The American Dream In The Great Gatsby

The American dream. A once vanilla concept of life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness has become a debatable subject of conversation. Through generations (since the term was coined by James Truslow Adams in 1931), the American dream has been constantly evolving through the present day. The white picket fence ideology has been expanded on and altered by the newer generations. According to a study by Northwestern Mutual, one third of American adults claimed that their idea of the American dream has changed in the last five years. Though most individuals remain on the pursuit of happiness, the overall idea of what that happiness is continues to change. Unlike the present American dream, the American dream in the early 20th century was

In this case, the more was Daisy Buchanan, the only thing that Jay Gatsby had pursued but not fully grasped. The Great Gatsby was only a symbol of what the American dream used to look like. Today the standards of the dream have dropped dramatically. One example is the transition between Baby Boomers and Generation X. Those born during the Baby Boomers period (1946-1964), tended to lead better adult lives. These individuals pursued the American dream in an age with outstanding economic opportunity under the Ronald Reagan administration and also the prospering political movements. As a matter of fact, “Baby Boomers became the wealthiest generation, on average, in U.S. history and the first to grow up expecting the world to consistently improve over time.” (Jones, 1980). The wealth and financial success of Baby Boomers lead people to view “the good life” as having a happy marriage, children, an interesting job, and the ability to travel. Those in Generation X have a significantly less sense of upward mobility than those that came before them during the Baby Boomer period. According to a recent study, “Generation X is the first generation in which the majority will not be better off financially than their parents, with prospects of earning more than their parents falling from 90% in 1940 to just over 50% in 1990.” (Scotti, 2014). This falling statistic shows a major difference in the