How Did The Great Gatsby Lead To The American Dream Downfall

In the early years when America first became a country, this idea of the American Dream was first introduced; the American Dream is the idea that since all Americans have freedom, they all have the ability to succeed and have a good life because they worked for it. As Americans started to create a life for themselves through this idea of the American dream, people would try to take short cuts so they would not have to work as hard to achieve success. In the Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald, characters like Jay Gatsby, Jordan Baker, and Daisy all achieved the American Dream but did not work for it in a true way which leads to their downfall. He said: “I think he hardly knew what he was saying, for when I asked him what business he was in

Daisy wanted love but she cared more about being known in the highest class so she would rather be known by people than have someone who loves her, and she loves it shows this when it says, “She never loved you, do you hear?’ he cried. ‘She only married you because I was poor and she was tired of waiting for me. It was a terrible mistake, but in her heart she never loved anyone except me”( Fitzgerald 139)! This quote shows that Daisy had to marry into money to climb up the social hierarchy. Daisy didn’t care to wait for a moral man who could have given her the same love due to the fact that he was less fortunate at the time. “They’re such beautiful shirts,’ she sobbed, her voice muffled in the thick folds. ‘It makes me sad because I’ve never seen such—such beautiful shirts before.’ After the house, we were to see the grounds and the swimming pool, and the hydroplane and the midsummer flowers—but outside Gatsby’s window it began to rain again so we stood in a row looking at the corrugated surface of the Sound”(Fitzgerald 99). This quote shows how if Daisy didn't cheat the American Dream she would have been able to be with the man she wanted and rich. If she had waited for the man she truly loved, she would