The Great Gatsby Illusion Of The American Dream

Illusion of the American Dream
One’s hedonistic customs is more appealing in today’s money-grubbing society. This mercenary culture is seen through the characters in The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald. Set in the 1920s the book highlights the theme of the American dream in relation to people’s lucrative lifestyle during the decade. Initially, the American dream was the belief that success was achievable to anyone who worked hard with determination. However, Fitzgerald challenges that perspective with a bleaker outlook of the American dream. In the book, he portrays women as covetous and unstable leeches to men. Moreover, he displays the dishonesty of the characters ' greed and reveals the people’s obsessive attraction to riches and things.

In the book Gatsby is accused of being a bootlegger by Tom Buchanan: “ I picked him for a bootlegger the first time I saw him, and I wasn 't far wrong" (Fitzgerald 133). It is way easier and faster to cheat the system and use fraudulent methods to obtain success. The proper way of attaining the dream, fair and legal, seems to no longer suffice. Gatsby willingly compromises his morals and breaks the law, feeding into his greed for wealth. Myrtle, in the same manner, cheats the system by having an affair with Tom for she is described as “Tom Buchanan’s mistress” (Fitzgerald 24) for his money. She risks her relationship with her husband for money, not caring for his feelings. She jeopardizes her relationship to satisfy her increasing appetite to acquire wealth. Selfish ambitions have overtaken the American dream. People are intentionally participating in criminal and scandalous pursuits to access corrupts the original path for the American dream. Greed has also turned the dream into a narcissistic endeavour. Gatsby abandons his family to pursue a life of wealth for himself. His parents were poor “shiftless and unsuccessful farm people” (Fitzgerald 98) and due to their unfavourable economic conditions his “imagination had never really accepted them as his parents at all”(Fitzgerald 98). He was solely

Society now focuses more on possessions and physical goods as a way sign of fulfillment. This is shown by the characters temerarious and pretentious actions that inevitably destroys the American dream. The original aspect of hard work in regards to the dream is replaced by physical prosperity. Women in the novel rely on men’s riches to live a life of luxury, the purpose of self-reliant lost. Greed has lead to nefarious schemes that is at the expense of others. The innocent path to acquire success is no longer ideal. Curves to cheat the system such as crime and infidelity has corrupted the route in achieving prosperity. Status is gained through wealth and possessions, with disregard to any charitable work. The physical prosperity of individuals has resulted in a self-centered and greedy society which corrupts the main purpose of the good life. A society that aspires for growth as well as maintain a standard of high morality can revitalize the optimistic design of the American