Causes Of The American Dream In The Great Gatsby

The American dream is wanting to be rich, driving nice cars and wearing nice clothes. This is what everybody wants but is everybody willing to put in the work? That lifestyle doesn’t just come to people for free. In the novel the great Gats by Scott Fitzgerald shows what happened to the American dream in the 1920s. This time period is when dreams became unethical for a lot of reasons. The American dream had caused a lot of destruction. Myrtle, and Gatsby were all victims destroyed by the dream.

Myrtle serves as a representative of the lower class. She desired for a high-grade life. This is what caused her to have an affair with Tom. Her decision and actions caused a lot of harm with her marriage with George. Myrtle would read gossip magazines

In order to become rich, Gatsby involved himself in illegal occupations such as bootlegging and involving himself in a mafia. He is doing the opposite of what the American dream is. The American dream states that only good, virtuous, and hardworking people are rewarded. Gatsby does attempt the hard work approach, through his years of service to Dan Cody, but that doesn’t work out since Cody’s ex-wife ends up with the entire inheritance. So instead he turns to crime, and only then does he manage to achieve his desired wealth. He also lies his way through life. Gatsby claims that he belongs to a wealthy family and that’s where he inherited his riches. “I am the son of some wealthy people in the Middle West-all dead now.” Later in the novel Nick discovers the truth about Gatsby. He reveals that Gatsby’s parents are shiftless and unsuccessful farm people. He relies on money to bring him comfort of family. Gatsby’s life looked perfect from the outside, however he felt a deep hole that he believed only Daisy could fulfill. Gatsby believed that in order to fulfill his own concept of the American Dream he needed to win Daisy’s love, and to do that he would need to establish himself as somebody. Gatsby would throw large parties in his mansion a lot, hoping Daisy would come to one of them. After Daisy finally attends a party at Gatsby’s mansion and he senses their relationship beginning to sour, Gatsby fires his employees, stops throwing parties, and allows his house to deteriorate. Gatsby truly believed that the more material things he had to offer Daisy the better of a chance he had of receiving love in return, but this wasn’t true. His chase for Daisy soon comes to an end because of a misunderstanding. George believed that Gatsby was the one involved in an affair with his wife Myrtle and killed her in a car accident. George eventually goes to Gatsby’s house, where he finds Gatsby