text. Not only do the automobiles themselves represent social class but their color does as well. Gatsby believes if he has the nicest things then it will ensure Daisy's love for him. In fact, we see that is not in fact true Daisy is with Tom Buchanan and he has the nicest of the nicest things. However, we know that she is truly in love with Gatsby but she stays with Tom for the financial aspect. This goes to show that having all the nice things still didn't make Daisy happy because her heart truly loaned for Jay Gatsby her first true love.
Conclusion
The American dream is the dream is the idea that every US citizen should have an equal opportunity to achieve success and prosperity through hard work, determination, and initiative. This is what many people aim for and work towards during their lifetime with the idea that happiness follows behind it. However, the characters in The Great Gatsby show how that is completely false. The characters show that no matter how much wealth or power you obtain you will always want something that you can't have. Whether that something is a person, car, or house you will never truly be fulfilled with it. The characters constantly battled with being the best and having the nicest things and used that to their advantage when they searched for things to fulfill that happiness they searched for.