the corruption of the american dream in the great gatsby essay

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The Great Gatsby is a tragic love story on the surface, but it's most commonly understood as a pessimistic critique of the American Dream. In the novel, Jay Gatsby overcomes his poor past to gain an incredible amount of money and a limited amount of social cache in 1920s NYC, only to be rejected by the "old money" crowd. He then gets killed after being tangled up with them.

Through Gatsby's life, as well as that of the Wilsons', Fitzgerald critiques the idea that America is a meritocracy where anyone can rise to the top with enough hard work. We will explore how this theme plays out in the plot, briefly analyze some key quotes about it, as well as do some character analysis and broader analysis of topics surrounding the American Dream in The Great Gatsby .

What is the American Dream? The American Dream in the Great Gatsby plot Key American Dream quotes Analyzing characters via the American Dream Common discussion and essay topics

Quick Note on Our Citations

Our citation format in this guide is (chapter.paragraph). We're using this system since there are many editions of Gatsby, so using page numbers would only work for students with our copy of the book.

To find a quotation we cite via chapter and paragraph in your book, you can either eyeball it (Paragraph 1-50: beginning of chapter; 50-100: middle of chapter; 100-on: end of chapter), or use the search function if you're using an online or eReader version of the text.

What Exactly Is "The American Dream"?

The American Dream is the belief that anyone, regardless of race, class, gender, or nationality, can be successful in America (read: rich) if they just work hard enough. The American Dream thus presents a pretty rosy view of American society that ignores problems like systemic racism and misogyny, xenophobia, tax evasion or state tax avoidance, and income inequality. It also presumes a myth of class equality, when the reality is America has a pretty well-developed class hierarchy.

The 1920s in particular was a pretty tumultuous time due to increased immigration (and the accompanying xenophobia), changing women's roles (spurred by the right to vote, which was won in 1919), and extraordinary income inequality.

The country was also in the midst of an economic boom, which fueled the belief that anyone could "strike it rich" on Wall Street. However, this rapid economic growth was built on a bubble which popped in 1929. The Great Gatsby was published in 1925, well before the crash, but through its wry descriptions of the ultra-wealthy, it seems to somehow predict that the fantastic wealth on display in 1920s New York was just as ephemeral as one of Gatsby's parties.

In any case, the novel, just by being set in the 1920s, is unlikely to present an optimistic view of the American Dream, or at least a version of the dream that's inclusive to all genders, ethnicities, and incomes. With that background in mind, let's jump into the plot!

The American Dream in The Great Gatsby

Chapter 1 places us in a particular year—1922—and gives us some background about WWI.  This is relevant, since the 1920s is presented as a time of hollow decadence among the wealthy, as evidenced especially by the parties in Chapters 2 and 3. And as we mentioned above, the 1920s were a particularly tense time in America.

We also meet George and Myrtle Wilson in Chapter 2 , both working class people who are working to improve their lot in life, George through his work, and Myrtle through her affair with Tom Buchanan.

We learn about Gatsby's goal in Chapter 4 : to win Daisy back. Despite everything he owns, including fantastic amounts of money and an over-the-top mansion, for Gatsby, Daisy is the ultimate status symbol. So in Chapter 5 , when Daisy and Gatsby reunite and begin an affair, it seems like Gatsby could, in fact, achieve his goal.

In Chapter 6 , we learn about Gatsby's less-than-wealthy past, which not only makes him look like the star of a rags-to-riches story, it makes Gatsby himself seem like someone in pursuit of the American Dream, and for him the personification of that dream is Daisy.

However, in Chapters 7 and 8 , everything comes crashing down: Daisy refuses to leave Tom, Myrtle is killed, and George breaks down and kills Gatsby and then himself, leaving all of the "strivers" dead and the old money crowd safe. Furthermore, we learn in those last chapters that Gatsby didn't even achieve all his wealth through hard work, like the American Dream would stipulate—instead, he earned his money through crime. (He did work hard and honestly under Dan Cody, but lost Dan Cody's inheritance to his ex-wife.)

In short, things do not turn out well for our dreamers in the novel! Thus, the novel ends with Nick's sad meditation on the lost promise of the American Dream. You can read a detailed analysis of these last lines in our summary of the novel's ending .

Key American Dream Quotes

In this section we analyze some of the most important quotes that relate to the American Dream in the book.

But I didn't call to him for he gave a sudden intimation that he was content to be alone--he stretched out his arms toward the dark water in a curious way, and far as I was from him I could have sworn he was trembling. Involuntarily I glanced seaward--and distinguished nothing except a single green light, minute and far away, that might have been the end of a dock. (1.152)

In our first glimpse of Jay Gatsby, we see him reaching towards something far off, something in sight but definitely out of reach. This famous image of the green light is often understood as part of The Great Gatsby 's meditation on The American Dream—the idea that people are always reaching towards something greater than themselves that is just out of reach . You can read more about this in our post all about the green light .

The fact that this yearning image is our introduction to Gatsby foreshadows his unhappy end and also marks him as a dreamer, rather than people like Tom or Daisy who were born with money and don't need to strive for anything so far off.

Over the great bridge, with the sunlight through the girders making a constant flicker upon the moving cars, with the city rising up across the river in white heaps and sugar lumps all built with a wish out of non-olfactory money. The city seen from the Queensboro Bridge is always the city seen for the first time, in its first wild promise of all the mystery and the beauty in the world.

A dead man passed us in a hearse heaped with blooms, followed by two carriages with drawn blinds and by more cheerful carriages for friends. The friends looked out at us with the tragic eyes and short upper lips of south-eastern Europe, and I was glad that the sight of Gatsby's splendid car was included in their somber holiday. As we crossed Blackwell's Island a limousine passed us, driven by a white chauffeur, in which sat three modish Negroes, two bucks and a girl. I laughed aloud as the yolks of their eyeballs rolled toward us in haughty rivalry.

"Anything can happen now that we've slid over this bridge," I thought; "anything at all. . . ."

Even Gatsby could happen, without any particular wonder. (4.55-8)

Early in the novel, we get this mostly optimistic illustration of the American Dream—we see people of different races and nationalities racing towards NYC, a city of unfathomable possibility. This moment has all the classic elements of the American Dream—economic possibility, racial and religious diversity, a carefree attitude. At this moment, it does feel like "anything can happen," even a happy ending.

