The American Dream In The Great Gatsby

The definition of the American Dream, according to Google, is the ideal that every US citizen should have an equal opportunity to achieve success and prosperity through hard work, determination, and initiative. In the novel, The Great Gatsby, by F. Scott Fitzgerald, many of the characters in the novel have achieved their own version of the American Dream, some through the money in their family, and others through hard work and dedication. Throughout the novel, F. Scott Fitzgerald shows characters born into a variety of social classes, such as Gatsby and Tom, how their wealth influences their morals and choices, in order to convey the message that the more wealth you’re born into, the less mindful you are of others. The novel illustrates the lives of Gatsby,

It portrays their hardships and for some, how easy their lives were throughout the drama and mystery occurring, narrated by Nick Carraway.

Money and class influences people’s ideals and morals in a variety of ways. One way someone’s wealth affects their ideals as expressed in the novel is the more money you are born with, the less you care about others, the less you think about others. An example of a person that acts like this in the book is Tom. He was born into a very wealthy family, lives in East Egg, and is old money. When having dinner with Nick and his wife, Daisy, he gets a phone call. Disrespectfully, he gets up and takes the call, obviously talking to the woman he is having an affair with, while at dinner with his own wife. In chapter 1, as Nick is being told by Jordan Baker about Tom’s affair, “Why-’ she said hesitantly, ‘Tom’s got some woman in New York.’ ‘Got some woman?’ I repeated blankly. Miss baker nodded. ‘She might have the decency not to telephone him at dinner time. Don’t you think?” (Fitzgerald 15). This quote illustrates how even Nick and Jordan know it is rude and indecent to call one another during dinner time, let alone talk, right in front of Tom’s wife. I can