How Does Fitzgerald Present The American Dream In The Great Gatsby

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The novel The Great Gatsby, written by F. Scott Fitzgerald, depicts how the American Dream is a false illusion of success that results in corruption and materialism. One way that Fitzgerald depicts the realism of the American Dream is through symbolism. The main character, Jay Gatsby, represents the ideal and the decline of the American Dream in the roaring 1920’s. At first, Gatsby, lives in poverty, but quickly attains wealth and success through immoral actions. After obtaining materialistic wealth, however, his increasing desire to reach his ultimate goal leads to his tragic demise.
The life of Jay Gatsby is the most important symbolic representation of the realism of the American Dream. Coming from a lower class family, Gatsby desperately tries to achieve wealth and success. However, along his journey to success he comes in contact with unethical people who teach him to attain his goal by committing immoral actions. First, it is rumored that Gatsby inherited his wealth because he …show more content…
Gatsby feels that Daisy represents everything he has ever wanted such as wealth, success, etc.; he says “her voice is full of money” (pg. 128.) As a result, he tries to recreate his relationship with Daisy. He throws dazzling, large parties in hope that Daisy will wander in one day and reclaim the love that she had for him, Jordan, one of Daisy’s friends says, “I think he half expected her to wander into one of his parties, some night” (page 85.) In addition, he tries to buy her love by showing her his expensive mansion and beautiful shirts. However, Daisy rejects him because she feels that he is not wealthy enough for her. His attempt to recreate Daisy’s love and win her love with money shows how his American Dream is merely a false illusion. Furthermore, his rejection marks the decline of his American Dream after failing to attain
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