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James Moten

Mrs. Wold

English 11 Period 4

14 March 2022

Essay Prompt #2

The story The Great Gatsby written by F. Scott Fitzgerald a story filled with the thoughts

of the American dream. This dream in every situation of the book has to do with social ranking.

Money was the ruler of everything in this story. It controlled people's feelings, the way they

looked at life, and how people conducted themselves. These ideals of money shaped the people

in the story and they had many different outlooks on life, cash can also determine the fate of

people's lives. In this story, social standing and class shape the outcome of people's lives.

“Money is the root of all evil” (Timothy 6:10), although this saying is true, Money does

not equal evil in this story. Fitzgerald wrote the story's characters with the feeling of ambition. In

this novel money controls people's ambitions, ideals, and decisions. For example when Gatsby

through one of his infamous house parties, and invited Daisy and Tom. neither was impressed

and thought the party was too much for truly wealthy people. The reason why they thought this is

because, in their social class, they are mirrored to be elegant and rich so they are not the flashy

type. Wealthyness had changed their mindset of how to celebrate in party fashionable class. But a

common ordeal with the characters is that each and every one of them wanted more materialistic

items. These wishes were not discriminant amongst anyone, because everyone wanted to have

their American Dream fulfilled.

The American dream is not what it seems. This dream is only fueled by people’s want for

money and the need for a greater state of living. The characters in this story are willing to
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sacrifice what they truly want in life for a chance at a better life. For example, Tom Buchanan

would have a continuous affair with Myrtle Wilson, because he felt bored within his own

marriage. “I want to see you,’ said Tom intently. ‘Get on the next train.’‘ All right.’ ‘I’ll meet

you by the news-stand on the lower level.” (Fitzgerald 29). A greater example is that while Daisy

was pregnant and on the verge of giving birth, she knew about his affairs and only stayed with

him for her own personal gain and dream. After she found out about the affair, she accepted this

fact and only wished that her child would never be smart enough to realize that the person she

loves had betrayed her. “All right,’ I said, ‘I’m glad it’s a girl. And I hope she’ll be a

fool—that’s the best thing a girl can be in this world, a beautiful little fool.” (Fitzgerald 20)

Social standings corrupted almost all the characters in the novel except for the narrator

Nick. The outcome of people’s lives and the decisions they make comes from what kind of social

standing and class they hail from and which they are currently in. There was no character in the

story that wasn’t subject to their own determination to achieve their own American dream.