However, this rosy view eventually gets undermined by the tragic events later in the novel. And even at this point, Nick's condescension towards the people in the other cars reinforces America's racial hierarchy that disrupts the idea of the American Dream. There is even a little competition at play, a "haughty rivalry" at play between Gatsby's car and the one bearing the "modish Negroes."

Nick "laughs aloud" at this moment, suggesting he thinks it's amusing that the passengers in this other car see them as equals, or even rivals to be bested. In other words, he seems to firmly believe in the racial hierarchy Tom defends in Chapter 1, even if it doesn't admit it honestly.

His heart beat faster and faster as Daisy's white face came up to his own. He knew that when he kissed this girl, and forever wed his unutterable visions to her perishable breath, his mind would never romp again like the mind of God. So he waited, listening for a moment longer to the tuning fork that had been struck upon a star. Then he kissed her. At his lips' touch she blossomed for him like a flower and the incarnation was complete. (6.134)

This moment explicitly ties Daisy to all of Gatsby's larger dreams for a better life —to his American Dream. This sets the stage for the novel's tragic ending, since Daisy cannot hold up under the weight of the dream Gatsby projects onto her. Instead, she stays with Tom Buchanan, despite her feelings for Gatsby. Thus when Gatsby fails to win over Daisy, he also fails to achieve his version of the American Dream. This is why so many people read the novel as a somber or pessimistic take on the American Dream, rather than an optimistic one.  

...as the moon rose higher the inessential houses began to melt away until gradually I became aware of the old island here that flowered once for Dutch sailors' eyes--a fresh, green breast of the new world. Its vanished trees, the trees that had made way for Gatsby's house, had once pandered in whispers to the last and greatest of all human dreams; for a transitory enchanted moment man must have held his breath in the presence of this continent, compelled into an aesthetic contemplation he neither understood nor desired, face to face for the last time in history with something commensurate to his capacity for wonder.

And as I sat there brooding on the old, unknown world, I thought of Gatsby's wonder when he first picked out the green light at the end of Daisy's dock. He had come a long way to this blue lawn and his dream must have seemed so close that he could hardly fail to grasp it. He did not know that it was already behind him, somewhere back in that vast obscurity beyond the city, where the dark fields of the republic rolled on under the night." (9.151-152)

The closing pages of the novel reflect at length on the American Dream, in an attitude that seems simultaneously mournful, appreciative, and pessimistic. It also ties back to our first glimpse of Gatsby, reaching out over the water towards the Buchanan's green light. Nick notes that Gatsby's dream was "already behind him" then (or in other words, it was impossible to attain). But still, he finds something to admire in how Gatsby still hoped for a better life, and constantly reached out toward that brighter future.

For a full consideration of these last lines and what they could mean, see our analysis of the novel's ending .

Analyzing Characters Through the American Dream

An analysis of the characters in terms of the American Dream usually leads to a pretty cynical take on the American Dream.

Most character analysis centered on the American Dream will necessarily focus on Gatsby, George, or Myrtle (the true strivers in the novel), though as we'll discuss below, the Buchanans can also provide some interesting layers of discussion. For character analysis that incorporates the American Dream, carefully consider your chosen character's motivations and desires, and how the novel does (or doesn't!) provide glimpses of the dream's fulfillment for them.

Gatsby himself is obviously the best candidate for writing about the American Dream—he comes from humble roots (he's the son of poor farmers from North Dakota) and rises to be notoriously wealthy, only for everything to slip away from him in the end. Many people also incorporate Daisy into their analyses as the physical representation of Gatsby's dream.

However, definitely consider the fact that in the traditional American Dream, people achieve their goals through honest hard work, but in Gatsby's case, he very quickly acquires a large amount of money through crime . Gatsby does attempt the hard work approach, through his years of service to Dan Cody, but that doesn't work out since Cody's ex-wife ends up with the entire inheritance. So instead he turns to crime, and only then does he manage to achieve his desired wealth.

So while Gatsby's story arc resembles a traditional rags-to-riches tale, the fact that he gained his money immorally complicates the idea that he is a perfect avatar for the American Dream . Furthermore, his success obviously doesn't last—he still pines for Daisy and loses everything in his attempt to get her back. In other words, Gatsby's huge dreams, all precariously wedded to Daisy  ("He knew that when he kissed this girl, and forever wed his unutterable visions to her perishable breath, his mind would never romp again like the mind of God" (6.134)) are as flimsy and flight as Daisy herself.

George and Myrtle Wilson

This couple also represents people aiming at the dream— George owns his own shop and is doing his best to get business, though is increasingly worn down by the harsh demands of his life, while Myrtle chases after wealth and status through an affair with Tom.

Both are disempowered due to the lack of money at their own disposal —Myrtle certainly has access to some of the "finer things" through Tom but has to deal with his abuse, while George is unable to leave his current life and move West since he doesn't have the funds available. He even has to make himself servile to Tom in an attempt to get Tom to sell his car, a fact that could even cause him to overlook the evidence of his wife's affair. So neither character is on the upward trajectory that the American Dream promises, at least during the novel.

In the end, everything goes horribly wrong for both George and Myrtle, suggesting that in this world, it's dangerous to strive for more than you're given.

George and Myrtle's deadly fates, along with Gatsby's, help illustrate the novel's pessimistic attitude toward the American Dream. After all, how unfair is it that the couple working to improve their position in society (George and Myrtle) both end up dead, while Tom, who dragged Myrtle into an increasingly dangerous situation, and Daisy, who killed her, don't face any consequences? And on top of that they are fabulously wealthy? The American Dream certainly is not alive and well for the poor Wilsons.

Tom and Daisy as Antagonists to the American Dream

We've talked quite a bit already about Gatsby, George, and Myrtle—the three characters who come from humble roots and try to climb the ranks in 1920s New York. But what about the other major characters, especially the ones born with money? What is their relationship to the American Dream?

Specifically, Tom and Daisy have old money, and thus they don't need the American Dream, since they were born with America already at their feet.

Perhaps because of this, they seem to directly antagonize the dream—Daisy by refusing Gatsby, and Tom by helping to drag the Wilsons into tragedy .

