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What Is The American Dream In The Great Gatsby

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“The road to success is not easy to navigate, but with hard work, drive and passion, it’s possible to achieve the American Dream.” - Tommy Hilfiger. In the book “The Great Gatsby” by F. Scott Fitzgerald, the major theme of the book is the downfall of the American Dream. People believe America is the country with the best chance to succeed. That is no longer the case, people believe what they desire most is success; however, people desire more, love. In the beginning of “The Great Gatsby”, the main character feels the need for success rather than to have love. Today it is common among young people to want money more than anything, but this concept is not original “Daisy married Tom, and when Gatsby returned to the states, he decided to devote his life to becoming rich” (Heather 2). Gatsby gets back to America to find out his love interest got married. He is not accepting of this; however, continues on with his life and makes it his mission to get as rich as possible. Gatsby sees his future as being successful. Fitzgerald develops this idea with “the green light” which represents his hopes for the future. …show more content…

He lives a crazy independent lifestyle, but desires more “Gatsby is a rich mega-rich, and throws crazy parties every weekend… Gatsby holds a dark secret about his past and how he became so great, a deep lust that will eventually lead to his demise” (The Pink Elephant 2). After Gatsby Achieved success, he needed more. He had achieved the American Dream, but in the end died. The theme of the story is shifting from success to love. Gatsby is beginning to have regret, and be sentimental “He knew that when he kissed this girl, and forever wed his unutterable visions to her perishable breath, his mind would never romp again like the mind of God” (Fitzgerald 110). Gatsby is trying his best to focus on love to truly get the happiness he

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