The Meaning Of The American Dream In The Great Gatsby

Sandra Marcushamer
Ms. O’Connell
English II CP
Period 3
December 5, 2014 A Change In Promise

The American Dream is an ideal that has been present in the majority of American literature including The Great Gatsby. Although this phrase has become a cliché we sometimes put it into use without knowing the meaning. What exactly does this famous American Dream mean? Some might say that it is a journey to wealth and prosperity, while others might say that it is nothing else but the beautiful promise of settling down, having children, being able to provide for your family, and basically living a pleasant worry-free life. However, over time, the original expedition for resolution and freedom has evolved into a continuing

By the sumptuous parties that Gatsby throws often, they denote the corruption of the American dream demonstrating the unreserved desire for money and pleasure. “The bar is in full swing, and floating rounds of cocktails permeate the garden outside, until the air is alive with chatter and laughter, and casual innuendo and introductions forgotten on the spot, and enthusiastic meetings between women who never knew each other’s names (pg. 40). ” The fundamental perception that the American Dream can be achieved by anyone as long as they work hard turns out to be only an illusion intended for people to seek. The quote mentioned exhibits the notion of carelessness of the people throughout that whole book, proving that the once high standards of the American Dream have increasingly dropped. This division is summarized in Mr. Klipspringer’s song, “One thing’s sure and nothing’s surer. The rich get richer and the poor get children (pg. 95).

J.Eckleburg’s advertisement is a metaphor that God is watching over people who have gone beyond his grace. The eyes symbolize the loss of spiritual values in America. The billboard put up to promote the business of an optometrist, symbolize the growing commercialism of America. Tom Buchanan an example of a man whose success is measured in terms of how much money he is worth, not on what kind of person he is morally. The billboard, like the spiritual values of America, is abandoned. The old-fashioned ethics of America, which Nick Carraway goes back, to associate with in the mid-West are completely nonexistent from the East. God seems to have left America, leaving only Dr. T.J. Eckleburg to glare down with his empty eyes on people who have forsaken their spiritual values in the quest to achieve material