This is especially interesting because unlike Gatsby, Myrtle, and George, who actively hope and dream of a better life, Daisy and Tom are described as bored and "careless," and end up instigating a large amount of tragedy through their own recklessness.

In other words, income inequality and the vastly different starts in life the characters have strongly affected their outcomes. The way they choose to live their lives, their morality (or lack thereof), and how much they dream doesn't seem to matter. This, of course, is tragic and antithetical to the idea of the American Dream, which claims that class should be irrelevant and anyone can rise to the top.

Daisy as a Personification of the American Dream

As we discuss in our post on money and materialism in The Great Gatsby , Daisy's voice is explicitly tied to money by Gatsby:

"Her voice is full of money," he said suddenly.

That was it. I'd never understood before. It was full of money--that was the inexhaustible charm that rose and fell in it, the jingle of it, the cymbals' song of it. . . . High in a white palace the king's daughter, the golden girl. . . . (7.105-6)

If Daisy's voice promises money, and the American Dream is explicitly linked to wealth, it's not hard to argue that Daisy herself—along with the green light at the end of her dock —stands in for the American Dream. In fact, as Nick goes on to describe Daisy as "High in a white palace the king's daughter, the golden girl," he also seems to literally describe Daisy as a prize, much like the princess at the end of a fairy tale (or even Princess Peach at the end of a Mario game!).

But Daisy, of course, is only human—flawed, flighty, and ultimately unable to embody the huge fantasy Gatsby projects onto her. So this, in turn, means that the American Dream itself is just a fantasy, a concept too flimsy to actually hold weight, especially in the fast-paced, dog-eat-dog world of 1920s America.

Furthermore, you should definitely consider the tension between the fact that Daisy represents Gatsby's ultimate goal, but at the same time (as we discussed above), her actual life is the opposite of the American Dream : she is born with money and privilege, likely dies with it all intact, and there are no consequences to how she chooses to live her life in between.

Can Female Characters Achieve the American Dream?

Finally, it's interesting to compare and contrast some of the female characters using the lens of the American Dream.

Let's start with Daisy, who is unhappy in her marriage and, despite a brief attempt to leave it, remains with Tom, unwilling to give up the status and security their marriage provides. At first, it may seem like Daisy doesn't dream at all, so of course she ends up unhappy. But consider the fact that Daisy was already born into the highest level of American society. The expectation placed on her, as a wealthy woman, was never to pursue something greater, but simply to maintain her status. She did that by marrying Tom, and it's understandable why she wouldn't risk the uncertainty and loss of status that would come through divorce and marriage to a bootlegger. Again, Daisy seems to typify the "anti-American" dream, in that she was born into a kind of aristocracy and simply has to maintain her position, not fight for something better.

In contrast, Myrtle, aside from Gatsby, seems to be the most ambitiously in pursuit of getting more than she was given in life. She parlays her affair with Tom into an apartment, nice clothes, and parties, and seems to revel in her newfound status. But of course, she is knocked down the hardest, killed for her involvement with the Buchanans, and specifically for wrongfully assuming she had value to them. Considering that Gatsby did have a chance to leave New York and distance himself from the unfolding tragedy, but Myrtle was the first to be killed, you could argue the novel presents an even bleaker view of the American Dream where women are concerned.

Even Jordan Baker , who seems to be living out a kind of dream by playing golf and being relatively independent, is tied to her family's money and insulated from consequences by it , making her a pretty poor representation of the dream. And of course, since her end game also seems to be marriage, she doesn't push the boundaries of women's roles as far as she might wish.

So while the women all push the boundaries of society's expectations of them in certain ways, they either fall in line or are killed, which definitely undermines the rosy of idea that anyone, regardless of gender, can make it in America. The American Dream as shown in Gatsby becomes even more pessimistic through the lens of the female characters.  

Common Essay Questions/Discussion Topics

Now let's work through some of the more frequently brought up subjects for discussion.

#1: Was Gatsby's dream worth it? Was all the work, time, and patience worth it for him?

Like me, you might immediately think "of course it wasn't worth it! Gatsby lost everything, not to mention the Wilsons got caught up in the tragedy and ended up dead!" So if you want to make the more obvious "the dream wasn't worth it" argument, you could point to the unraveling that happens at the end of the novel (including the deaths of Myrtle, Gatsby and George) and how all Gatsby's achievements are for nothing, as evidenced by the sparse attendance of his funeral.

However, you could definitely take the less obvious route and argue that Gatsby's dream was worth it, despite the tragic end . First of all, consider Jay's unique characterization in the story: "He was a son of God--a phrase which, if it means anything, means just that--and he must be about His Father's Business, the service of a vast, vulgar and meretricious beauty" (6.7). In other words, Gatsby has a larger-than-life persona and he never would have been content to remain in North Dakota to be poor farmers like his parents.

Even if he ends up living a shorter life, he certainly lived a full one full of adventure. His dreams of wealth and status took him all over the world on Dan Cody's yacht, to Louisville where he met and fell in love with Daisy, to the battlefields of WWI, to the halls of Oxford University, and then to the fast-paced world of Manhattan in the early 1920s, when he earned a fortune as a bootlegger. In fact, it seems Jay lived several lives in the space of just half a normal lifespan. In short, to argue that Gatsby's dream was worth it, you should point to his larger-than-life conception of himself and the fact that he could have only sought happiness through striving for something greater than himself, even if that ended up being deadly in the end.

#2: In the Langston Hughes poem "A Dream Deferred," Hughes asks questions about what happens to postponed dreams. How does Fitzgerald examine this issue of deferred dreams? What do you think are the effects of postponing our dreams? How can you apply this lesson to your own life?

If you're thinking about "deferred dreams" in The Great Gatsby , the big one is obviously Gatsby's deferred dream for Daisy—nearly five years pass between his initial infatuation and his attempt in the novel to win her back, an attempt that obviously backfires. You can examine various aspects of Gatsby's dream—the flashbacks to his first memories of Daisy in Chapter 8 , the moment when they reunite in Chapter 5 , or the disastrous consequences of the confrontation of Chapter 7 —to illustrate Gatsby's deferred dream.

