The American Dream In The Great Gatsby By F. Scott Fitzgerald

‘‘But maybe, just maybe, the new American dream is coming into view’’ (Hoffower and Kaplan). While some people might say that the American dream is not something people can achieve anymore, others say a new one is being born. In F. Scott Fitzgerald’s The Great Gatsby, Gatsby comes from poverty to wealth and inspires others to achieve their version of the American dream. According to Ari Shapiro in her article ‘‘American Dream Faces Harsh New Reality,’’ the American dream still exists, but it is changing over time. Also, there are shortages of goods all across the country, but that does not stop opportunities for achieving the American dream, as seen in ‘‘The era of shortages is unraveling the old American Dream. But that’s not a bad thing,’’

To start off, the American dream is an inspirational idea because it causes people to understand that hard work pays off and that if someone wants something, with hard work, he/she can achieve it. The author of The Great Gatsby illustrates through Tom how inspiring the American dream is. Even though Tom earns his money illegally through fake stocks and bootlegging alcohol, he still becomes rich and lives out his version of the American dream. Nick, the narrator, writes, ‘‘...but now he’d left Chicago and come East in a fashion that rather took your breath away; for instance, he’d brought down a string of polo ponies from Lake Forest. It was hard to realize that a man in my own generation was wealthy enough to do that’’ (Fitzgerald 6). Tom inherits some of his money from his family but earns the rest

All Gatsby wants in life is to be wealthy and get a beautiful girl, Daisy, to want to be with him. Gatsby is living out his version of the American dream while being rich and achieving his dream of being with Daisy. When talking about Gatsby’s recent moves, Jordan comments, ‘‘Gatsby bought that house so that Daisy would be just across the bay’’ (Fitzgerald 78). With his money, Gatsby is able to buy anything that he wants. He buys this house across the bay so he can keep a constant eye on Daisy and be close to her anytime they want to hang out with each other. Gatsby achieves his version of the American dream with hard work and opens up opportunities for him to live where he wants. He chooses to live right by Daisy so he can make the most out of his life with her. She completes him and he comments several times that he cannot live without her. In addition, over the past few years, the world has seen a shortage of lots of goods and services. This causes people to rethink their decisions in many aspects of their life and use the opportunities given to them to make the most of their life. Authors, Hillary Hoffower and Juliana Kaplan write, ‘‘When writer and historian James Truslow Adams coined the term 1931, he defined the American Dream as the opportunity for a better life for all’’ (Hoffower and Kaplan). The American dream is just an