Examples Of Unhealthy Rivalry In The Great Gatsby

Throughout history, millions of people from all over the world have flocked to America with a singular desire: equal opportunity. They left everything they knew behind to chase this dream, but many never experienced the fortune they believed was promised to them. In his novel The Great Gatsby, F. Scott Fitzgerald suggests that although the American Dream appears equally achievable for all, in reality some groups have no chance of ever attaining it, and those who do achieve the dream lack security and contentment. Despite their hard work, some Americans simply lack access to the American dream due to factors outside their control. While driving to the city, Nick has “a glimpse of Mrs. Wilson straining at the garage pump with panting vitality”

He observes, “As we crossed Blackwell’s Island a limousine passed us, driven by a white chauffeur, in which sat three modish negroes, two bucks and a girl. I laughed aloud as the yolks of their eyeballs rolled toward us in haughty rivalry” (69). The diction of the phrase “haughty rivalry” implies a sort of race or challenge arising between wealthy individuals. Rather than simply recognizing each other’s affluence, demonstrated by Gatsby’s car and the group’s limousine, they regard each other with disdain and an arrogance bordering on suspicion. Both exist in a world of new wealth-- Gatsby has recently acquired his fortune, and the other group, as African Americans, likely came into wealth only recently with the dissolution of slavery and increased economic opportunities for Blacks. The group’s limousine, “driven by a white chauffeur,” represents a further disruption of social norms, with some African Americans able to economically ascend above white Americans. While both Gatsby and the group have recently achieved the American dream, the fact that they have only lately reached a higher social status perhaps contributes to the insecurity they feel within their new position in the economic hierarchy. Thus, achievement of the American dream, of pulling oneself up in society, engenders self doubt and competition among the newly