You could also look at George Wilson's postponed dream of going West, or Myrtle's dream of marrying a wealthy man of "breeding"—George never gets the funds to go West, and is instead mired in the Valley of Ashes, while Myrtle's attempt to achieve her dream after 12 years of marriage through an affair ends in tragedy. Apparently, dreams deferred are dreams doomed to fail.

As Nick Carraway says, "you can't repeat the past"—the novel seems to imply there is a small window for certain dreams, and when the window closes, they can no longer be attained. This is pretty pessimistic, and for the prompt's personal reflection aspect, I wouldn't say you should necessarily "apply this lesson to your own life" straightforwardly. But it is worth noting that certain opportunities are fleeting, and perhaps it's wiser to seek out newer and/or more attainable ones, rather than pining over a lost chance.

Any prompt like this one which has a section of more personal reflection gives you freedom to tie in your own experiences and point of view, so be thoughtful and think of good examples from your own life!

#3: Explain how the novel does or does not demonstrate the death of the American Dream. Is the main theme of Gatsby indeed "the withering American Dream"? What does the novel offer about American identity?

In this prompt, another one that zeroes in on the dead or dying American Dream, you could discuss how the destruction of three lives (Gatsby, George, Myrtle) and the cynical portrayal of the old money crowd illustrates a dead, or dying American Dream . After all, if the characters who dream end up dead, and the ones who were born into life with money and privilege get to keep it without consequence, is there any room at all for the idea that less-privileged people can work their way up?

In terms of what the novel says about American identity, there are a few threads you could pick up—one is Nick's comment in Chapter 9 about the novel really being a story about (mid)westerners trying (and failing) to go East : "I see now that this has been a story of the West, after all--Tom and Gatsby, Daisy and Jordan and I, were all Westerners, and perhaps we possessed some deficiency in common which made us subtly unadaptable to Eastern life" (9.125). This observation suggests an American identity that is determined by birthplace, and that within the American identity there are smaller, inescapable points of identification.

Furthermore, for those in the novel not born into money, the American identity seems to be about striving to end up with more wealth and status. But in terms of the portrayal of the old money set, particularly Daisy, Tom, and Jordan, the novel presents a segment of American society that is essentially aristocratic—you have to be born into it. In that regard, too, the novel presents a fractured American identity, with different lives possible based on how much money you are born with.

In short, I think the novel disrupts the idea of a unified American identity or American dream, by instead presenting a tragic, fractured, and rigid American society, one that is divided based on both geographic location and social class.

#4: Most would consider dreams to be positive motivators to achieve success, but the characters in the novel often take their dreams of ideal lives too far. Explain how characters' American Dreams cause them to have pain when they could have been content with more modest ambitions.

Gatsby is an obvious choice here—his pursuit of money and status, particularly through Daisy, leads him to ruin. There were many points when perhaps Gatsby ;could have been happy with what he achieved (especially after his apparently successful endeavors in the war, if he had remained at Oxford, or even after amassing a great amount of wealth as a bootlegger) but instead he kept striving upward, which ultimately lead to his downfall. You can flesh this argument out with the quotations in Chapters 6 and 8 about Gatsby's past, along with his tragic death.

Myrtle would be another good choice for this type of prompt. In a sense, she seems to be living her ideal life in her affair with Tom—she has a fancy NYC apartment, hosts parties, and gets to act sophisticated—but these pleasures end up gravely hurting George, and of course her association with Tom Buchanan gets her killed.

Nick, too, if he had been happy with his family's respectable fortune and his girlfriend out west, might have avoided the pain of knowing Gatsby and the general sense of despair he was left with.

You might be wondering about George—after all, isn't he someone also dreaming of a better life? However, there aren't many instances of George taking his dreams of an ideal life "too far." In fact, he struggles just to make one car sale so that he can finally move out West with Myrtle. Also, given that his current situation in the Valley of Ashes is quite bleak, it's hard to say that striving upward gave him pain.

#5: The Great Gatsby is, among other things, a sobering and even ominous commentary on the dark side of the American dream. Discuss this theme, incorporating the conflicts of East Egg vs. West Egg and old money vs. new money. What does the American dream mean to Gatsby? What did the American Dream mean to Fitzgerald? How does morality fit into achieving the American dream?

This prompt allows you to consider pretty broadly the novel's attitude toward the American Dream, with emphasis on "sobering and even ominous" commentary. Note that Fitzgerald seems to be specifically mocking the stereotypical rags to riches story here—;especially since he draws the Dan Cody narrative almost note for note from the work of someone like Horatio Alger, whose books were almost universally about rich men schooling young, entrepreneurial boys in the ways of the world. In other words, you should discuss how the Great Gatsby seems to turn the idea of the American Dream as described in the quote on its head: Gatsby does achieve a rags-to-riches rise, but it doesn't last.

All of Gatsby's hard work for Dan Cody, after all, didn't pay off since he lost the inheritance. So instead, Gatsby turned to crime after the war to quickly gain a ton of money. Especially since Gatsby finally achieves his great wealth through dubious means, the novel further undermines the classic image of someone working hard and honestly to go from rags to riches.

If you're addressing this prompt or a similar one, make sure to focus on the darker aspects of the American Dream, including the dark conclusion to the novel and Daisy and Tom's protection from any real consequences . (This would also allow you to considering morality, and how morally bankrupt the characters are.)

#6: What is the current state of the American Dream?

This is a more outward-looking prompt, that allows you to consider current events today to either be generally optimistic (the American dream is alive and well) or pessimistic (it's as dead as it is in The Great Gatsby).

You have dozens of potential current events to use as evidence for either argument, but consider especially immigration and immigration reform, mass incarceration, income inequality, education, and health care in America as good potential examples to use as you argue about the current state of the American Dream. Your writing will be especially powerful if you can point to some specific current events to support your argument.

What's Next?

In this post, we discussed how important money is to the novel's version of the American Dream. You can read even more about money and materialism in The Great Gatsby right here .

Want to indulge in a little materialism of your own? Take a look through these 15 must-have items for any Great Gatsby fan .

Get complete guides to Jay Gatsby , George Wilson and Myrtle Wilson to get even more background on the "dreamers" in the novel.

Like we discussed above, the green light is often seen as a stand-in for the idea of the American Dream. Read more about this crucial symbol here .

