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The American Dream In The Great Gatsby

414 Words2 Pages

The American Dream: Working for Tomorrow Not Today Cars, money, power. These are some of the things many Americans strive for and obsess over every day. This is exactly what the book The Great Gatsby, by F Scott Fitzgerald, describes and relates to. This book outlines the lives of a group of wealthy elites and the corrupt acts they commit to being on top of the social quo. Instead of living in the moment and enjoying each other's company, they do what they think will keep them in the eyes of the public as “likable people”. This is sadly one of the many reasons Americans today can relate to this novel. Even though this book was written ninety-two years ago, this concept remains the same in modern American society. Instead of living for …show more content…

That just comes with the privilege of living and working in a capitalistic society. When given a chance to get more, most people take it no matter what the repercussion is. In The Great Gatsby, Gatsby was poor growing up, and this was one of the reasons why his love, Daisey, never married him. He later got some money bootlegging and used it to buy a colossal house to impress her solely. When giving a tour of his house, Gatsby shows all the extravagant things he has to Daisey. When showing off his expensive shirts, Daisey says “They're such beautiful shirts," she sobbed, her voice muffled in the thick folds. "It makes me sad because I've never seen such—such beautiful shirts before.”(Fitzgerald 98). Materialism drives many Americans to this day. It can be a disease that demolishes genuine connections between people. This is one of the many reasons modern American society can so easily relate to this novel. With the abundance of wealth and resources in America is hard not to stray away from human connections and to turn to material items for satisfaction. Whether that is an iPhone in today's society or Daisy's case, the showcasing of some linen shirts, distractions to wealth can be deteriorating to a

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