The Failure of the American Dream in the Context of The Great Gatsby Sun Seo Jeon 전순서 20140880 The American Dream is a national ethos of the United States, which is a belief that anyone, regardless of their social class and the situation they are born into, is given opportunities to achieve their own version of success. It is emphasized that American dream is achieved through sacrifice and hard work, not just by chance. This meant to motivate Americans to attain prosperity and happiness. However, there is an ironic interplay between idealism and materialism in this statement of American Dream; the dream suggests hope, opportunity and equality, but in reality, it is to become rich and of higher social status, which is only …show more content…
Both of them are born into rich and upper class family, which means to say they are born into the American Dream. However, they do not seem to be satisfied with their lives. We can see that Daisy is putting up with Tom’s “infidelities and his gibberish about racial and other matters” (Lehan 74), as well as that both of them are shallow and superficial. Furthermore, both of them have extramarital affairs: Tom with Myrtle, Daisy with Gatsby. This is clear sign that they are not happy with their current situation. This relationships shows that even achieving and living the American Dream does not necessarily bring happiness and joy to the …show more content…
Nick judges that Gatsby 's American Dream was corrupt since both the means and the goal was corrupt. Goal of getting Daisy 's love, although can be argued to be pure, was corrupt as she is the symbol of materialism. Nick believes that “Daisy is simply not worth the efforts Gatsby makes to win her, nor are his successes anything to write home about. He 's a gangster, ruthless, amoral, willing to do whatever it takes to succeed” (Foster 143). Not only his dreams of getting Daisy’s love, but also his means through how he tries to achieve it are the representations of the failure of the American