What does the American Dream mean to you ? To F. Scott Fitzgerald the author of The Great
Gatsby , the American dream has been corrupted. The dream has been transformed from security and
happiness into a state of materialistic power and immorality. Fitzgerald’s tragic story of a young dreamer, is
modeled after the way the American dream is now lost forever to the American people.
As David Trask asserts in his essay “the American dream consists of the belief sometimes thought
as a promise that people of talent in this land of opportunity and plenty could reasonably aspire to material
success if they adhered to a fairly well defined set of behavioral rules” (Trask essay) Ever since Jay Gatsby
was young he was determined to work hard and reach his dreams. This determination is documented in his
“Hopalong Cassidy” journal. Gatsby’s father shows Nick this book and tells him, “Jimmy was bound to
get ahead , do you notice what he’s got about improving his mind” (Fitzgerald 182). This journal and
Gatsby’s everlasting quest for self-improvement is an example of the American Dream. Gatsby’s long life
dream was to relive the love he had once shared with Daisy Buchanan. Daisy in reality has become a person
whose only passion in life is money and keeping her upper class status.
Gatsby partners up with a man named Meyer Wolfshien to sell illegal bonds and alcohol (bootlegging).
since Gatsby’s only goal is to make money to impress Daisy he has no remorse for being technically a
criminal. Gatsby’s use of illegal practices and underground connections to gain his fortune are all
signs of an unknowingly corrupted American Dream.
Tom and Daisy represented a class of heartless citizens who have reached success at the expense
of dehumanization. Their great wealth blocked out all inspiration and all true emotion , resulting in a void
of responsibility due to status and power. Towards the end of the novel Fitzgerald creates a sense of
hopelessness to prove that the American Dream is dead, with examples of Daisy’s death, and Wilson’s
Suicide. When Daisy introduces her daughter to Gatsby, nick notices an obvious attitude change.
Nick thinks to himself “I don’t think he has really believed in it’s (Daisy’s daughter) existence before”
(Fitzgerald 123). Daisy refers to her daughter as an “absolute dream” crushing any hopes any hopes of
Gatsby recreating the past. When Gatsby dies any hope of the modern American dream has of surviving in
the new corrupt, money hungry world dies with him. When George Wilson commits suicide, the hope of
the true hard working man making it in the new corrupt world drift away with his soul.
With the story of Gatsby’s tragic idealistic love, Fitzgerald simultaneously shows the end of
American values. The American dream has been forever forgotten by human greed and the love for money.
Works cited.
Primary Source
Fitzgerald, F. Scott. The Great Gatsby
New York: Simon & Schuster , 1995
Secondary source
Trask, David F. Great Gatsby Essay
