Corruption Of The American Dream In The Great Gatsby

Abby Rathburn
Mr. Arthurs
Honors English 10
23 March 2023
Title
Fitzgerald, the author of The Great Gatsby, incorporates themes of the corruption of the upper class in 1922. Through major and minor characters, the destruction of these people reveals that the pursuit of happiness only leads to loss and suffering for all those involved. Jay Gastby, for whom the novel takes its name, struggles with growing up in a poor, rural area always wanting more from life. By illegal means he outdid himself, all for the sole purpose of reliving the past and receiving the girl of his dreams, Daisy. Similar to other characters in this novel, Gatsby grasps wealth as a solution to his happiness only to find his pursuit to be in vain. The “American Dream”

After Tom influences Wilson towards the death of Gatsby, holding partial responsibility, he finds that he must escape the town, leaving only wreckage in his path. Nick tried to contact Daisy, believing that she would have wanted to bid her farewells, “but she and Tom had gone away early that afternoon” (Fitzgerald 100). Tom leaves NYC unscathed with his wife, money, and enemy removed. To readers it may seem that he has achieved his happy ending, in reality he lost his mistress and left his comfortable life in East Egg. On the way back to the house Tom stops at the Wilson’s and discovers a crowd formed around Myrtle, dead cold, lying on the ground. In utter disbelief, Tom “was bending over [her body] motionless” with anger and anxiety creeping on him (Fitzgerald 86). Once he learned that Gatsby and Daisy were responsible for the incident and did not even bother to stop, he felt compelled to assist in his rival’s death. Overall, the argument that Tom was able to achieve his American Dream would be incorrect because he did not end up with both women under his

Daisy, a young lady, raised to grow up into a respected young woman, is Gatsby’s lost love of his life. In order for Gatsby to be worthy of her, he had to rise to her economic level. Overwhelmed by Gatsby’s new wealth, she became covered in shirts“of sheer linen and fine flannel,” which only wealthier Americans could afford (Fitzgerald 58). This left Daisy sobbing for joy, realizing the fact that all of this he did for her. Unfortunately for Gatsby, his pursuit of wealth for love led only to momentary happiness because she would not leave her husband, Tom. Another prominent woman in this novel who valued materialism over all else was Myrtle. Her husband Wilson, a rather poor man, did not provide her with the money she so desperately wanted. This drove her into an affair with Tom who provided her with “elaborate afternoon dresses” that made her feel like someone who she truly was not (Fitzgerald 23). Similar to Gatsby, she also felt momentary happiness with the money showered upon her and then met her tragic end. These unfortunate outcomings were the prolonged result that idoling money, these two women’s American Dream, had on