State of The American Dream in The Great Gatsby Essay Example

The American Dream is a set of ideals; freedom, democracy, equality, and individual rights, created in the hope of founding a new country where anybody, regardless of their background, could create a healthy and happy life for themselves. However, as war rose upon the horizon, the American Dream had slowly morphed into something more sinister and foreboding. The citizens of America had lost their sense of traditional values and believed their deaths were fast-approaching, they had become money-hungry and began to live life on the edge. The state of the American Dream became an unspoken topic until F. Scott Fitzgerald spoke out through his literary work, The Great Gatsby. He creates a story through the perspective of Nick Carraway, a younger man from Minnesota who traveled to New York City to learn the methods of the bond business. Nick serves as a limited narrator, watching a tragic story unfold before his eyes as he witnesses greed gets the best of his acquaintances. Author F. Scott Fitzgerald demonstrates his belief in the failure of the American Dream through the characters Nick Carraway, Jay Gatsby, and Myrtle Wilson, and how the original ideal of liberty, freedom and happiness wilted into the reality of materialistic desires.

Nick Carraway is a character that is actively chasing his ideal of the American Dream, who is tolerant and honest towards his peers within the literature. Nick Carraway’s traditional beliefs stem from his past education and experience in the war, which drive him to attain his goals and live the life he’s strived to have in peace and prosperity. Upon his arrival to New York, Nick had moved to West Egg, which compensates for those who had newly come into wealth to try his luck in living in the high-strung and unruly city. Nick had made a point to think to himself, “Everyone suspects himself of at least one of the cardinal virtues, and this is mine: I am one of the few honest people I have ever known” (Fitzgerald 59). As a character, Nick ends up finding himself to be one of the only people who are trustworthy within the narrative. He demonstrates himself to be a trustworthy confidant with which most anyone could share their secrets. Jordan remarked to Nick, “’It was—simply amazing,’ she repeated abstractedly. ‘But I swore I wouldn’t tell it and here I am tantalizing you’” (Fitzgerald 52). Nick Carraway had always been seen as a trustable person due to his quiet and attentive nature; therefore, the likes of many characters such as Jay Gatsby and Jordan Baker had begun to easily lower their walls around Nick and share their exclusive and private knowledge with him. Nick Carraway only wishes for a life that resides with his dreams and ideals, and once it was finally obtained, he was exposed to the vile truth behind the bustling streets of New York City. Because of Nick’s perpetual kindness, he was soon to befriend a man named Jay Gatsby, which he was the only one to end up truly caring about him and his eventual death.

Jay Gatsby is a character built upon his childish dream of re-capturing a love that he had lost back in his younger days. His passion for Daisy Buchanan blinds and distorts his perception of reality and drives him to do whatever he can to catch her eye and win over her affection, even if that results in the breaking of the law and nefarious activity. Gatsby is often found staring across the shore at the dancing green light hanging above Daisy’s dock. Nick narrates, “”Can’t repeat the past?” he cried incredulously. “Why of course you can!” He looked around him wildly, as if the past were lurking here in the shadow of his house, just out of reach of his hand” (Fitzgerald 110). Gatsby is so fixated on recreating his past with Daisy Buchanan, he is blindly leading himself down a path of inevitable failure. Gatsby never got the future he wanted with Daisy because of her money-hungry personality. Nick recites, “’Was Daisy driving?’ ‘Yes,’ he said after a moment, ‘but of course I’ll say I was’” (Fitzgerald 143). Gatsby aimlessly throws himself in the way of harm to cover for Daisy’s actions instead of explaining that she was the one who committed the crime. Jay Gatsby desperately attempts to pursue his life he’s always dreamed of no matter the cost. Because of his dedication and foolishness, Gatsby ends up harming himself in the process of chasing his ideals and leaves himself feeling hollow and unfulfilled. The tragedy of the hit-and-run of Myrtle Wilson ended up leading Gatsby to his ultimate demise.

Myrtle Wilson is built upon her dream of escaping the miserable life she’s found herself in and parting from her dead-beat husband. Myrtle is the mistress of Tom Buchanan, who actively spoils her with anything she wants, which further pulls her away from her sense of reality within the Valley of Ashes. Although Myrtle believes that Tom truly loves her, he simply uses and views her as an object and if she steps out of line, he’d do almost anything to put her in her place. Nick Carraway recounts, “With the influence of the dress her personality had also undergone a change. The intense vitality that had been so remarkable in the garage was converted into impressive hauteur” (Fitzgerald 30). Myrtle is found to change her personality when she’s with Tom in a more contemptuous situation. She makes an effort to come off as a wealthy snob and to make an illusion that she’s always been within the higher class. “Myrtle raised her eyebrows in despair at the shiftlessness of the lower orders.” (Fitzgerald 32). Myrtle Wilson acts as if she completely despises those below her, such as servants, to appear of upper status. She believes that if she pretends and immerses herself into a completely different way of life, she feels she has a possibility of escaping her wretched situation instead of moving west with her husband.

Author F. Scott Fitzgerald demonstrates his belief in the failure of the American Dream through the characters Nick Carraway, Jay Gatsby, and Myrtle Wilson, and how the original ideal of liberty, freedom and happiness wilted into the reality of materialistic desires. Nick Carraway is an honest man pursuing his ideal of the American Dream, which is albeit the closest to the original perception. In his pursuit, he finds himself in a distasteful situation in which he witnesses the corruption of the current state of the ideal he once thought was so noble. Nick’s acquaintance, Jay Gatsby, unwisely and carelessly chases after his ideals and tries to relive his past, unbeknownst to the consequences that would come of his actions. It leads him down a road of inevitable failure and his own demise. Myrtle Wilson is looking for a desperate escape from her miserable life and a way to pursue her own principles of the American Dream, although it is far from attainable from her standpoint. Through the intriguing characters in The Great Gatsby, F. Scott Fitzgerald suggests that the state of the American dream is broken, distorted and not what it once was. The original ideal, mostly portrayed through Nick Carraway, has been tarnished because of the war and other trivial situations that the American people have been through. The original idea centered around piety, liberty, freedom, and justice, while the current idea, portrayed by Jay Gatsby and Myrtle Wilson, is corrupt and a twisted version of a once innocent ideology.