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How Did Gatsby Achieve The American Dream

442 Words2 Pages

The American Dream is deeply valued by American society. Per-contra, it is also deeply questioned. The American Dream is “the belief that anyone, regardless of where they were born or what class they were born into, can attain their own version of success in a society where upward mobility is possible for everyone” (Investopedia.com). Although Americans value it and hold onto it, it may not even be achievable. If the American Dream is, in fact, unachievable, then what prevents it from being accomplished? It is a large theme in the book The Great Gatsby. In the book, F. Scott Fitzgerald shows that the American Dream is unattainable through one of the main character’s, Gatsby’s, difficult life and ultimate demise to reveal the true cause of the American Dreams impracticality; rigid social structure. …show more content…

But, he wasn’t always Jay Gatsby. He started out as young James Gatz, the son of “shiftless and unsuccessful farm people” (98). So, did James Gatz achieve the American Dream? Or did Jay Gatsby? One could say that James Gatz did, but, technically, James Gatz didn’t exist to achieve it. He had to become Jay Gatsby. He knew that a poor farm boy would never be able to achieve such great heights; however he does believe that the mythical oxford educated James Gatsby can. James Gatz was so withheld by his low social class as a North Dakota farmer that he had to change who he was to even be accepted by the upper class and try to achieve the American

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On the contrary, he was just a kid from North Dakota without connections, no money, no education. We can see the original James Gatz and his alter ego as the other part of a magic mirror; on one side is the Gatz, the ordinary citizen, and the other, Gatsby, fabulously decorated, the impossibly perfect reflection of the dreams and fantasies of a poor child. So who was the real James Gatz (Jimmy) and how he became Jay Gatsby? Apparently, even before they have the means, Jimmy Gatz had a plan; their desire to escape their circumstances and make a name for themselves. This early motivation shows the same determination and passion that we see in its new incarnation, Gatsby.

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The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald and “Paradox and Dream” by John Steinbeck are perfect examples to prove that the American dream is unattainable. This is shown in many different ways throughout both. The Great Gatsby shows it in more of a made up way. “Paradox and Dream” shows it in a more realistic way. No matter how the unattainability is portrayed, it is all meant to have the same meaning.

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Many of them never accomplished their goal and alongside them was Gatsby due to his tragic death in the prime of his life. An article written by Carla L. Verderame, titled “Social Class in The Great Gatsby”, further reinforces this thought when she says, “Gatsby’s determination to achieve great wealth and to shift from lower to upper class is all done in an attempt to reclaim Daisy,” (Verderame “Social Class”). Gatsby single-handedly took himself from lower to upper class only to impress the one girl that he cared about in his life. It did not matter how he reached that or what stood in his way, he just knew he needed to make it happen. At the very end of the book, the author proves this again by writing, “Gatsby believed in the green light, the orgiastic future that year

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