Throughout the Great Gatsby written by F. Scott Fitzgerald, the concept of the American dream tends to reappear continuously, especially when talking about Jay Gatsby. As the protagonist of the story, Nick Carraway mentions Jay Gatsby many times and tends to portray him as very wealthy, successful, and idealistic. He represents the “self made man”, rising from his humble beginnings into the life of the wealthy. Gatsby tries to achieve the American dream by becoming a successful young man and attempts to reconnect with Daisy Buchanan. However, this need to have the idealistic life takes control over Gatsby and inspires thoughts that the American dream is possible, but in the end, the emphasis on class and wealth above genuine happiness makes the American dream unachievable. Despite the fact that Jay Gatsby has become …show more content…
Gatsby resides on West Egg, meaning he was of new money and wasn’t born into the wealthy lifestyle. As a child, his parents were very poor and it was a struggle for them to even live, until his parents were dead and Gatsby would eventually meet the multi-millionaire Dan Cody, allowing Gatsby to travel with him for years. After Dan Cody grew old and couldn’t live any longer, he became an inspiration to Gatsby, making him decide that he was going to become like him, rich and successful. In order for Gatsby to gain all this money, he would smuggle alcohol and Tom Buchanan was calling him out for this, stating that “[he] picked him for a bootlegger the first time [he] saw him” (Fitzgerald 133). Tom became upset with Gatsby for trying to take Daisy from him and chose to expose