the American dream and its effects on one or more characters in The Great Gatsby.

Student’s Name:
Professor’s Name:
Subject:
Date:
The American Dream
The American Dream is described as a notion that any individual, despite his or her social class, ethnic background, nationality, race or gender, can be successful in the United States, if he or she puts more effort in the work they are doing. In this case, the American dream presents a pretty rosy perception of the American community that ignores issues such as income inequality, racism, and xenophobia. It also presumes the myth of equality in the different social classes, while the reality is that America is composed of a pretty well-developed social class ladder.
F. Scott Fitzgerald’s The Great Gatsby brings forth the American dream that was slowly being eroded by greed and malice. To him, the American dream was initially comprised of a set of goals that put hope in the hearts of every American. Such goals originally contained in the American dream included freedom for all where an ordinary American enjoyed the right to various freedoms such as freedom of movement, association, right to own property, a right to self- determination among other sets of privileges and entitlements.
An American, regardless of color, religion, sexual orientation or cultural inclination enjoyed the freedom to live in America and associate at all levels as well as the right to live an honest life. Everyone was accorded the right to an upward social as well as economic mobility that was earned by working hard and tirelessly(Shapiro: 539-543).

Fitzgerald discredits the corrupted American dream which was perceived as pure by its proponents and introduces the concept of hard work whereby to him everyone should achieve social and economic mobility through hard work. He maintains that what the proponents of the concept wanted people to believe and assume to be the American dream was a mere delusion of the original pure American dream that was altered deliberately by those in power for the sake of their own selfish gains.
In his critique of the perceived American dream, he puts forth various characters such as Myrtle Wilson, Tom Buchanan, Jay Gatsby as well as the people in attendance at the Gatsby’s extravaganza who not invited to the party. First, Myrtle Wilson, a minor character in the novel who resided in the Valley of Ashes together with her poor husband George Wilson is used to serve as a representation for the degeneration of the great American ideals which were once held with high regards and great value. Such are the ideals of hard work and honesty that were initially occupied by great Americans.
Myrtle struggles in her attempt to rise up the social scale and uses every available means to advance her goal; she becomes the mistress of a wealthy man by the name Tom Buchanan. Her actions embodied the degenerated morality of contained in the American dream in the 1920s. Myrtle and Buchanan act in a pretentious manner reminiscent of the American dream which on the surface looks good and promising when in a real sense, it is so rotten. Buchanan visits Myrtle in the presence of her husband, but the two pretend as if nothing is going between them. Myrtle walks up to Buchanan and looks him straight in the eyes; she wets her lips and acts in a sensuous manner in an attempt to attract Tom so that she could get favors from him. She goes to the end of lying to her husband that she was going to visit her sister but ends up at Buchanan’s for sexual intercourse for pleasantries(Maguire: 29-43). The actions of the three characters portray the corrupt world Fitzgerald lived in under the disguise of the American dream.
The rot in the American dream of the 1920s is represented by the actions of Myrtle and Buchanan, who are corrupted by their love for material wealth. Myrtle goes outside her matrimonial home without caring about the consequences of her actions. She is only driven by the material gains to be accrued from her actions. The actions are reminiscent of the perceived American dream. The leaders make it appear as if there is an American dream which is good and which ought to be pursued. The same leaders go against the ideals they advocate for by stealing the national resources without having any considerations for the poor citizen who is going to suffer as a result of the injustice.
Second, Fitzgerald uses another character by the name Jay Gatsby, who comes out as a young seventeen-year-old who is starting a new life. This new life soon involves a lady called Daisy, whom Gatsby falls deeply in love with, but this love disappears making Gatsby spend his entire life trying to win Daisy back into his life. The obsession with the past life ends up serving as Gatsby’s downfall. He spends his whole life trying to win Daisy back to a flashy lifestyle instead of focussing on rebuilding his future.
The life of Gatsby is a rendition of the American dream. America spends her time every day chasing her past instead of concentrating on rebuilding herself and recovering from the past injustices. Fitzgerald maintains that the American dream focuses on chasing after what the people so hopelessly wish for, in the process ending up chasing after their tails due to the fact that they forget to realize that as they are busy chasing after the perceived greatness, their dreams are happening out there without them realizing. The people are encouraged not to be fooled by the ideals of the American dream, but to work hard instead in order for them to achieve their dreams. Nick Carraway in support of Fitzgerald’s ideals on this flow of the human condition calls upon every American to stretch forth their arms in order to be able to grab their fortunes instead of waiting for the nation to deliver to them their fortunes. Although the tale on Gatsby looks like a traditional tale of tatters to riches, the fact that he prospers through unethical means complicates the reader’s assumption that he is the best representation of the American dream. Moreover, his success does not last for an extended period since he continued to pine for a lady and in the event, he lost all his wealth during his quest of getting back Daisy. His big dreams, all uncertainly attached to a Daisy were as fragile and flight as the lady.
In conclusion, Fitzgerald illustrates the American dream as a mere delusion, which has been corrupted and construed to benefit the few who are in power while the majority are left wallowing in poverty. Through his demonstrations, he clearly illustrates how shallow the American dream is and how, despite the glitter on the surface, there is greed, malice and deception underneath.

Work Cited
Examples Of Satire About American Ideals In ‘The Great Gatsby'”. Education.seattlepi.com. N.p., 2016. Web. 29 Oct. 2016.
Fitzgerald, F. Scott. The Great Gatsby.Ware: Wordsworth Classics, 1993. Print.”Grande – Desire In The Great Gatsby”. Anthropoetics.ucla.edu. N.p., 2016. Web. 29 Oct. 2016.
Maguire, Leanne. “Decadence and Disability: Capital Degeneration in the New York of Edith Wharton and F. Scott Fitzgerald.” Edith Wharton Review 30.1 (2014): 29-43.
Shapiro, Stephen. “Review: The Dream of the Great American Novel.” NINETEEN CENT LIT 69.4 (2015): 539-543.