Essay Comparing The Great Gatsby And The American Dream

The American dream has a different definition for each person, and in The Great Gatsby, each character has their goals for their American dream. Nick moves to New York “to learn the bond business” (Fitzgerald 3) after he comes back from World War I feeling the Midwest has nothing left to offer him. By moving he hopes to make money through his plans and achieve a level of prosperity that many see as part of the American dream, but many also see love as a key aspect of the same dream. For Gatsby, he can only find this love in Daisy, but five years have passed since he looked at her “in a way that every young girl wants” (Fitzgerald 75) creating blocks in the development of their relationship. During the gap years, Daisy gets married and “[has a] little girl” (Fitzgerald 77) starting her own version

However, the main connection occurs in the family and love aspects of the American dream because Tom, Gatsby, and Vivares share these goals. Vivares wants to stay in the US to care for his wife and child which is a different kind of goal based in the same dream as Tom’s family and Gatsby’s quest for love; Tom and Daisy have a daughter and travel to France to achieve their goal while Gatsby works to recreate his relationship with Daisy. Vivares’s first reason for entering the US was freedom of speech because he had to run from his home in order to escape death at the hands of the government in Colombia. None of the characters have to fight for freedom of speech, but Nick has the freedom to choose where he lives and the job he pursues when he moves to New York. To achieve their American dreams, both Vivares and Nick must leave their homes and create new lives in New York; the theme of the American dream drives many of the plot developments in The Great Gatsby and also drives many people to come to the United States every