What Is The Exploitation Of The American Dream In The Great Gatsby

Harry Hansen

Ms. Fredregill

Accelerated Language & Literature III

8 March 2023

The Lie of the Century

The American Dream, a timeless relic of the past. For decades, the American dream was used as a mechanism to create a false reality of opportunity, luring in many only to disappoint. This nation has failed to create an adequate society for all and has chosen to keep people down rather than bring groups up. Professional Articles and famous works of literature have proven that the American Dream is the exploitation of individuals for the benefit of one holding higher economic prestige, making the dream only attainable for the wealthy white American, being unreachable for the lower class and people of color.

The American Dream being an exploitation

Scott Fitzgerald’s masterpiece, The Great Gatsby. Fitzgerald proves the prior mentioned definition of the American Dream through Gatsby’s use and exploitation of Nick. When reading the Great Gatsby, it easy to observe how Gatsby almost uses Nick to get his own desire, Daisy. Throughout the novel Nick is constantly doing favors for his “friend” Gatsby, but Nick is simply a conduit in a larger game. Gatsby, a rich man, is able to befriend Nick over the course of a few months, to the point where Gatsby and Daisy eventually meet up at Nick’s house for tea, impossible without Nick. Gatsby, now getting closer to Daisy each day with the help of his new tool Nick. Fitzgerald even furthers this notion through text where Daisy is at one of Gatsby’s parties. The author states, “He hadn’t once ceased looking at Daisy, and I think he revalued everything in his house of the response it drew from her well-loved eyes. Sometimes he too stared around at his

Wealth inequality for American citizens has been a common issue since the birth of this nation. From enslavement of African Americans in the southern states, to underpaying women as a whole, America has struggled with wealth disparities. The American dream is absolutely no different as Sandra L. Combs proves. She claims that since not all Americans have the ability to access the American Dream, how can anyone envision it in the first place. Sandra L. Combs claims in her article “The American dream: Divisible Economic Justice for All,” when more than 24% of the people in Mississippi, more than 20% of the people in New Mexico, and more than 18% of the people in the nation’s capital, Washington, D.C., are living below the poverty level, there is no economic justice for all. When five states have no minimum wage laws and four states have minimum wage rates lower than that of the federal government, there is no economic justice for all U.S. citizens.” The American Dream claims to allow all to prosper in this nation, but the question that is seldom asked is, how many are failing? How many citizens of this nation are unable to observe this dream, that all Americans are entitled to receive. How many poor individuals have to suffer because of backwards working laws. The clear answer is enough to fill an employer’s chauffeurs. The truth is that our nation has created a set of rules,