Why Is The American Dream Important In The Great Gatsby

Nick is made to view Gatsby in a positive light and as a positive influence in order for readers to see his dreamer ideology in the same way. Gatsby’s whole persona and traits are built on dreams so when Nick can’t help but notice how Gatsby’s smile and demeanor seem to “concentrate on you with an irresistible prejudice in your favor” and “[believe] in you as you would like to believe in yourself,” it reveals how beneficial Nick sees dreams as being to society (Fitzgerald 48). The emphasis on the “you” displays how dreams truly help those who have them. They don’t focus on anyone or anything else, they have a “prejudice” towards “you,” demonstrating how dreams will always support you, making them extremely beneficial. Similarly, the sense

Nick also feels “at [his] best” when Gatsby smiles at him in this way which signifies how dreams are not only beneficial to those who have them, but also the society around them (Fitzgerald 48). Nick’s appreciation of Gatsby’s dreams is additionally expressed when he “[looks] with admiration at his car” because, as previously mentioned, everything about Gatsby is built on his dreams, including his car, so Nick’s “admiration” for the car represents his admiration for the dreams which that car stands for (Fitzgerald 164). Likewise, Hustvedt argues that Gatsby is only great because of such opinions from Nick as “Nick is the only one who is able to see the greatness of his wish” which further demonstrates how important Nick is to seeing the power of dreams and how Nick sees dreams, “wish[es],” as things of greatness (Hustvedt 266). These interpretations on the power and greatness of dreams by Nick are translated to the readers as they follow the only train of thought which they are offered, their narrators, leaving them, as James Mellard argues, with a “belief in the quest and the quester” and a support of dreams as a whole (Mellard