Since the founding of the United States, there has always been a special drive from lower and middle class people to rise up and reach a higher social status through hard work. This devotion is commonly called the “American Dream”. Although the American Dream sounds cheery, it is difficult to climb the social ladder solely through hard honest work. Fitzgerald uses The Great Gatsby to argue that the American Dream is unattainable as those born into wealth and power will continue to thrive, while people that try to reach a higher status, such as Gatsby, Myrtle, and Mr. Wilson will always fail to complete their life goals. Jay Gatsby’s American Dream is to win Daisy’s heart, but he is restrained by his lack of wealth and not being a part of the …show more content…
The green light symbolizes Gatsby’s desire for a future with Daisy. It is merely a speck on the horizon from Gatsby’s perspective, as the possibility of winning Daisy is so small it is almost impossible. He reaches out “in a curious way” because he believes there is a possibility to reach his goal, but he does not know how. In reality, Fitzgerald wants the reader to understand that Gatsby will never be able to reach Daisy from his side of the bay. These opposing shores illustrate the issue that will always separate Gatsby from Daisy, social status. Gatsby does not know how to reach Daisy’s level of social status, so he tries to fabricate his stature. When Nick sees Gatsby at the first party he goes to, Gatsby “smiled understandingly-much more than understandingly. It was one of those rare smiles with a quality of eternal reassurance in it… It understood you just as far as you wanted to be understood.. Precisely at that point it