What Is The Illusion Of The American Dream In The Great Gatsby

Jay Gatsby is a fabrication of a young boys dreams that evolved into a functioning illusion. As a child James Gatz knew that he was destined for more, he wanted the American Dream. The American Dream is the idea that anyone in America has the ability to achieve wealth and status, even people from the poorest of backgrounds. James Gatz grew up on an unsuccessful farm and his parents were quite poor but “Jimmy was bound to get ahead.” (173) His father was aware of his regimented lifestyle from a young age and it seems obvious to him that child who was so extremely self regulated would be able to achieve The American Dream. Though, sadly the façade of that dream led him down a path of immoral actions and creation of a false life. The illusion

As a newly rich person with money to spend Gatsby decides to throw elaborate parties all in the hopes that Daisy will eventually wander in. The people who show up are unaware of their true purpose and enjoy their nights of drinking and glamour. “Why, my God! They used to go there by the hundreds.” (175) The many people who poured into Gatsby’s parties were from a variety of backgrounds and ranged anywhere from celebrities to the homeless. The hundreds of people who would always show up seem to be a sign of a very well connected man with a lot of friends but in reality “Sometimes they came and went without having met Gatsby at all.” (44) Gatsby created the appearance of being well connected and aloof but his fault was in the lack of real connections he actually made. It can be difficult to create good relationship on the basis of a lie. Part of the American Dream is the status and friends that come with it and though it seems Gatsby was successful in this part of the dream, no one truly cared for him or connected with him other than Nick. Gatsby’s took an immoral route to reach the American Dream then created an illusion to cover for it which he justified by his need to reach his goals. This propelled the cyclical loop of immoral actions and illusions all entirely

Gatsby’s main intention throughout his adulthood is to get Daisy so he uses Nick as a cousin of Daisy’s as a route to this goal. Gatsby has always looked up to people from old money and believes they are superior, he thought that if he told Nick he was one of these old money people it would create the trust necessary for Nick to set up a meeting between the Gatsby and Daisy. Gatsby justifies this blatant lie by convincing himself that his love for Daisy is more important than any moral compass. This meeting begins the spiral of events that leads to the corruption of morals from every character involved, leading them to create illusions to camouflage their immoral actions which propels the spiral. After their first interaction Daisy and Gatsby begin their affair. As a married woman it is cheating for Daisy to act on her feelings for Gatsby and wrong for Gatsby to pursue a woman who he knows is married. Even Nick succumbs to breaking his morals as he sets up a meeting for the two with full knowledge of their intentions and Jordan for encouraging him to follow Gatsby’s plan. Aware of the part he is playing in enabling an affair Nick cannot claim superior morals over the rest of the group. It is not only Daisy’s affair he knows about; Tom’s infidelity was also revealed to him early on. With knowledge of Tom’s affair, he can create a justification for helping Daisy, since