Need help getting to grips with other literary works? Take a spin through our analyses of The Crucible , The Cask of Amontillado , and " Do not go gentle into this good night " to see analysis in action. You might also find our explanations of point of view , rhetorical devices , imagery , and literary elements and devices helpful.

Anna scored in the 99th percentile on her SATs in high school, and went on to major in English at Princeton and to get her doctorate in English Literature at Columbia. She is passionate about improving student access to higher education.

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The Great Gatsby

F. scott fitzgerald, everything you need for every book you read..

The American Dream—that hard work can lead one from rags to riches—has been a core facet of American identity since its inception. Settlers came west to America from Europe seeking wealth and freedom. The pioneers headed west for the same reason. The Great Gatsby shows the tide turning east, as hordes flock to New York City seeking stock market fortunes. The Great Gatsby portrays this shift as a symbol of the American Dream's corruption. It's no longer a vision of building a life; it's just about getting rich.

Gatsby symbolizes both the corrupted Dream and the original uncorrupted Dream. He sees wealth as the solution to his problems, pursues money via shady schemes, and reinvents himself so much that he becomes hollow, disconnected from his past. Yet Gatsby's corrupt dream of wealth is motivated by an incorruptible love for Daisy . Gatsby's failure does not prove the folly of the American Dream—rather it proves the folly of short-cutting that dream by allowing corruption and materialism to prevail over hard work, integrity, and real love. And the dream of love that remains at Gatsby's core condemns nearly every other character in the novel, all of whom are empty beyond just their lust for money.

The American Dream ThemeTracker

The American Dream Quotes in The Great Gatsby

The Corrupted American Dream and Its Significance in “The Great Gatsby” Essay

Introduction.

The movement towards equality and fair opportunity in America is reflected in various literary works. The 1920s, often regarded as the most prosperous years for the spread of the American dream, can also be considered prominent evidence towards the decline of the discussed idea and the social morals of that age. The possibilities provided by the concept and the claim for equal opportunity, although bearing positive intent, had also contributed to the decline of personal values. The novel The Great Gatsby , written by Francis Scott Fitzgerald, perfectly captures the decay of the principles of liberty and fair opportunity, demonstrating the change from individualism to monetary corruption through the main characters’ behavior.

Towards a Better Future: The Significance of Equal Opportunity

The Great Gatsby elaborates on the changes to the original notions of the American dream established after the First World War. Although the initial ideas behind this concept embraced equality and the possibility of happiness for each American citizen, these elements were altered tremendously in the 1920s. The availability of fair opportunity for everyone and the potential to acquire a better social status for lower classes have originated the search for easy wealth, corrupting social values and numerous individuals. Instead of seeking happiness or improving their communities, the characters of The Great Gatsby pursue the ideas of financial affluence and strive to achieve a better social status regardless of the immorality of their actions.

Fitzgerald elaborates on the negative changes in American society through the American dream. Carraway notes that “Americans, while occasionally willing to be serfs, have always been obstinate about being peasantry” (Fitzgerald 68). Thus, discovery and liberty are replaced by a desire for monetary wealth through any means possible. Poverty is now viewed condescendingly, and financial prosperity, rather than morality and personal integrity, are presumed one’s positive qualities. Gambling, bootlegging, and adultery, evident in the behavior of Jay Gatsby and Myrtle Wilson, become the primary strategies to accomplishing the necessary goals, and the American dream itself becomes the symbol of corrupted social values.

The Illusions of the Past in the American Dream

Young Jay Gatsby, the protagonist of the novel, is a manifestation of the accessibility of success for people who were not born into the upper class. Having personally established his affluent social and financial status, he can be considered a beacon of hope for those who desire to alter their standing. Nevertheless, as it becomes known that Gatsby had secured his profits through illegal means in an attempt to impress Daisy Buchanan, the beauty of his American dream starts to vanish (Fitzgerald 100). Through Gatsby, Fitzgerald explains how the American dream was initially supposed to symbolize success and equality but was later deformed, demonstrating the flaws of the society and its corruption.

The results of pursuing the American dream are also depicted in the work, evident in the behavior and attitudes of wealthy characters. The Buchanans, who have inherited their possessions, signify the outcomes of obsession with money and social status. Nick Carraway argues that “Tom and Daisy — they smashed up things and creatures and then retreated back into their money of their vast carelessness […] and let other people clean up the mess they had made” (Fitzgerald 137). Even though the American dream should represent a better and happier life, in reality, it illustrates the decaying values of the upper class, who have no regard for individuals with lower social statuses.

Another aspect of the American dream, excellently depicted in the novel, is its glorification and inaccessibility. Throughout the story, Jay Gatsby and Myrtle Wilson are highly enthusiastic about their future, which is marked by wealth and improved social status. Jay Gatsby is infatuated with the idea of Daisy from the earlier years, which is an illusion that is no longer true. In reality, the young woman is only interested in financial prosperity, and the future that Gatsby imagines is impossible. His desires are perfectly illustrated by the green light: “Gatsby believed in the green light, the orgiastic future that year by year recedes before us. It eluded us then, but that’s no matter — tomorrow we will run faster, stretch out our arms farther” (Fitzgerald 138). Incapable of realizing that his goals are unachievable, Gatsby is, in fact, using the American dream in an attempt to return to the past.

Similar to the young man, Myrtle also imagines a perfect future with Tom, failing to grasp his true intentions. From Myrtle’s perspective, there is a perfect opportunity for her to become a representative of the upper class. However, Myrtle’s future is nothing more than a dream inspired by the notions of equal possibility and wealth, as Tom has no interest in fulfilling her aim (Fitzgerald 118). Altogether, Jay and Myrtle’s constant pursuit disclose how fragile the American dream actually is and how heavily it impacted the society of the 1920s.

To conclude, the theme of the American dream and its significance in the novel The Great Gatsby was discussed thoroughly in this essay, elaborating on the corruption behind this idea evident in 1920s America. The alterations of social trends from the upheaval of individualism to financial greed have distorted the positive intentions behind the American dream. Through the concept of equal opportunity and the characters’ pursuit of financial affluence, the author portrays how morality and individualism, which initially represented this notion, were altered in favor of prosperity.

Fitzgerald, Francis Scott. The Great Gatsby . Scribner Book Company, 2004.

