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People often debate what the true meaning of the American dream is. Is it a perfect family? Marrying your high school sweetheart? Having a mansion? If you agree with James Truslow Adams’, you see the American Dream as simply just being, “ an opportunity for each according to ability or achievement.” I feel as if the American dream is not one definition because with today’s society, you are always going to want what you can’t have. The rich and famous say they wish they didn’t have as much fame so they could have privacy, yet the poor would do anything to be rich and famous. Overall, everyone can agree that it is not in their dream to end up alone in life. In the book “The Great Gatsby” by F. Scott Fitzgerald, Gatsby, makes a string of bad decisions and life choices in order to win back his dream girl Daisy. Even though Gatsby has everything else he could ever imagine, since he doesn’t have Daisy, he isn’t truly satisfied. Throughout the book we begin to learn the true reason why Gatsby goes such dangerous lengths to gain his wealth, and that is to impress Daisy and win her back over. Throughout the book, Gatsby is trying to rebuild his past dream relationship with Daisy, and win her back over. He is so deeply in love with her throughout the book he does many things to impress her and gives her whatever he can just to please her. Much like the movie The Vow, which is about a couple who gets in a car accident and the wife loses all of her memory that the husband has to go above and beyond to win her over again just like he did the first time because he cannot live life without her. All of this goes to show the overlying theme that the American Dream is not a realistic goal to achieve as a whole but ending up with the love of your life is something that all can accomplish if you don’t give up on it. According to my mom, “Dream is only a word for something you can’t call reality yet.”
In chapter five, Gatsby finally works up enough courage to invite Daisy over for a tea party at his house to reintroduce himself to her. Nick describing Gatsby goes on to say, “Gatsby, pale as death, with his hands plunged like weights in his coat pockets”. Gatsby when he first reunites with Daisy is so nervous, shakey, and awkward, this first hints at how deep Gatsby’s obsession is with Daisy and this develops more and more throughout the book. This further shows no matter how long you’ve known someone, if you are trying to win them over you don’t want to mess up. Just as Channing Tatum acts in The Vow, when having a “first date” again with his wife. Later in the book, as we learn more about the relationship between the two, Gatsby does the extreme and puts everything on the line for his love, Daisy. In chapter 8, Daisy and Gatsby are driving home together after the intervention with Tom, Myrtle runs out into the street and gets hit by Daisy who’s driving. Nick questions Gatsby, “Was Daisy driving? Yes, he said after a moment, but of course, I’ll say I was”. This is the final true example of how crazy Gatsby was about Daisy and that he would give up his life for Daisy to not get in serious trouble and her reputation to be ruined. Because in Gatsby's eyes, not being alive at all was better than continuing to live without Daisy. Finally, Gatsby’s fate is sealed when Mr. Wilson shoots Gatsby because he thought Gatsby was the one that killed his wife, Myrtle, when it was actually Daisy. This is the biggest example of how Gatsby would do anything for Daisy even give up his life for her, which was obviously not a part of the American Dream.
In the book we look into how Gatsby became such the wealthy man he was when he came from almost nothing. And how all he did to become rich was all to get Daisy. In chapter four, Gatsby has his business partner Mr. Wolfsheim, who he further explains is a gambler, “ No, he’s a gambler. Gatsby hesitated, then added coolly: He’s the man who fixed the World’s Series back in 1919”. This is the first time Gatsby hints at the way he made his riches. Although he didn’t say he participated in these acts, we can make inferences because Gatsby's main business partner is involved in one the biggest illegal gambling schemes ever. Further, throughout the book, Tom and Gatsby start to get into a heated argument after Tom exposes Gatsby for trying to steal his girl from him. Tom uses Gatsby’s background to his advantage and goes on to talk about Gatsby’s “businesses” and exposing him for being a fraud and a criminal. Since Tom knows there is something going on between Daisy and Gatsby, he tries making Gatsby look like this awful person exposing Gatsby for his bootlegging business and selling alcohol over the counter during prohibition. All this illegal stuff Gatsby has gotten himself into is all for the sole purpose of winning over Daisy and that he believed wealth was one of the only ways to do so. Gatsby doing this can easily get him in a lot of trouble, but he did not care about the consequences as long as he was winning back Daisy in the end. Gatsby knew all along that if he gained his wealth and found his back to Daisy again, he would win her over because he knew in his heart, and knew that Daisy also knew they were meant to be together. As Channing Tatum’s character Leo said in The Vow, “No matter what challenges keep us apart, we’ll always find a way back to each other.”
In the book “The Great Gatsby” by F. Scott Fitzgerald one of the themes in the book is not all dreams are obtainable and this is demonstrated through Gatsby. Considering he goes to these extreme lengths, just to eventually give up his life for his number one dream of having Daisy. Concluding, Gatsby didn’t care about the things he had already or cared about making a good life for himself and only cared about them to achieve his one and only goal and dream, Daisy. Because, again, a main part of what society wants and expects within the “American Dream” is not ending up alone. And for Gatsby, without Daisy, that was not possible for him. His dream led to his death before he had his chance of completely fulfilling it, but yet fulfilled it at the same time because he knew if he would’ve stayed alive, Daisy would have chosen him.
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