The Great Gatsby: The Corrupt Nature of the American Dream

The Great Gatsby: The Corrupt Nature of the American Dream
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The American dream is an ideology that anyone can be successful in America as long as they work hard, become wealthy and gain status quo. F. Scott Fitzgerald, in The Great Gatsby, portrays the destruction of what many believe is the American dream through the loss of morality and humility in pursuit of wealth. The American dream, which stands until today, is based on high moral standards that attract love and happiness. Many people across the world view this "dream" as factual and believe that America maintains such standards. In contrast, Fitzgerald’s novel portrays a perspective that shows the suffering undergone by those who have pursued and achieved the American dream in unethical means. The focus of this paper is on the nature of the American dream as depicted by Fitzgerald. Therefore, the withering of the American dream is the central thesis of this paper.
Fitzgerald presents Jay Gatsby as a fighter, one who is ready to do anything to achieve what he desires; the American dream. In the novel, Gatsby, born and raised in a low-income family, believes that Daisy’s love, wealth and status quo is all he needs to be happy in life. Gatsby engages in corrupt deals, gains opulence and changes his name. He does this with a view that the new name will match with the status quo that wealth has offered him. Gatsby pursues Daisy despite her being in another relationship. In the novel, Gatsby buys a luxurious mansion to lure Daisy into loving him. ‘Gatsby bought that house so that Daisy would be just across the bay (p. 151). Additionally, he throws parties every week with a hope that Daisy may attend and have an opportunity to talk to her. He even goes to greater lengths and uses Nick to get an audience with Daisy. Gatsby is therefore presented as a conniving optimist who believes that Daisy will fall for in love with him if she l...