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The Great Gatsby and the American dream

I n the New York Times earlier this year, Paul Krugman wrote of an economic effect called " The Great Gatsby curve ," a graph that measures fiscal inequality against social mobility and shows that America's marked economic inequality means it has correlatively low social mobility. In one sense this hardly seems newsworthy, but it is telling that even economists think that F Scott Fitzgerald's masterpiece offers the most resonant (and economical) shorthand for the problems of social mobility, economic inequality and class antagonism that we face today. Nietzsche – whose Genealogy of Morals Fitzgerald greatly admired – called the transformation of class resentment into a moral system "ressentiment"; in America, it is increasingly called the failure of the American dream, a failure now mapped by the " Gatsby curve".

Fitzgerald had much to say about the failure of this dream, and the fraudulences that sustain it – but his insights are not all contained within the economical pages of his greatest novel. Indeed, when Fitzgerald published The Great Gatsby in April 1925, the phrase "American dream" as we know it did not exist. Many now assume the phrase stretches back to the nation's founding, but "the American dream" was never used to describe a shared national value system until a popular 1917 novel called Susan Lenox: Her Fall and Rise , which remarked that "the fashion and home magazines … have prepared thousands of Americans … for the possible rise of fortune that is the universal American dream and hope." The OED lists this as the first recorded instance of the American dream, although it's not yet the catchphrase as we know it. That meaning is clearly emerging – but only as "possible" rise of fortune; a dream, not a promise. And as of 1917, at least some Americans were evidently beginning to recognise that consumerism and mass marketing were teaching them what to want, and that rises of fortune would be measured by the acquisition of status symbols. The phrase next appeared in print in a 1923 Vanity Fair article by Walter Lippmann , "Education and the White-Collar Class" (which Fitzgerald probably read); it warned that widening access to education was creating untenable economic pressure, as young people graduated with degrees only to find that insufficient white-collar jobs awaited. Instead of limiting access to education in order to keep such jobs the exclusive domain of the upper classes (a practice America had recently begun to justify by means of a controversial new idea called "intelligence tests"), Lippmann argued that Americans must decide that skilled labour was a proper vocation for educated people. There simply weren't enough white-collar jobs to go around, but "if education could be regarded not as a step ladder to a few special vocations, but as the key to the treasure house of life, we should not even have to consider the fatal proposal that higher education be confined to a small and selected class," a decision that would mark the "failure of the American dream" of universal education.

These two incipient instances of the phrase are both, in their different ways, uncannily prophetic; but as a catchphrase, the American dream did not explode into popular culture until the 1931 publication of a book called The Epic of America by James Truslow Adams, which spoke of "the American dream of a better, richer and happier life for all our citizens of every rank, which is the greatest contribution we have made to the thought and welfare of the world. That dream or hope has been present from the start. Ever since we became an independent nation, each generation has seen an uprising of ordinary Americans to save that dream from the forces that appear to be overwhelming it."

In the early years of the great depression Adams's book sparked a great national debate about the promise of America as a place that fosters "the genuine worth of each man or woman", whose efforts should be restricted by "no barriers beyond their own natures". Two years later, a New York Times article noted: "Get-rich-quick and gambling was the bane of our life before the smash"; they were also what caused the "smash" itself in 1929. By 1933, Adams was writing in the New York Times of the way the American dream had been hijacked: "Throughout our history, the pure gold of this vision has been heavily alloyed with the dross of materialistic aims. Not only did the wage scales and our standard of living seem to promise riches to the poor immigrant, but the extent and natural wealth of the continent awaiting exploitation offered to Americans of the older stocks such opportunities for rapid fortunes that the making of money and the enjoying of what money could buy too often became our ideal of a full and satisfying life. The struggle of each against all for the dazzling prizes destroyed in some measure both our private ideals and our sense of social obligation." As the Depression deepened, books such as Who Owns America? A New Declaration of Independence were arguing that "monopoly capitalism is morally ugly as well as economically unsound," that in America "the large majority should be able – in accordance with the tenets of the 'American dream' … to count on living in an atmosphere of equality, in a world which puts relatively few barriers between man and man." Part of the problem, however, was that the dream itself was being destroyed by "the friends of big business, who dishonour the dream by saying that it has been realised" already.

The phrase the American dream was first invented, in other words, to describe a failure, not a promise: or rather, a broken promise, a dream that was continually faltering beneath the rampant monopoly capitalism that set each struggling against all; and it is no coincidence that it was first popularised during the early years of the great depression. The impending failure had been clear to Fitzgerald by the time he finished Gatsby – and the fact that in 1925 most Americans were still recklessly chasing the dream had a great deal to do with the initial commercial and critical failure of The Great Gatsby , which would not be hailed as a masterpiece until the 50s, once hindsight had revealed its prophetic truth.

On 19 October 1929, just five days before the first stock market crash and 10 days before Black Tuesday, Scott Fitzgerald published a now-forgotten story called "The Swimmers," about an American working for the ironically named Promissory Trust Bank, and his realisation that American ideals have been corrupted by money. This corruption is emblematised by sexual infidelity: as in Gatsby , Fitzgerald again used adultery to suggest a larger world of broken promises and betrayals of faith. There's a remarkable moment early in "The Swimmers" – which Fitzgerald called "the hardest story I ever wrote, too big for its space" – when an unfaithful wife, who is French, complains about the American women she sees on the Riviera:

"How would you place them?" she exclaimed. "Great ladies, bourgeoises, adventuresses - they are all the same. Look! …"

Suddenly she pointed to an American girl going into the water:

"That young lady may be a stenographer and yet be compelled to warp herself, dressing and acting as if she had all the money in the world."

"Perhaps she will have, some day."

"That's the story they are told; it happens to one, not to the ninety-nine. That's why all their faces over thirty are discontented and unhappy."

The American dream comes true for just 1%: for the other 99%, only discontent and bitterness await, ressentiment on a mass scale. More than 15 years later, the Marxist critics Theodor Adorno and Max Horkheimer used a similar image of the typist who believed she would be a movie star to reveal the American dream as a rigged lottery that no one wins but everyone plays. Today, almost 100 years after "The Swimmers" appeared, the Occupy movement has clenched its fist around the same angry realisation that we are all the 99%, not the 1%. More remarkable than the fact that Fitzgerald beat Adorno and Horkheimer and the Occupy movement to the punch, however, is that he saw all this before Wall Street came smashing down.

