F. Scott Fitzgerald’s The Great GatsbyAny American is taught a dream that is purged of all truth. The American Dream is shown to the world as a belief that anyone can do anything; when in reality, life is filled with impossible boundaries. In the novel, The Great Gatsby, F. Scott Fitzgerald gives us a glimpse into the life of the upper class during the roaring twenties through the eyes of a moralistic young man named Nick Carraway. It is through the narrator’s dealings with the upper class that the reader is shown how modern values have transformed the American Dream’s pure ideals into a scheme for materialistic power, and how the world of the upper class lacks any sense of morals or consequence. In order to support Fitzgerald’s message that the American dream is dead, Fitzgerald presents the original aspects of the American dream as well as its corrupted form through; perseverance and hope, everlasting hope, and corruption from wealth and privilege.The main qualities of the American Dream presented in The Great Gatsby are perseverance and hope. Another famous characteristic of the American dream is the idea of success against all odds. This is shown through the life of Jay Gatsby, who focused all his attention to living the dream and becoming an American hero. Ever since he was young, Gatsby worked hard on becoming a great man. This is documented in Gatsby’s copy of the adventures of Hopalong Cassidy, who was another romantic American figure. While showing this journal to Nick, Gatsby professed, “Jimmy was bound to get ahead. He always had some resolves like this or something. Do you notice what he’s got about improving his mind? He was always great for that.” (Fitzgerald 175) Jay Gatsby’s connection to the American dream is …
…trying to achieve their goals symbolize the death of the old American Dream. The dream is now completely lost and can never be restored. Through the tragic story of Jay Gatsby and his failed attempt to reach his dream, F. Scott Fitzgerald also describes the tragic death of American values. The characters in The Great Gatsby are mere examples of Fitzgerald’s message: the old American dream and all of its pure ideals have been replaced with money, greed, and materialism. Nick Carraway conveys this message as an outsider, an honest man from the mid-west who witnessed the whole affair as an observer. The Great Gatsby is not about the life and death of Jay Gatsby, but about what Jay Gatsby stood for. It is about the life and death of the old American Dream. It is about the corruption of American values and the ultimate corruption of an unfeasible dream; the American Dream.
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