How Does Fitzgerald Present The American Dream In The Great Gatsby

The American Dream is a prominent and recurring ideal presented in The Great Gatsby, influencing the lives of the American people in New York City. The novel expresses many ideas concerning the system itself through illustrating the effect it has on the population’s lives. Moreover, the dream alters the goals and perceptions of many Americans to represent the American identity within the novel, with each character portraying different standards and beliefs as a consequence of the American Dream. Thus, the American dream’s death is certainly not present in The Great Gatsby and becomes a main theme as it influences society’s expectations and standards, shapes the city Carraway lives in, and is symbolically represented in the goals and motivations

Catherine, her sister, expresses this notion by stating, “She really ought to get away from him. They’ve been living over that garage for eleven years. And Tom’s the first sweetie she ever had,” (Fitzgerald 29). Myrtle might represent the common American, eventually becoming obsessed with achieving something to finally achieve social status and success. Thus, the American identity is established as being in accordance with the American dream. Moreover, although the American dream has become a fundamental part of each American’s lives, it is not necessarily achievable in every situation. This is demonstrated after Mrs. Wilson asserts she could talk about his wife Daisy. The action prompts Tom to hit her in the face, possibly being a stark reminder for her to remember her class. Myrtle is still unimportant in the hierarchy of society as she remains married to Mr. Wilson. Furthermore, Gatsby himself might also be an example of a low ranking individual that becomes obsessed with proving he is worthy of his status as a result of the American dream. While Gatsby is already a successful and wealthy

Carraway and Gatsby live in West Egg, which is described as, “the less fashionable of the two,” (Fitzgerald 7). However, East Egg is described as a much more favorable place of even greater wealth. Moreover, it is evident that only people who have always been wealthy can afford to live in East Egg as Tom Buchanan’s family had always been rich before he was successful. Thus, this might show that there are differences in achieving the American dream, as those in the West Egg seem to be depicted as poor before becoming successful. This might be ironic, as people in West Egg have truly achieved their goals through struggle and work although they live a technically less comfortable life. Contrastingly, those in East Egg are more successful than West Egg; however, they were simply born into positions of wealth and power. Therefore, the neighborhood of West Egg might be accomplished in their goals and experienced true life while East Egg has a skewed perception of life. Nevertheless, many places in the city are ignored by the high class citizens and pale in comparison to the vast richness of the two eggs. The valley of ashes is an example of the waste of capitalism and therefore the American dream, as Carraway States, “This is a valley of ashes — a fantastic farm where ashes grow like wheat into ridges and hills and grotesque