The villain of "The Swimmers" is a rich, vulgar banker who preaches an updated version of the gilded age's "gospel of wealth": "Money is power … Money made this country, built its great and glorious cities, created its industries, covered it with an iron network of railroads." The banker is wrong, the story makes clear, but his vision of America is winning. Feeling increasingly alienated, the protagonist, Marston, finds himself musing on the meanings of America, and especially its eagerness to forget history: "Americans, he liked to say, should be born with fins, and perhaps they were – perhaps money was a form of fin. In England property begot a strong place sense, but Americans, restless and with shallow roots, needed fins and wings. There was even a recurrent idea in America about an education that would leave out history and the past, that should be a sort of equipment for aerial adventure, weighed down by none of the stowaways of inheritance or tradition." The buoyancy of modern America depended on its being unanchored by history or tradition, and this is the America we have inherited. Historical amnesia is certainly liberating – so liberating that America is once again diving into free fall, unmoored by any critical or intellectual insight into its own myths, or even into the histories of the debates that we think define our moment.

Marston eventually decides that there is no place for him in the crass society symbolised by his rival, but he will not relinquish his faith in the ideals that America can represent. As Marston sails for Europe, watching America recede into his past, Fitzgerald offers a closing meditation nearly as incantatory as the famous conclusion of Gatsby: "Watching the fading city, the fading shore, from the deck of the Majestic, he had a sense of overwhelming gratitude and of gladness that America was there, that under the ugly débris of industry the rich land still pushed up, incorrigibly lavish and fertile, and that in the heart of the leaderless people the old generosities and devotions fought on, breaking out sometimes in fanaticism and excess, but indomitable and undefeated. There was a lost generation in the saddle at the moment, but it seemed to him that the men coming on, the men of the war, were better; and all his old feeling that America was a bizarre accident, a sort of historical sport, had gone forever. The best of America was the best of the world … France was a land, England was a people, but America, having about it still that quality of the idea, was harder to utter – it was the graves at Shiloh and the tired, drawn, nervous faces of its great men, and the country boys dying in the Argonne for a phrase that was empty before their bodies withered. It was a willingness of the heart."

Wall Street crashed 10 days later.

Two years after The Great Gatsby appeared, a reporter was sent to interview the famous author. Meeting "the voice and embodiment of the jazz age, its product and its beneficiary, a popular novelist, a movie scenarist, a dweller in the gilded palaces", the reporter found instead, to his distinct hilarity, that Fitzgerald was "forecasting doom, death and damnation to his generation". "He sounded", said the reporter, like "an intellectual Sampson" predicting that the Plaza Hotel's marble columns would crumble. Fitzgerald's absurd prophecy was that America would face a great "national testing" in the very near future:

"The idea that we're the greatest people in the world because we have the most money in the world is ridiculous. Wait until this wave of prosperity is over! Wait ten or fifteen years! Wait until the next war on the Pacific, or against some European combination! … The next fifteen years will show how much resistance there is in the American race."

"There has never been an American tragedy," Fitzgerald ended. "There have only been great failures."

It was 1927. The reporter was vastly amused.

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A Novel View of American History

Union college, winter 2018.

The Corruption of the American Dream

The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald is a fictional novel that accurately depicts America during the roaring twenties. The 1920’s in America marked a period of dramatic social and political change. After World War one the stock market suddenly increased significantly, increasing national wealth and consumerism. America was introduced to extreme economic change, which redistributed wealth unequally among certain people. The Great Gatsby encompasses a story of love between a man and a women, however, entails a larger theme about the corruption behind the idolized American Dream.

In this novel the narrator, Nick Carraway, moves to New York from the Midwest in search of fortune. Nick moves into a small house in a town called West Egg in Long Island. Nick Carraway relocates next to a lavish mansion owned by a mysterious man named Jay Gatsby. Gatsby is introduced as a wealthy man that throws wild luxurious parties almost every week at his mansion. As Nick immerses into New York’s wealthy social scene he gradually gets to know Gatsby. Nick eventually learns that Gatsby rose from an impoverished family in Minnesota and reinvented himself as a wealthy bootlegger. During the novel it becomes apparent that Gatsby is motivated to become wealthy and throws parties to attract Nick Carraways cousin, Daisy Buchanan. The two met prior to the war and fell in love as Gatsby was a commander in the army. However, after departing for war Daisy moved on and married a rich man named Tom Buchanan. Although Daisy Buchanan is married, Jay Gatsby is determined to win her over. In an attempt to win Daisy over Gatsby reinvents himself as a wealthy socialite by illegally distributing liquor. Even though Gatsby becomes extremely wealthy and throws lavish parties every weekend he is sad and lonely without Daisy. In this novel it becomes apparent that Gatsby cannot live without Daisy.

Although The Great Gatsby displays a romanticized story about a man and women it also reveals the larger picture behind the corruption of the American Dream. The American Dream represents the freedom of bountiful opportunities to achieve economic prosperity and success. The idea that anyone from any social background could potentially become wealthy was immensely attractive to the common man. However, in this novel the author uncovers the truth behind the unfair realities of the American Dream. Fitzgerald portrays the roaring twenties as an era of decayed social and moral values. The desire to obtain wealth and power surpasses moral and noble values. Money and stagnant social values corrupt the American ways in the roaring twenties. Throughout this novel Fitzgerald displays the greed and selfishness behind the ultimate goal of achieving the American Dream. Becoming rich by any means corrupted American society in the roaring twenties.

9 thoughts on “ The Corruption of the American Dream ”

I agree that Fitzgerald wanted to really focus on the decay of American society at the time. I would even go as far as to say as it dies in the novel along with Myrtle. I think this is really proven by the people in attendance of Gatsby’s lavish parties and in general how Gatsby displays himself. There’s a lack of intelligent discourse and, in general, thought among these people, they seem to mindlessly enjoy the materialistic aspects of life. They attend the parties of a man none of them know or care about (as proven by them not attending his funeral in the end.) Gatsby was hinted to be more than these people, but gave up what made him unique in order to reach Daisy again, he put effort into being fake like the party goers, as evidenced by the books Owl-Eyes was obsessed with. He could have avoided the entire mess (especially his death) if he had just reveled in his individualism rather than try to fit in with the mindless party goers. Overall, I think Fitzgerald felt Americans were greedy and kind of brain dead, he felt gaining wealth just to obtain materials to be a pointless goal and felt that this was the society that surrounded him.

