William James once said, “The desire to gain wealth and the ability to lose it are our chief breeders of cowardice and propagators of corruption”. The Great Gatsby is a novel written in relation to the jazz era, with the focus on wealth and corruption. The American dream is the belief that anyone, regardless of their background or social status, can achieve success and prosperity. F Scott Fitsgerald uses symbols throughout the novel to illustrate the corruption and moral decay of the American Dream. The alluring dream draws people to do dishonorable things in order to be successful or to stay successful. The green light at the end of Daisy's dock is a symbol of Gatsby's dream to reunite with Daisy, but also the American dream. Nick says, "Gatsby believes in the green light, the orgastic future that year by year recedes before us " eluded us then, but that's no matter-tomorrow we will run faster, stretch out our arms farther" (Fitzgerald 180) This quote suggests that the American dream is constantly moving …show more content…
A certain status comes with the wealthy depending on whether their money is “inherited” or if they “ acquired” their “wealth with a high motive”, like Gatsby (Voegeli 3). Gatsby shows a special type of sensitivity throughout the novel that Tom does not. Tom is an abusive man who respects no one, on the other hand Gatsby comes off as more compassionate. Due to the way both men got their money Tom feels superior because Gatsby is new money, and he is old money. The thought of inheriting money is better since one is technically born into wealth, but Gatsby works towards his wealth. Tom is engulfs in his wealth which feeds into his horrible personality just because he is ‘superior’. This shows how putting money and wealth in the same box as the ‘American dream’ creates dishonorable and mean people. Especially, when it collides with a person who is a wastrel, like