The American Dream

What is the American Dream?The American Dream originated in the early days of the American settlement, with the mostly poor immigrants searching for opportunities. It was first manifested in the Declaration of Independence, which describes an attitude of hope. The American Dream is a national ethos of the United States in which freedom includes a promise of the possibility of prosperity and success. In the definition of the American Dream by James Truslow Adams in 1931, "life should be better and richer and fuller for everyone, with opportunity for each according to ability or achievement" regardless of social class or circumstances of birth. The idea of the American Dream is rooted in the United States Declaration of Independence which proclaims that "all men are created equal" and that they are "endowed by their Creator with certain inalienable Rights" including "Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.”

The Decline of the American Dream.The American Dream is not what it seems. In the 1920’s, the American Dream was nothing but an idea of materialistic wealth and objective pleasures. The reach for the American Dream represented the demise of America where hard work and good ethics were abandoned for wealth and the good life.In reality, the American Dream is based on nothing but immoral wealth and materialistic desires for the pleasures in life. However, once at the top, there is nowhere to go but down. And, for those who took the easy road of immorality to reach the American Dream, the ride down is nothing short of a ride from Hell.

‘The American Dream in ‘The Great Gatsby’In The Great Gatsby the American Dream plays a big role. In it, you can see what happened to it during the 1920s. The values have totally changed: instead of striving for equality, most of the characters just want to get as rich as possible.‘The Great Gatsby’ is a critique of the American Dream. The author, FSF, is saying that the concept of the American Dream has been destroyed as a result of the immoral and reckless behaviour of the 1920s.On the surface, The Great Gatsby is a story of the thwarted love between a man and a woman. The main theme of the novel, however, encompasses a much larger, less romantic scope. Though all of its action takes place over a mere few months during the summer of 1922 and is set in a circumscribed geographical area in the vicinity of Long Island, New York, The Great Gatsby is a highly symbolic meditation on 1920s America as a whole, in particular the disintegration of the American dream in an era of unprecedented prosperity and material excess.Fitzgerald portrays the 1920s as an era of decayed social and moral values, evidenced in its overarching cynicism, greed, and empty pursuit of pleasure. The reckless jubilance that led to decadent parties and wild jazz music—epitomized in The Great Gatsby by the opulent parties that Gatsby throws every Saturday night—resulted ultimately in the corruption of the American dream, as the unrestrained desire for money and pleasure surpassed more noble goals. When World War I ended in 1918, the generation of young Americans who had fought the war became intensely disillusioned, as the brutal carnage that they had just faced made the Victorian social morality of early-twentieth-century America seem like stuffy, empty hypocrisy. The dizzying rise of the stock market in the aftermath of the war led to a sudden, sustained increase in the national wealth and a newfound materialism, as people began to spend and consume at

unprecedented levels. A person from any social background could, potentially, make a fortune, but the American aristocracy—families with old wealth—scorned the newly rich industrialists and speculators. Additionally, the passage of the Eighteenth Amendment in 1919, which banned the sale of alcohol, created a thriving underworld designed to satisfy the massive demand for bootleg liquor among rich and poor alike.Fitzgerald positions the characters of The Great Gatsby as emblems of these social trends. Nick and Gatsby, both of whom fought in World War I, exhibit the newfound cosmopolitanism and cynicism that resulted from the war. The various social climbers and ambitious speculators who attend Gatsby’s parties evidence the greedy scramble for wealth. The clash between “old money” and “new money” manifests itself in the novel’s symbolic geography: East Egg represents the established aristocracy, West Egg the self-made rich. Meyer Wolfshiem and Gatsby’s fortune symbolize the rise of organized crime and bootlegging.As Fitzgerald saw it (and as Nick explains in Chapter 9), the American dream was originally about discovery, individualism, and the pursuit of happiness. In the 1920s depicted in the novel, however, easy money and relaxed social values have corrupted this dream, especially on the East Coast. The main plotline of the novel reflects this assessment, as Gatsby’s dream of loving Daisy is ruined by the difference in their respective social statuses, his resorting to crime to make enough money to impress her, and the rampant materialism that characterizes her lifestyle. Additionally, places and objects in The Great Gatsby have meaning only because characters instill them with meaning: the eyes of Doctor T. J. Eckleburg best exemplify this idea. In Nick’s mind, the ability to create meaningful symbols constitutes a central component of the American dream, as early Americans invested their new nation with their own ideals and values.Nick compares the green bulk of America rising from the ocean to the green light at the end of Daisy’s dock. Just as Americans have given America meaning through their dreams for their own lives, Gatsby instills Daisy with a kind of idealized perfection that she neither deserves nor possesses. Gatsby’s dream is ruined by the unworthiness of its object, just as the American dream in the 1920s is ruined by the unworthiness of its object—money and pleasure. Like 1920s Americans in general, fruitlessly seeking a bygone era in which their dreams had value, Gatsby longs to re-create a vanished past—his time in Louisville with Daisy—but is incapable of doing so. When his dream crumbles, all that is left for Gatsby to do is die; all Nick can do is move back to Minnesota, where American values have not decayed.

