Corrupting the American Dream in The Great Gatsby” by F. Scott Fitzgerald

Failure in The Great Gatsby In Fitzgerald's The Great Gatsby, all the characters are, in one way or another, attempting to become happier with their lives. The characters in the novel are divided into two groups: the rich upper class and the poorer lower class(West egg and East egg) though the main characters only try to make their lives better, the American dream they are all trying to achieve is eventually ruined by the harsh reality or life. Tom and Daisy Buchanan, the rich couple, seem to have everything they could possibly want. Though their lives are full of anything you could imagine, they are unhappy and seek to change, Tom drifts on "forever seeking a little wistfully for the dramatic turbulence of some irrecoverable football game"(pg. 10) and reads "deep books with long words in them"(pg. 17) just so he has something to talk about.

Daisy Buchanan in The Great Gatsby is a character introduced as “passive, security-minded and pragmatic” who lacks the gall to leave her husband for Jay Gatsby. Although she does not own Gatsby, Daisy appears to possess ownership of him as it is argued in, Psychological Politics of the American Dream, that women are treated as commodities traded among men, however this fails to account for the fact that Daisy is equally as manipulative as Tom specifically towards Gatsby. Once the truth about Gatsby is revealed, Daisy beings “drawing further and further into herself” as the illusion of a new, wealthy life with Gatsby is shattered.

Characters in The Great Gatsby written by F. Scott Fitzgerald are often described differently than they actually act throughout the novel. In the beginning of the novel, Daisy is told to be “by far the most popular of all the young girls in Louisville”. She was said to have great beauty, and its even said that she holds her popularity spot because of it. She is also described as a “fool” which means she is beautiful, just like an angel. As we read on, we come to see that Daisy is actually very careless, selfish, and only focuses herself on wealth and power. She never looked at the consequences of her actions; and she let others clean up the messes she made. She wanted her daughter to grow up just like her, even though it’s a life nobody wanted to live. She even gave up her true love to be with somebody who had money and a good repetition. As perceived in the novel, Daisy is the most despicable character in the novel of The Great Gatsby.

The Great Gatsby, by F. Scott Fitzgerald, may at first glance resemble a story of unrequited love. However, closer examination reveals the work to be much more than that. The Great Gatsby is a story about The American Dream and the moral corruption that sometimes occurred in the pursuit of that dream. The American Dream has been described as being the pursuit of happiness while maintaining strong moral values. However,as Fitzgerald vividly portrays, The American Dream seems to have become the pursuit of wealth accompanied by extreme moral decay. Greed and selfish pleasure are the focal points of the book as portrayed by the interactions of Jay Gatsby and Daisy Buchanan.

The American dream has an inspiring connotation, often associated with the pursuit of happiness, to compel the average citizen to prosper. In Fitzgerald’s novel, The Great Gatsby, Jay Gatsby’s infatuation for Daisy drives him towards wealth in order to respark his love. Due to Daisy’s rich background, the traditional idea of love becomes skewed because of the materialistic mindsets of people in the 1920s. In the novel the wealthy are further stratified into two social classes creating a barrier between the elite and the “dreamers”. Throughout the novel, the idea of the American dream as a fresh start fails. As Nick, the narrator, spends time in New York, he realizes the corruption pursuing goals. Characters such as Gatsby and Myrtle constantly strive toward an the American dream, which Nick realizes to be fruitless in the end.

Gatsby spent his entire life working up from poverty and finding ways to gain wealth. Through becoming an officer, he meets Daisy, but cannot have her until he can provide for her. This causes him to leave her in order to become wealthy, but as he does this, Daisy marries Tom, not for love, but for money. Even when Gatsby returns, Daisy still has trouble leaving Tom and telling him how she really feels. Perhaps this is because it is so sudden, which also shows how the male characters easily persuade female characters. Daisy had been with Tom for years and now Gatsby shows up, even eats lunch with Tom which is ironic, but expects Daisy to just walk away as if it’s not a big deal. “Tom was feeling the hot whips of panic. His wife and his mistress, until an hour ago secure and inviolate, were slipping precipitately from his control,” (131). This is when Tom begins to realize that he’s losing Daisy, but the important aspect of this situation is what Daisy is trying to get out of this and how the men can easily affect the women. After Daisy allows Jay to get blamed for the murder, and destroy his name for her, it shows how she had never cared about anyone but herself. She might have enjoyed spending time with Gatsby, but if he didn’t have the money that he did, she wouldn’t have even looked at him. Once Gatsby has this power, he is able to pressure Daisy into leaving her

...s with all of the parties and the pursuit of wealth, power, and pleasure in an era of change. The novel shows the relationship of Gatsby and Daisy as a symbol of this pursuit of wealth, power, and pleasure. The reader sees the pursuit of wealth through Daisy wanting Gatsby and Tom, both of whom have money. The pursuit of power is shown through Daisy’s decision of Tom over Gatsby as Gatsby is seen as a lower social status with little power compared to Tom who has tremendous power. Pleasure is seen through the extramarital affairs of Tom and Myrtle as well as Daisy and Gatsby. The Great Gatsby, through Tom and Daisy, reveals the human condition of the pursuit of wealth, power, and pleasure through these examples and shows that the “American Dream” is not possible in a life where one’s surroundings are pushing him/her towards a life of wealth, power, and pleasure.

The Corruption of The American Dream The American Dream is starting with nothing and through hard work someone can achieve all the happiness one can handle. But if that person were to try to buy the past to regain the happiness they once had they will never succeed. A example of this is F. Scott Fitzgerald 's, The Great Gatsby. Fitzgerald criticizes the American dream in his novel, The Great Gatsby, by showing ones belief that money can buy happiness and love through the American dream and also shows the corrupting influence of wealth to the purity of that dream.

United States of America. The American dream, the national ethos of United States. "Life should be better and richer and fuller for everyone, with opportunity for each according to ability or achievement" (Truslow, James 1931) In the 1920s America’s economy was rocketing. In this decade, America became one of the wealthiest countries in the world.

The American Dream in The Great Gatsby The American Dream is deeply rooted in American ideals.   It implies that an individual's determination is the deciding factor in the accumulation of wealth, freedom, and total happiness.   It creates an equal ground on which anyone and everyone can attain spiritual and material fulfillment.   "Although these ideals can be traced back to the original settlers, perhaps one of the earliest written manifestations of the Dream can be found in Jefferson's Declaration of Independence" (Spindler 41).