Money and success are what the American Dream is all about and what people seek to find when coming to the United States. So what does it mean to be part of the upper class or the so-called one percent”. According to the 2018 Global Wealth Report from Credit Suisse Research Institute, one needs a net worth of $871,320 U.S. Credit.” Suisse defines net worth, or “wealth,” as “the value of financial assets and real assets (principally housing) owned by households, minus their debts.” More than 19 million Americans are in the one percent worldwide, Credit Suisse reports, far more than from any other country, while “China is now clearly established in second place in the world wealth hierarchy,” with 4.2 million citizens among the world’s top 1 percent(Shawncarterm). America has the highest amount of people in the so-called one percent, so does this correlate with the American Dream and why people come to America to get rich and be a successful person overall? Does the American Dream really exist or is it an illusion and also does it matter how one achieves the American Dream? Is The Great Gatsby is more about the corruption of the American Dream rather than really showing it
At the beginning of the novel, readers are introduced to a character named Gatsby a wealthy mysterious man that is well known in West Egg, but no one knows where he got all his wealth from and are told he made his way up from rags to riches by hard work. However, ultimately there will be the downfall of the American Dream By luxurious things, big parties every weekend, and corruption can all play a part in it.
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The ruthless pursuit of wealth leads to the corruption of human nature and moral values. In the Novel, Fitzgerald shows corruption through his different distinct characters and the illusion of the American Dream. The superficial achievement of the American Dream, no fulfillment to anybody, joy, and peace. Instead, creates a lot more problems for the characters in the novel. What happens to Gatsby, Nick, and Daisy all represent the failure of the American Dream. Each character has a different dream as Jay Gatsby to attain happiness through Daisy and power. Nick Carraway’s dream and goal, want to become a stockbroker on the Eastern Seaboard, a highly successful career in the early 1920s, and Nick has a large number of friends already pursuing it. However, in college, he seemed to have a desire to be a writer. Then to find someone in life to show him that the American Dream isn’t an illusion. While Daisy’s dream is to reach a higher standard of living and become even richer by betraying her love and loyalty for Gatsby. The possession of money and power, no doubt, can provide material and pride satisfaction in life; but it cannot fulfill the real needs of the human heart, which is true love and genuine happiness. In order to fulfill their American Dreams, the characters in the novel have actually given up the moral values and beliefs that were once precious to them, and the result is that they reap only emptiness in their hearts and soul.
The fundamental nature of the American Dream depicted in the novel is the desire for something, and the steady assurance to arrive at one's optimistic objective. For Jay Gatsby, his fantasy is to win back the affection for Daisy, the ideal lady of his fantasy. He forfeits his uprightness so as to get rich by including in unlawful business. Gatsby feels that he can reproduce the past, which is simply the relationship and Daisy, with cash. He feels that he can intrigue Daisy with his riches so she will adore him. Gatsby's techniques of winning back Daisy's heart are to flaunt his riches and societal position, for example, associating himself with 'Oxford'; living in a sumptuous 'house', tossing luxurious gatherings, wearing pleasant costly attire; he even has 'men in England who get him garments and sends him a choice'. Gatsby accepts that with his cash and material achievement he could purchase anything in life including genuine romance and bliss. Due to his fixation to acquire Daisy's affection, he sells out his genuineness and ethical quality. 'It was a terrible mistake, but in her heart, she never loved anyone except me'(Fitzgerald 137). Here we can see that Gatsby knew deep down that Daisy did love him for who he is and not just for his wealth. With no other reason throughout everyday life, Gatsby winds up participating in illegal activities. Thusly, it is exceptionally amusing that occasionally throughout everyday life, great hopeful objective, some way or another, is accomplished by shameless and illicit methods. This is the purpose behind the disappointment of the American Dream, and the deplorability of Gatsby.
Daisy is a vain woman and she weds Tom for cash and status and walks out on genuine affection and joy, which is spoken to by Gatsby. Her American Dream is to appreciate a rich and agreeable life given to her by, ideally, a man who genuinely cherishes her, and whom she moreover adores. The defilement of her human qualities starts when she chooses not to stand by any longer for Gatsby, her genuine love, yet to accept the open door that Tom Buchanan offers, which are cash and status. Her decisions uncover her vain and shallow nature covered up underneath her lovely and honest look. When Gatsby comes back with riches and status so as to win her adoration back, she has battled inside her heart about whether she ought to pursue her actual emotions or not. In spite of the fact that when Tom enlightens Daisy regarding Gatsby's 'bootlegging,' with the expectation of wrecking her longing to leave him for Gatsby; her will, which is extremely feeble, falters. She is an individual with no powerful urges or conviction or dedication to anyone, including Gatsby; Tom, her better half; and her own infant young lady. In any event, when she realizes that Tom has a special lady outside, yet she at long last chooses to pick him over Gatsby, who is truly committed to her and is offering her genuine romance. She decides to spurn Gatsby for the existence of solace and security, however, loaded with avoid. Her conduct in reacting to the auto collision wherein she murdered Myrtle, Tom's s special lady, again uncovers her debased nature: 'Thoughtless individuals? Pounded up things and animals and afterward withdrew go into their cash or their immense lack of regard, or whatever it was? What's more, let others tidy up the chaos they had made?'. When looking back at the foundation qualities of the American Dream in the Great Gatsby, which are hope, strength, and determination to reach a person’s idealistic goals in life. Daisy is a very good example of the failure and the corruption of the American Dream. The corruption and failure of the American Dream are seen through Nick Carraway, the narrator of the novel. Nick’s dream is to discover somebody who can understand the hopeful American Dream, and he discovers this individual in Jay Gatsby.
Nick is the main character in the novel that stands aside as an eyewitness and comprehends reality with regard to all individuals and all things. He appreciates Gatsby's assurance and solid will in accomplishing his objectives throughout everyday life except loathes the remainder of the individuals in the general public in which he exists. In his eyes, Tom and Daisy and all the others are a lot of inhumane individuals who become fruitful at the expense of losing valuable human qualities. Gatsby is the only exception among them. In the novel, Nick comments “They’re a rotten crowd… You’re worth the whole damn bunch put together” (Fitzgerald 154). With the physical death of Gatsby, Nick’s hope for the realization of the American Dream is extinguished. He also has a feeling that Gatsby’s faith and hope in his dream are fading away and that Gatsby is beginning to doubt, feeling lost and empty. In the event that that was genuine, he probably felt that he had lost the old warm world, followed through on a significant expense for a really long time with a solitary dream. He is more likely than not gazed toward a new sky through alarming leaves and shuddered as he found what a twisted thing a rose is and how crude the daylight was upon the hardly made grass. Another world, material without being genuine, where poor phantoms, breathing dreams like air?'. Gatsby's fantasy bites the dust, so does Nick's. All in all, Fitzgerald utilizes this deplorable story to express his inclination about the American Dream of the American individuals during the 1920s.
The characters in the novel are being used to reflect the gradual demoralization of the people in the society. Every person living in this world needs to have a dream and purpose to life, something to work towards. Without dreams, one’s life has no meaning, as seen in the destiny of Gatsby and the Buchanans. Their lives become empty and lost without a dream or an idea. Gatsby is an important example of the failure of the American Dream, which is, in fact, an illusion after all.
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