True Meaning Of The American Dream In The Great Gatsby

The True Meaning of the American Dream According to the Declaration of Independence, all men are guaranteed certain inalienable rights including life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. The founding fathers had engraved these principles into the American Constitution of 1787. As a result, all American citizens since the times of Jefferson have had the ability to seek happiness. One specific example is shown in F. Scot Fitzgerald’s The Great Gatsby, in which Jay Gatsby, the main character, starts out with nothing and ends up wealthy. But his wealth never makes him truly happy, nor does his relationship with the woman that he loves. Rather, it is the struggle and pursuit of his dreams, for wealth and love, which create the person he is. Therefore, one can determine that the American Dream is the pursuit of happiness, not the attainment of happiness. Life is a constant struggle;

Rather, it is the ongoing process of chasing that dream that invigorates this metaphorical green light. This light is expressed one final time in the very last moment of the novel. Nick feels that, “Gatsby believed in the green light, the orgastic future that year by year recedes before us. It eluded us then, but that’s no matter—tomorrow we will run faster, stretch out our arms farther. . . And then one fine morning— So we beat on, boats against the current, borne back ceaselessly into the past.” All of the drama and tears shed throughout the story are engulfed into a small passage that redefines what the American Dream is all about. As Gatsby fights for his dreams of wealth and love, he finds that the green light that symbolizes the impossible and the future starts fading away as he comes closer and closer to achieving what his heart most desires. The struggle for the American Dream is found through Gatsby as despite all of his optimism and the effort he puts into his dreams, the end result is not necessarily always