America has always been viewed as the “land of opportunity. ” Fueling this vision is the American Dream, the belief that someone on a low social or economic level can achieve prosperity or fame through hard work and determination. This dream of success, despite gender, race or class, became extremely prominent in America in the beginning of the twentieth century. The Great Gatsby, by F. Scott Fitzgerald, explores the American Dream and its authenticity. Fitzgerald satirizes the dream and illustrates how the pursuit of wealth could lead to corruption and destruction through characters, ymbols and locations in the story.
Many characters in The Great Gatsby wished to pursue the American Dream. The way in which they tried to do so however, was not through honest and hard-working means. This would prove to be detrimental to the lives of the characters who sought wealth and fame. Myrtle Wilson was one such person who was extremely materialistic and obsessed with being at the top of the social and economic ladder. She resented her husband, George, because “He borrowed somebody’s best suit to get married in” (Fitzgerald, 37), and embodied the hard- working American who struggled to make a living.
This is why Myrtle had an affair with the “rich and famous” Tom Buchanan. Tom’s money and power were attracting to Myrtle, and she so deeply desired to attain an upper-class status. To her, Tom’s fancy cars, clothing and house represented the ideal form of the American Dream. Myrtle’s affair with money had gotten herself killed and caused the grief-stricken Wilson to shoot Gatsby and himself. Most characters in the story were not interested in pursuing the American Dream in a self-sufficient and hard- working way. The pursuit of the American Dream had destroyed elationships and lives of many people in the story.
Another character who was corrupted by the dream was Daisy Buchanan. Daisy thought she had everything she could have hoped for; wealth, power, love and happiness. As the story progresses however, she learns that all she really has is money and a high status. By marrying Tom, Daisy believed that she would live the American dream but realized that she was lacking true love and happiness in her relationship. This discovery is introduced when Nick is told by Daisy that “I’m glad it’s a girl. And I hope she’ll be a fool – that’s the best thing a girl can be in his world, a beautiful fool” (Fitzgerald, 22).
She admitted that she was fooled into marrying Tom and that his wealth and power blinded her from the most important thing in life: happiness. When Daisy reunites with Gatsby and is brought to his house, she breaks down in tears when seeing the English shirts. Sobbing, she said, “They’re such beautiful shirts, it makes me sad because I’ve never seen such – such beautiful shirts before” (Fitzgerald, 89). Daisy finally figured she married Tom for the money, and that if she was with Gatsby, she could have had his money but also his love. Daisy’s story ends with her unhappily moving with Tom from their home in New York.
Through a multitude of characters, Fitzgerald criticizes how people chased money, instead of looking for love and happiness. Gatsby’s quest for wealth and fame is most prominently depicted in the green light. The light that Gatsby reaches out towards symbolizes his dream of having Daisy. Gatsby though, is more obsessed with what Daisy represents than who she is as an individual. Daisy portrays the American Dream for Gatsby, something that he has been chasing since his humble beginning in North Dakota. The green light was at first so bright and exciting to Gatsby, and Daisy was the way in which he could achieve the American Dream.
Although Gatsby was wealthy without Daisy, he was still looking for a bridge to connect him to the upper-class society. In chapter six, Gatsby’s desperation to be accepted by others of the wealthy class was highlighted by the scene with the Sloanes. Therefore, Gatsby was in love with what Daisy could give him. Of course, Gatsby was unaware at first of his true intentions for reuniting with Daisy. This is why he was so disappointed with her at the end of the story; because e realized it is not her who he truly wants. His dream came crashing down when he discovered that his life has been dedicated to something so greedy and materialistic.
It is almost as if Gatsby wanted to be in love with Daisy, but was by his drive for wealth and status. Nick, the narrator observes this in the very last lines of the book. “I thought of Gatsby’s wonder when he first picked out the green light at the end of Daisy’s dock. He had come a long way to this blue lawn and his dream must have seemed so close that he could hardly fail to grasp it. He did not know that it was already behind im” (Fitzgerald 153). He says that when Gatsby realized that his dreams were behind him, the green light lost all of its meaning and it was just a light at the end of a dock.
Gatsby’s chase of the American Dream, which was essentially non existent to Fitzgerald, had taken the true meaning out of Gatsby’s life. In addition to showing how the underlying causes for pursuing American Dream were corrupted, Fitzgerald wanted to prove that it did not really exist. This was best illustrated by the setting of the story. The Valley of Ashes, where the Wilsons lived, was n extremely poor town where the industrial waste from the city was dumped. Everyone in the town worked extremely hard, yet continued to live in misery and destitution.
The Valley of Ashes represents the failure of the American Dream and is a place where the lower classes of society were neglected and forgotten. “A white ashen dust veiled his dark suit and his pale hair as it veiled everything in the vicinity–except his wife, who moved close to Tom” (Fitzgerald, 17). This quote shows that everyone in the town was covered with darkness and that no one had contact with money or power, except Myrtle. The Valley come of Ashes is a depressing place that symbolizes the idea, according to Fitzgerald, that the American Dream is dead.
The author further satirizes the dream by showing that the only character who tried to achieve prosperity by working hard and being honest, Wilson, was from the Valley of Ashes and wound up dead. Another geographical reference to the American Dream was the separation of East Egg and West Egg. East Egg was where the people with “old money” lived; a place of high social status and refinement. West Egg, in contrast, was where people with “new money” came to spend their wealth in idiculous ways. An important goal of the American Dream is to be accepted into a higher class of society, something that Gatsby struggled and failed to do.
Fitzgerald uses the setting of the story to satirize how no matter how hard people work or no matter the wealth acquired, they may not be accepted into the higher rungs of society. Therefore, there is no American Dream. Throughout The Great Gatsby, the theme of the American Dream is very prominent. Fitzgerald satirizes the dream in the novel, and shows that its pursuit could lead to terrible things. Characters such as Daisy, Gatsby and Myrtle have their lives estroyed by trying to chase something materialistic.
They failed to focus on achieving happiness in their lives and were blinded by the money and fame. Symbols and locations in the story also ridiculed the American Dream, and suggested that it could not be achieved. Many people in the 1920s found Fitzgerald’s strong opinion on the social and economic realities of America quite intriguing. For many lower class men and women, this novel attacked the only hope they had in having a succesful life. However, others agreed with Fitzgerald that the statement, “Ameirca, the land of oppurtunity,” was only partly true.