1

The American Dream and The Great Gatsby

Student’s Name

Institutional Affiliation

Course

Professor’s Name

Due Date
 2

The American Dream and The Great Gatsby

The American dream is the collective vision of the entire country that everyone has

choices for the type of life they choose to pursue as long as they can all live a better, fuller life

based on their abilities or achievements. It promotes individual prosperity, personal

independence, and protection, all of which contribute to the overall success of the population.

The American dream is an idea of social harmony that differs according to one person's wishes,

but it all boils down to everyone having their best lives. It is a vision that everybody, regardless

of their birth circumstances, will achieve their full potential. It believes that anyone in America

will succeed if they put in more effort regardless of gender, ethnicity, nationality, or social status.

The American dream is meant to embody happiness, success, and hope. It can attain the

American as long as people follow all of the values and strive hard to succeed. However, it is

nothing more than a fantasy. It cannot become a reality depending on different factors that exist

in reality (Scott, 2017). As depicted in the movie The Great Gatsby, Franklin's claim that the

American Dream is open to everyone is incorrect due to income and class disparity, illicit wealth

accumulation, and societal superficiality.

The plot focuses on the lives of participants who reside in America during the 1920s.

From the start, it is clear that there is a disparity between the lives of wealthy and middle-class

families. The personality of Nick Carraway draws our attention to the vast wealth disparity

between the wealthy and the poor. We see the disparity in lifestyles between the rich and the

intermediate earners through his eyes. Daisy and her husband have been used to their way of life

since they were children as they both originate from old money. They are the tiny number of

people that govern the vast majority of it. Every American cannot afford to live the lavish

lifestyle displayed by Mr. Gatsby and the Buchanan.

 3

According to the film, average earners yearn for the indulgence of the wealthy, making it

a distant dream to achieve the American dream of satisfaction and happiness. The Wilsons'

characters demonstrate how the fight for chauvinism in society creates a hotbed for corruption.

Myrtle Wilson and her partner exemplify many Americans today. All are chasing the American

dream. As a result, they lose sight of why they are pursuing the dream in the first place. The

point of wasting time, energy, and money is so that you and the family can reap the benefits of

your efforts. However, Myrtle demonstrates that it is all too easy to lose sight of the goal and

cause problems in the pursuit of wealth and comfort. She is married to a person with no financial

clout. They continue to work together, though, in the hope of a brighter future. However, when a

chance arises itself, she does not hesitate to seize it. She is unconcerned about how her acts

would impact the man to which she has made faithfulness vows. It only demonstrates that the

American dream is just for the wealthy and those who lack dignity.

Myrtle begins a relationship with Tom, who is engaged to Daisy, and both come from

upper-class families. He buys her costly things that her spouse cannot afford in return for sexual

favors. She is well aware that her husband's efforts to become wealthy would be futile. As a

result, she chooses to pursue her dream in a less dignified manner. If you don't have a lot of

money, it's hard to live the American dream. Myrtle loses her relationship and her soul in her

quest to gain access to the elite society. The American dream is only open to people like Tom,

who is not punished despite having an affair with Myrtle. The wealthy in society can still walk

away with their offenses and exploit circumstances to their benefit. Many people's dreams have

already come true for Tom. Nonetheless, he is dissatisfied with his belongings. Even after

Gatsby's death, he lies and deceives George into believing Tom is Myrtle's lover, even though

the opposite is true.

 4

The American dream tends to be a myth because it is human behavior to want more, as

shown by Tom's example. Obviously, the wealthier an individual is in the community, the more

probable they are to get things accomplished their way and thus excel without a doubt. It is

widely assumed that all that is needed to achieve the American dream is perseverance and hard

work. Though this is real, being born into wealth is the simplest way to become wealthy. Before

delving into Gatsby's fortune, one can assume that the argument about the American dream is

valid. For a poor person to become wealthy as quickly as Gatsby, they must have participated in

questionable activities. Tom reveals that Gatsby did not attend Oxford as he said and that his

money was obtained through shady transactions with mobsters. Gatsby did not acquire his

fortune, nor did he work hard to obtain it. Given that he obtained his riches by illicit means, it is

impossible to believe that he fulfilled the American dream.

Marriage into a wealthy family may also provide an individual with money. That is why

so many rich people marry among themselves to keep their money in the hands of the "right"

people. Gatsby's engagement with Daisy cannot be described as purely romantic. He realized that

by securing Daisy, a wealthy woman, his money would not be jeopardized. As a result, he sought

her even after learning she was married (Durlauf et al., 2018). Many people are preoccupied with

the surface of life. They are worried about how others will view them or what will be said about

them. This is why so many people choose to work in such occupations or participate in criminal

activities to keep the status quo. Nobody wants to show their pain to the rest of the world. People

will pay exorbitant prices for products, throw wild parties, and marry women they do not love to

persuade others that they are genuinely happy. However, when one looks under the surface, they

soon discover that unhappiness knows no social status or money. Gatsby, like many Americans,

is a character pursuing the American dream. When he appears to have attained what seems to be
 5

the pinnacle of achievement, he discovers that money cannot buy happiness. His is fresh cash.

The film depicts how dreamers and real wealth owners cannot thrive in a structure that benefits

old wealth. Every visionary in the movie comes to a halt. Gatsby, Myrtle, and George all die,

keeping the entire moneyed folk secure in their bubble of lavish parties and even more riches.

In conclusion, the film demonstrates that achieving the American dream through hard

work is difficult. To be competitive in a capitalist economy, one cannot simply follow the rules.

Either a person is born rich, marries into wealth, or both. The other choice is to put money in

through illicit channels. As a result, the American dream is a far-fetched fantasy that can never

be realized. Obtaining one element results in the loss of another. Either you gain money and lose

happiness, or you lose your life. You cannot get any of the components of the American dream.

It kills the hope of fulfillment when failing to demonstrate its impossibility, so everyone is on a

goose chase to attain it.

 6

References

Durlauf, S. N., & Seshadri, A. (2018). Understanding the great gatsby curve. NBER

Macroeconomics Annual, 32(1), 333-393.

Scott, F. F. (2017). The great gatsby. Рипол Классик.