The American Dream promises “Liberty, Life, and the pursuit of happiness.” In the 1925 novel, The Great Gatsby, by F. Scott Fitzgerald, we examine the 1920’s and the characters’ desire for the American Dream. A young man called Nick Carraway, who is a cousin of Daisy Buchanan was the one who narrated the novel. The story observes a man named Jay Gatsby who directs his life around his desire to be with Daisy; a romance that he had half a decade ago. Jay Gatsby’s yearning accompanied him from poverty to great wealth, into Daisy’s arms and then eventually resulted in his death. Throughout The Great Gatsby, the author asserts that The American Dream is unreachable because those people who believe it are always seeking things that excel greater than themselves. They frequently strive for more, focusing on material things, and are not content with what they have. He illustrates that it is precarious for an individual to grasp for more than what they are appointed and manifests the intention that if one becomes too obsessed with materialistic things, they would not be accorded the assurance of happiness.
All of the characters attempted to pursue the American Dream. Even the characters that are already living the life of the American Dream are not genuinely happy. Throughout the novel, we can examine the extravagant lifestyle of Tom Buchanan and his wife, Daisy. “Her husband, among various physical accomplishments, had been one of the most powerful ends that ever played football at New Haven—a national figure in a way, one of those men who reach such acute limited excellence at twenty-one that everything afterward savors of anticlimax. His family was enormously wealthy—even in college his freedom with money was a matter for reproach.”(8) They were both born into the American Dream lifestyle and they represent all the achievements of the American Dream. They possess everything they want and need; wealth, fame, and all things that other people wish for. “‘Go ahead,’ answered Daisy genially, ‘And if you want to take down any addresses here’s my little gold pencil…’ She looked around for a moment and told me the girl was ‘common but pretty,’ and I knew that except for the half-hour she’d been alone with Gatsby she wasn’t having a good time.”(113) Their relationship wasn’t perfect as Tom continuously cheats on his wife with different mistresses and Daisy loves another man, Gatsby. Although Tom and Daisy don’t have a proper relationship, they still stayed together. Daisy stayed to be with Tom despite his infidelity because she wanted to keep up her respectable reputation and position. During Tom’s unfaithfulness with Daisy, he still loves her and performs his best to stay with her. Their pursuit of the American Dream significantly affects Gatsby since he won’t be able to be with Daisy anymore.
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One of the characters that made an effort to pursue the American Dream is Jay Gatsby. Gatsby portrayed the role of a wealthy and well-known man. He has tremendous prosperity, yet it is still not enough for him. Gatsby was born in an exceedingly in-need household but happened to accumulate abundant wealth by working with a millionaire, Dan Cody. “His heart beat faster and faster as Daisy’s white face came up to his own. 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. So he waited, listening for a moment longer to the tuning fork that had been struck upon a star. Then he kissed her. As his lips touched blossomed for him like a flower and the incarnation was complete.”(119) Jay Gatsby’s desire for wealth was driven by his ultimate dream, to be with the lady he loves, Daisy Buchanan. However, he requires the ability to reach his dream because he didn’t have a good and respectable reputation. Tom exposes Gatsby telling the other characters that he's wealth came from illegal ways saying, “I picked him for a bootlegger the first time I saw him and I wasn’t far wrong.”(143) The other characters began to view him differently, and Daisy didn’t want to be seen with such a flawed man that could ruin her image. The novel ended with Gatsby falsely accused of assassinating Myrtle Wilson, creating tension between her husband, George Wilson, and Jay Gatsby, resulting in Gatsby’s assassination and George’s suicide. In the end, Gatsby had great wealth and lived the lifestyle of the American Dream, but never gained back Daisy’s love. Gatsby’s dream and love for Daisy are what pushed him to his destruction.
The American Dream in the novel, The Great Gatsby caused harmful effects on individuals' lives. The American Dream influences people to seek more than what they have. Tom and Daisy’s “Old Money” only gives them an extravagant lifestyle and success but not their happiness. Their American Dream life is full of unfaithfulness and lies. Gatsby’s “New Money” and materialistic life does not receive appreciation or acceptance from the New York high society or Daisy. Scott Fitzgerald demonstrates that the American Dream would only bring hardships and discontentment to the pursuer as supposed to its first promises of success and happiness.
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