Disillusion Of The American Dream In The Great Gatsby

The American Dream, the ideal that any individual can prosper regardless of their social rank, requires the characteristics of hard work, determination, and initiative. However, if an individual is dealt poor cards, they are likely to fall into a sense of misconception when trying to achieve the American Dream for themselves. F. Scott Fitzgerald’s The Great Gatsby explores the disillusionment individuals experience when attempting to reach their goals. Nick Carraway, a young man from a wealthy family in the Midwest, visits New York over the summer in the 1920s and befriends his next-door neighbor, Jay Gatsby. He is a middle-aged man who is born into an impoverished household, but now lives lavishly on West Egg after years of dedication and

Fitzgerald denies the American Dream and exhibits its failure through the futility of Jay Gatbsy’s life achievements as well as how many are corrupted by its materialistic aspirations.

Jay Gatsby’s life endeavors and his ultimate demise exemplifies the hollowness and isolation that occur as a result of pursuing the American Dream. Gatsby grows up on a rural North Dakota farm with very little money or opportunities in his early life. However, his path to luxury is not ideal as he purchases “side-street drug-stores [in New York] and in Chicago and [sells] grain alcohol over the counter” during the Prohibition to attain his wealth (Fitzgerald 133). His deceitful manner of gaining his fortune and social mobility denies the ideal of a sincere work ethic. The crumbling morals of the American Dream are epitomized through Gatsby’s bootlegging, and further drives him away from achieving his true desire. Gatsby’s true American Dream is to finally be reunited with the love of his life, Daisy Buchanan. When attempting to pursue a relationship with her once again, he becomes far too invested with

Myrtle Wilson, a member of the working class is desperate to escape the life she lives in the Valley of Ashes, and thus becomes a mistress to the wealthy Tom Buchanan. Tom purchases her expensive gifts and rents an apartment for her in Manhattan. In this apartment, Myrtle is able to emulate an upper-class lifestyle, yet she fails to truly elevate herself into a higher standing. Myrtle’s pursuit of the American Dream fails due to her corruption and longing for aristocracy, rather than carrying out the traditional ideals of determination and hard work to gain that status. Furthermore, George Wilson, Myrtle’s husband, also fails to achieve his American Dream of having a happy, faithful marriage due to his wife’s corrupted values. George never wishes to elevate his financial status and pursues his business to ensure he and his wife can live adequately, but when he discovers that “Myrtle [has] some sort of life apart from him in another world… the shock [makes] him physically sick” (Fitzgerald 124). Myrtle's attempt to obtain prosperity exemplifies the corruption and materialistic desires of the American Dream and how it contributes to dissatisfaction in others' lives, such as George. Additionally, higher class individuals, such as Tom and Daisy Buchanan also fail to succeed in achieving the American Dream.