The American Nightmare

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“Life, Liberty, and the pursuit of Happiness” are the founding rights by which the beautiful and awe-inspiring country that is the United States of America was founded upon. These rights sprouted hope and aspiration’s to reach the glorious and golden concept of the American Dream of equality, democracy, and material prosperity, but the gold is but a mere gilding obscuring the hidden and unobtainable natures of the American Dream. Jay Gatsby, in F. Scott Fitzgerald’s American classic The Great Gatsby, is a self-made millionaire that ultimately pays the price of achieving the American Dream with his life, both physically and emotionally. The life that Gatsby experiences in his pursuit of material prosperity reflects both the lives of those in modern America who have reached or want to reach the American Dream. Gatsby’s desire to reach the wrongfully coveted American Dream is brought about with his romantic obsession with Daisy Buchanan, a woman he had relationship with before leaving for World War I. Gatsby correctly knew that he needed money to be able to court with Daisy, who is from a wealthy family, so he put into place his perusal of prosperity. Many Americans today, like Gatsby, believe that money is the key to the door leading to a life full of happiness, love, and wonder. Americans enter careers, jobs, and investments that do not suit them in the slightest in an attempt to reach this goal of the seemingly golden lifestyle of celebrities and entrepreneurs. The fame that comes from being a celebrity or entrepreneur does not render them immune from ridicule, speculations, loneliness, or exploit. Those chasing the American Dream may see this end goal of becoming wealthy enough for all of their problems to disappear, but this ... ... middle of paper ... ...happy. In Gatsby’s effort to reach happiness and love, his life becomes the embodiment of the American man striving to reach the top to live a better life that he was promised and the man who now realizes the top is not as great as it seemed when he was climbing the social and economic ladder. Fitzgerald shows us that the American Dream, while very possible to obtain by anyone from any background, is actually just a small golden nugget covered by fields of sand and mud that hide what little value there truly is. The American Dream is not as great as it once was; it has been sullied and corrupted past the point of desirability. Best put into perspective by George Carlin, "The reason they call it the American Dream is because you have to be asleep to believe it." Works Cited Fitzgerald, F Scott. The Great Gatsby. New York: Scribner Paperback Fiction, 1925. Print.

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