Similarities Between The American Dream And Reality In The Great Gatsby

Is the “American Dream” more of an illusion than reality? This question has been on the minds of many who have reassessed the illusive American Dream claim. Although many may have achieved success in the United States through one way or another, this does not inherently mean that Uncle Sam himself has made this possible. This is far from the true reality of the “American Dream.” And now, connecting the possibility of success in the US through the “American Dream” to the famous novel of F. Scott Fitzgerald, “The Great Gatsby”, could this novel’s reality of the “American Dream” be similar to today’s ideals of the American Dream? Fitzgerald's vision of the "American Dream" in The Great Gatsby is completely different to today's ideals of the "American

Although The Great Gatsby presents a glorious lifestyle to begin with, this changes however very quickly and the reality is subsequently released. The American Dream is more of a facade than it is a dream. Source A begins with a clear statement about the Great Gatsby and its connection to the American Dream, “The Great Gatsby is a tragic love story on the surface, but it's most commonly understood as a pessimistic critique of the American Dream” This means that the American Dream, even as it’s presented in the Great Gatsby, is ultimately not a dream of success but rather of greed and awful endings. This matters because the American Dream is honestly not what it seems, it far from there of, it is not a possibility of success but rather a curse of greed and evil. Continues, “Jay Gatsby overcomes his poor past to gain an incredible amount of money and a limited

Source C begins to mention the actual reality of the supposed American Dream for many Americans, “The only people talking about the American dream are politicians. The rest of us are busting our asses, dealing with shrinking paychecks and rising costs.” This translates out to that the only folks bringing up and advertising the American Dream are politicians rather than the Americans across the country who live through situations quite ironically distinct from the American Dream. This is significant due to the fact of many Americans going through tough situations meanwhile the players in Washington do nothing to help but rather use the “American Dream” as a motivation political tool. As continued in Source C, ““The American dream is dead, because we don’t have any values anymore. People only care about possessions, about things, about money, not happiness. Happiness comes from caring about others, about family, and about community.” To many Americans, the “American Dream” has more basis as an illusion than an actual reality. This is important due to the fact that the American Dream is so heavily advertised and glorified in novels such as The Great Gatsby, but in reality it is very much unreachable. Although many may add that the American Dream is achievable through the perseverance of each individual, this does not cover the reality of most