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

The American Dream can be defined as a set of beliefs that any person of any background can flourish under American democracy. Though the American dream can vary among people, their wants and needs are simply one thing, a dream. The American reality is that life cannot always provide people with every possible opportunity to succeed and will not show mercy to those struggling. In The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald, a variety of American Dreams are displayed throughout the characters. Nick Carraway wishes to become a wealthy stockbroker after leaving his life in the Midwest. Jay Gatsby once wishes to be a successful man but now longs for the love of Daisy Buchanan. Meyer Wolfsheim wants to be rich but does so by making shady business transactions.

In The Great Gatsby, Nick states, “... I decided to go East and learn the bonds business, so supposed it could support one more single man” (Fitzgerald 3). Joining the business of stocks was normal for an average young man like Nick and was a simplified way of achieving success. Not unlike the rest of society during the 1920s, Nick wants to live a lavish lifestyle similar to those on West Egg. Becoming wealthy did not come without hard work. Nick often spent afternoons with Gatsby and expressed the luxuries he dreamed about, but never truly put in the effort to gain them. While Nick's American dream is to be rich, the reality is that Nick is only granted the ability to pursue this wealth. After spending the entire summer with Jay Gatsby, Nick looks up to him and uses Gatsby's success as a driving force for his own. What truly hinders him from achieving this dream is Gatsby's downfall and the revealing of how he truly got his wealth. Nick decides that he would rather stay true to his morals rather than abandon them to achieve his

Meyer Wolfsheim is a shady business associate of Gatsby who takes pride in his dubious deals. And whilst the book shares little else about Meyer Wolfsheim, it is obvious that his dream is to have a large fortune. The book states, “ ‘He and this Wolfsheim bought up a lot of side-street drug-stores here and in Chicago and sold grain alcohol over the counter. That's one of his little stunts. I picked him for a bootlegger the first time I saw him, and I wasn't far wrong” (Fitzgerald 143). While he clearly states that he has accomplished this, the reality is that Wolfsheim had to stoop to illegal levels. The main difference between his American dream and the American reality is that Wolfsheim relies on illegal activity to fulfill his dream. The reality is that his ways will not last and eventually lead to his destruction. Since F. Scott Fitzgerald leaves Meyer Wolfsheim’s ending open-ended, there is no way to be completely sure of his final destiny. What possibly and very likely would prevent him from maintaining his dream would be the sudden downfall of the stock market that led to the Great Depression in the 1930s or he would be finally convicted of his white-collar crimes in shady business transactions. Meyer Wolfsheim signifies all that is wrong with the typical American dream and what lengths people will go to achieve