The decline of the American Dream is shown through…

Contrast of…

Social Status/ClassHe shows that people are not yet treated equally and that social discrimination still exists, which is described in the scene where Tom and Wilson talk to each other in Chapter II. For the reader it is immediately clear that Tom sees himself as superior to Wilson. We can see that when Wilson wants to resell Tom’s old car. Tom simply goes on with his game with Wilson since he wants to continue his affair with Wilson’s wife, as a result of that he does not give the car to Wilson.

SettingThe extravagance of Gatsby’s parties is in stark contrast to the Valley of Ashes. Look also at the contrast between East/West Egg. East Egg is where Daisy and Tom live and Gatsby and Nick live on West Egg – nouveau riche (new money).

ThemeThere is contrast between the ‘Old World’ and the ‘New’ – the old world is Europe, the new world is America. Gatsby represents the old world.

The Characterisation of…

Daisy BuchananDaisy Buchanan is the love interest of Jay Gatsby. She comes from an aristocratic family and is used to the good life. She marries Tom because he is wealthy and can provide her with the material luxuries she is used to. Daisy shows no compassion for anything including her daughter and often hides behind her money.Furthermore, in the end, she chooses to disappear out of Gatsby’s life and go back with Tom, never to be heard from again. Daisy Buchanan is fickle and materialistic, but also attractive and desirable. She is the personified version of the American Dream.Daisy lives her American Dream with Tom as her husband, who has a lot of money. She does not have any long term aims in her life. Having that kind luxury around her, she lives for the moment, and does not think about the next one.

Tom BuchananTom was born into his American Dream. He never had to work in his life, and got all his money from his parents. Since everything is perfect for his narrow-minded eyes, he does not want any changes. Losing Daisy would be a major change in his dream because he sees her as one of his possessions.

Jay GatsbyMost of the people appearing in ‘The Great Gatsby’ are full of hope, especially Gatsby who is hoping to win Daisy back. He has an “extraordinary gift of hope“ and he sacrifices himself to fulfill his dream. He struggles to get into the upper class. In the end his dream fails completely, and his life finds an abrupt end.Jay Gatsby is the epitome of every man trying to find the American Dream. He is looking for a life better than the one he grew up with, filled with fortune and materialistic wealth. When Gatsby meets Daisy, he finds what he is looking for. For Gatsby, Daisy is his American Dream. From then on he does everything he can to achieve her. Gatsby refuses to see Daisy’s faults and she can do no wrong.In reality, Daisy is the epitome of everything that is wrong with the American Dream. She is shallow, greedy and concerned with nothing but external wealth and material luxury. Gatsby’s failure to realise this symbolises America’s failure to realise that the American Dream is not all that wonderful.Gatsby comes from a poor family and he rose to the top of wealth, something every American in the 1910-1920’s was trying to do. Making his fortune off illegal alcohol and stolen securities, Jay Gatsby demonstrates his place at the top with his illustrious Saturday evening parties. However, like many struggling to get to the top, for Gatsby, the American Dream is still out of reach and his goal will not be complete without Daisy. Gatsby transforms to get to the top. Instead of working hard and going to school, Gatsby drops out and takes the criminal highway to wealth. The moral rights and ethics of good are overshadowed by the need to become rich, something that was happening frequently in the 1920’s. He changes his name from James Gatz to Jay Gatsby, and re-invents himself and his surroundings to suit what he strives for- the perfect world of a life less ordinary. On the one hand, he demonstrates

with his immoral rise to fame how the American Dream of wealth was nothing but shallow money and unprecedented wealth.

Nick CarrawayNick Carraway is a pragmatic man, who comes from the Middle-West, and does not share the American dream . But still he is striving for something, he wants to be himself, as he sees himself, tolerant, objective and reliable. The money of the upper class is just a tiny bit of his dream together with his admiration for the rich East Eggers. Mainly, his dream consists of mental values, of a pursuit of honesty. He says of himself “ I am one of the few honest people that I have ever known” (p.49, 26).

George WilsonWilson’s dream is to earn enough money to move away with his wife and to start a new life some place beautiful. But his dream can just become true with the help of Tom. Although, Wilson does not realize that Tom does not want to help him at all. His dream fails, when his wife is killed, which is the point were life becomes senseless to him.

Myrtle WilsonHis wife, Myrtle, has also a dream, she wants to become a girl of the upper class. Having an affair with Tom, she acts as if she already belonged among those rich people. Tom is her key to the upper class and she would do everything for him. She hates Daisy, because Daisy is standing in her way, for her marriage with Tom.

Meyer Wolfsheim This character is a corrupt character who represents the distortion of the American Dream as a result of his underhand dealings.

Key Incidents