What Are The Consequences Of The Great Gatsby Chasing After The American Dream

Consequences of Chasing After the American Dream F. Scott Fitzgerald examines the idea of the American Dream and questions if it is actually attainable in his book The Great Gatsby. Fitzgerald explores how the characters are driven by power and materialistic principles to achieve the American Dream throughout the course of the book. The Great Gatsby demonstrates that the American Dream is unattainable since it is based on the desire for power and love, which can only be quickly attained by criminal means. Although Gatsby has the power to throw elaborate parties with the hopes of enticing his love, Daisy, to attend, he is ultimately unsuccessful. Gatsby’s parties are a central symbol of his power. They are “gleaming [and]

Gatsby's selfish love for Daisy begins when he is stationed at camp Taylor where he meets Daisy and began to fall in love with her, until he is shipped out for the war. When the war ends he can not go back to Daisy and instead is sent to Oxford to study. When Gatsby makes a life for himself and finally returns for Daisy she had already married Tom Buchanan as she was no longer able to wait any longer for Gatsby. Gatsby could not accept that he had been too late for Daisy and wanted Daisy to tell Tom “that you never loved him” (Fitzgerald chapter 7). While it is true that Daisy loved Gatsby she also loved Tom and could not deny his love as well, Gatsby could not accept this. Differently, Nick Carraway’s attraction towards Jordan Backer was cautious and superficial. Nick first meets Jordan when he is invited over for dinner at the Buchanan residence where Jordan was currently staying. Nick then goes to one of Gatsby’s parties and meets her again and they mingle around getting to know each other more; but, Nick does not feel fully in love with her and only feels “half in love with her” (Fitzgerald chapter 9). Nick does not fall in love with Jordan because of his carefulness which finds out that she is a very dishonest

Tom Buchanan’s family's wealth was rooted to as early as the beginning of the United States, he grew up not needing to work for money and spent exorbitant amounts of money haphazardly. Because “[Tom’s] family was enormously wealthy” (Fitzgerald chapter 1) he developed a personality of carelessness and meanness. His carelessness is shown when he cheats on his wife with Myrtle. Differently, Gatsby was born into a poor family and earned a living by fishing in Lake Superior until he rowed to Dan Cody's yacht to warn him about a storm. In appreciation for the forewarning, Cody hired Gatsby to be his personal assistant. Gatsby developed an admiration for Cody while working for him up until Cody's passing. As a result, he committed himself to becoming a prosperous and successful businessman. Gatsby established drug stores where he sold illicit over-the-counter booze during the Prohibition era. After his sudden wealth he bought a mansion in the west egg of New York and held huge, glamorous parties. Across the bay from his mansion was Tom Buchanan’s mansion, this sudden appearance of Gatsby led Tom to suspect him as ”some big bootlegger” (Fitzgerald chapter 6). This shows that the quick accusation of wealth was very suspicious during the time but it was the only way possible for Gatsby to obtain his wealth quickly albeit through his illegal trade of