The American Dream Theme Analysis in The Great Gatsby

The definition of the American Dream is “A set of ideas (democracy, rights, liberty, opportunity, and equality) in which freedom includes the opportunity for prosperity and success, as well as upward social mobility for the family and children, achieved through hard work in a society with few barriers.” Which, in practice, is often misunderstood as possession of a fortune. In the novel, The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald, rich people around the narrator, Nick, are the people who misunderstand the American Dream, and Nick watches them and criticizes their versions of the “American Dream”.

The rich people in the novel do not care about treating other people equally. As the American Dream implies, if people only focus on gaining money for themselves, how is it possible for other people to also obtain the same amount of money? This novel criticizes this interpretation of the American Dream because this is not sustainable. Nick observes several crashes caused by this interpretation of the American Dream, which includes when sees the valley of ashes, “where ashes grow like wheat into ridges and hills and grotesque gardens; where ashes take the forms of houses and chimneys and rising smoke and, finally, with a transcendent effort, of ash-gray men who move dimly and already crumbling through the powdery air” (Fitzgerald 23). Ashes from industrialization are compared to wheat that is growing everywhere. Poor people are falling apart because society is moving forward so fast that the careless rich people forget that there are millions of poor people that are still suffering.  At the same time, rich people like Gatsby or Tom are probably having a party or playing polo. This description of poor people is a perfect representation of the oppressive nature of capitalism. A more specific example is Mr. Wilson. He is a regular hard working man that only lives for his family; however, Tom takes that away. When Tom was in Wilson’s garage “[Mr. Wilson’s] voice faded off and Tom glanced impatiently around the garage. Then I heard footsteps on stairs, and in a moment the thickish figure of a woman blocked out the light from the office door” (Fitzgerald 25). Mr. Wilson is the owner of his garage, but in this scene, Tom invades Mr. Wilson’s life for his own interest, he talks to Mr. Wilson in a way as if he is the owner of the garage. Then he takes Myrtle away under Mr. Wilson’s eye; however, Mr. Wilson does not dare to say anything because he is of a lower social class. Tom’s careless creating shows he also always wants more than he has, and this has led to Myrtle. After this, Tom makes Gatsby become the scapegoat. Resulting in the death of both Gatsby and Mr. Wilson. This ending really demonstrates nick’s opinion of Tom and Daisy — “They were careless people, they smashed up things and creatures and then retreated back into their money or their vast carelessness, or whatever it was that kept them together, and let other people clean up the mess they had made” (Fitzgerald 179). In contrast to the idea of building a better world that is advocated in the American Dream, their way of doing things really does not represent the upward social mobility that is mentioned in the American Dream. 

Gatsby was a self-motivated person, and this could have made him become a representation of the American Dream, but he has drifted further and farther away from his initial motivation toward money. Gatsby’s father, Mr. Gatz, shows a list of young Gatsby’s plans. Mr. Gatz also commented “Jimmy was bound to get ahead. He has always had some resolutions like this or something. Do you notice what he’s got about improving his mind? He was always great for that” (Fitzgerald 173). His father’s words clearly show that Gatsby had a dream of being a better person for himself; however, this all changed when he met Daisy. When Gatsby had to leave Daisy “[Daisy] vanished into her rich house, into her rich, full life, leaving Gatsby – nothing. He felt married to her, that was all'' (Fitzgerald 149). Gatsby loves Daisy so much that he felt married to her, but he had nothing to win her. As a result of this truth, from that point on, he knows he needs money to get Daisy. Daisy becomes his motivation and Gatsby wants her so much that he does not care if his money is illegal or not. “‘Her voice is full of money,’ [Gatsby] said suddenly '' (Fitzgerald 110). In Gatsby’s heart, Daisy becomes the symbol of money. Then as time moves on, his main motivation becomes money itself.

Nick, on the other hand, is a completely different kind of person. He is careful, he watches, he is genuine and hardworking. When Nick says he is “inclined to reserve [his] judgment” (Fitzgerald 1). He means a completely different thing. This novel is from Nick’s point of view. The entire book is about his judgment. He says “ Gatsby, who represented everything for which I have an unaffected scorn” (Fitzgerald 2). Which shows that he dislikes Gatsby’s way of living, which is rich, full of parties, and a big house Rather than doing something good for society, he just uses his money to win the woman he loves, which is his entire motivation and this is clearly on the opposite side of the American Dream in theory. And he describes Daisy and Tom as “careless people who smash things up” (Fitzgerald 179). His critic of the people around him clearly shows that he is a different type of person from the others. He works hard to earn a simple life. Although he dislikes the other people, he still tries to be friends with them, which shows his genuineness. In the end, “[Nick] became aware of the old island here that flowered once for Dutch sailors’ eyes – a fresh, green breast of the new world. Its vanished trees, the trees that had made way for Gatsby’s house, had once pandered in whispers to the last and greatest of all human dreams.” (Fitzgerald 180). He has gone back to the root of this society that has been built on the golden money and blue loneliness and sees the true motivation of all of these, which is a green desire of being better than before, the true American Dream.

The Great Gatsby reflects the broken American Dream in practice from different points of view. Nick understands that the root of the American Dream is not based on money, so he chooses to be a quiet observer of the careless people in this novel, and criticize them.