During the 1900s, many Americans were striving to achieve a successful life regardless of their background, and all they had to do was work hard to be successful. This was known as the American Dream. In F. Scott Fitzgerald’s novel The Great Gatsby, this idea is presented through the characters Myrtle Wilson and Jay Gatsby as they pursue wealth and try to climb the social ladder. But as the story progresses, the ideals of the American Dream are slowly being challenged and exposed as corrupt. F. Scott Fitzgerald’s novel The Great Gatsby can be presented as a satire about a story from rags to riches through Myrtle and Gatsby as both acquire wealth and climb the social ladder to achieve their goals, but soon face the reality of the American Dream. At …show more content…
Following his meeting with Tom on Fifth Avenue after the death of Gatsby, Nick comes to the conclusion that Tom and Daisy “were careless people.they smashed up things and creatures and then retreated back into their money or their vast carelessness. and let other people clean up the mess they had made”. Fitzgerald 137. Both the Buchanans don’t take responsibility for ruining the lives of Gatsby and Myrtle and just run away like nothing has happened. Tom and Daisy’s relationship establishes a corrupt truth: that there will always be an elite class and the goal to reach that hierarchy has become the illusion of the American Dream. F. Scott Fitzgerald’s novel The Great Gatsby can be represented as a satire towards the rags to riches story through Myrtle and Gatsby since both gain wealth and social status but face the corruption of the American Dream. This novel demonstrates Fitzgerald’s criticism of the American Dream as it has been misunderstood as an accumulation of wealth rather than for one's own benefit. No matter how one climbs the social ladder, there will always be some sort of social