Pretty slick post James, I agree that The Great Gatsby does serve to represent moral degradation in characters like Tom and Daisy, but Nick Caraway makes a point in acknowledging the respect he has for Gatsby’s hopeful disposition. Perhaps this is Fitzgerald’s advice to create a better future; never lose hope.

It seems like many people in this story are hoping for and working for a better future. In Gatsby’s case, he is trying to get Daisy back in his life but ultimately he fails to do so. I would find it curious as to why this would be Fitzgerald’s advice.

In a way though, I think that Gatsby can be seen as just as broken and decayed as everyone else. It could be argued that the hope that Gatsby has is pointless as what he is chasing may not really exist. The way he sees Daisy may not be how she is in reality, just as the American dream might not be what it seems.

I like how you talk about the unfair realities of the American Dream during this time. The 1920’s were a time of moral and social corruption which led to people trying to acquire wealth by any means necessary. This generation’s desire to make money was much greater than their desire to uphold social and moral values, so they became greedy and lost these values. Many Americans, like Jay Gatsby, gained their fortunes through organized crime and other illegal activities like bootlegging because the money was more important to them than being respectful, law abiding citizens.

It is interesting to see how respectful, law abiding citizens are more or less left in the dust. It really describes how the roaring 20’s were a dog eat dog kind of world.

George Wilson really embodies that (up until he takes matters into his own hands). He’s a hardworking mechanic and Tom, using his influence and power, seduces Myrtle for really no gain other than exert his power over others. So even the corruption within the elite society trickled down into the laboring class.

I agree with how crazy it was to live in NY in the roaring 20’s. The Great Gatsby represents the American Dream, gone wrong. Some people were earning their wealth illegally, while others sit on their “old money”. People wanted the respect of those with “old money”, but many people failed to gain the honor and respect that came with the riches.

I feel like even though Gatsby became rich, he was never respected by the others. They did go to his parties, but they also acted so indifferently and they did not want to come to Gatsby’s funeral.

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THE ADVERTISEMENT OF THE MAN: CONSUMERISM AND THE CORRUPTION OF THE AMERICAN DREAM IN THE GREAT GATSBY

We learn very early in Fitzgerald’s novel that Jay Gatsby has a very distinctive smile, a smile that “concentrated on you with an irresistible prejudice in your favour… believed in you as you would like to believe in yourself, and assured you that it had precisely the impression of you that, at your best, you hoped to convey”. It presents Gatsby as both salesman and product, and his smile his advertisement. His appeal is in making those around him feel appealing, and making the customer feel valued was a sure way of persuading them to value, and therefore buy, the product advertised – something Fitzgerald, with his own background in advertising, would have understood. And the product, in this instance, is Gatsby himself. Even the novel’s title is a strikingly alliterative modified-noun, The Great Gatsby advertising the man long before we meet him.

A Self-Made Man

Advertising sells us our dreams, shows us what we think we want, and it’s one dream in particular that this text focuses on: the American one. Whilst the American Dream means different things to different people, for many in the 1920s and 30s the dream meant belonging to the right class. This is certainly true for Gatsby, eager to attract the attention of Daisy, and money plays a crucial role in achieving this goal. You could buy the American Dream, or so the advertising culture would have you believe. In this respect, Gatsby personifies the success myth that advertising promotes, quite literally making a name for himself (creating Gatsby from Gatz) and amassing a fortune to accompany his new identity.

But his new identity lacks substance. As Daisy tells him more than once, “You resemble the advertisement of the man,” the repetition emphasising her point. She may not know the real Gatsby, but she knows a false one when she sees him. Not that it stops her buying into a dream of her own, albeit only for a little while.

Advertising in the twenties and thirties (and even now, for that matter) suggested satisfaction could be achieved simply by being among the right people or wearing the right clothes. The popular parties thrown by Gatsby are clearly a reflection of this, occasions where “men and girls came and went like moths among the whisperings and the champagne and the stars”, the simile highlighting the attraction money can have. Gatsby’s clothes reflect this too, particularly his “silver shirt, and gold-coloured tie”. The well-known proud display of his shirts grants them a symbolic status, with the syndetic listing of “shirts with stripes and scrolls and plaids in coral and apple-green and lavender and faint orange, with monograms of Indian blue” indicating the wealth he was previously without. The shirts are “piled like bricks”, and this simile shows how Gatsby builds his identity via his appearance. However, what you see isn’t exactly what you get, as we soon see.

Gatsby has created this new identity for Daisy, though he was already “extravagantly ambitious” prior to meeting her. To him Daisy represents not only a desirable woman but also a desirable class: “Her voice is full of money” he observes, and it lures him like a Siren’s song. Indeed, she deliberately manipulates her voice to draw people close, Nick telling us that “Daisy’s murmur was only to make people lean toward her”. To Gatsby she represents success, and he is motivated not only by a dream to be part of her life but by a dream to be part of her lifestyle.

Yet Daisy, the creator of dreams, also has a great capacity to destroy them. She personifies the idea, despite her white dresses, that America in the 1920s was no longer a virginally innocent, promising land but was in fact corrupted by wealth. She has a look that promises those she looks at “that there was no one in the world she so much wanted to see”, but it differs to Gatsby’s smile in that it values the receiver in relation to her rather than to themselves. As an advertisement it focuses very much on selling the product rather than satisfying the consumer.

Alternative Realities

During a drive with Nick, Gatsby reveals something of his life because, he claims, “I don’t want you to get a wrong idea of me”. It’s a comment thick with irony for that’s precisely what Gatsby does want, not only of Nick but of everyone else. In order to sell himself as Jay Gatsby he has a number of ‘autobiographical’ stories, advertisements of the man he wishes to seem, and Nick is forced to suppress “incredulous laughter”. He compares Gatsby’s stories to “skimming hastily through a dozen magazines”, and yet…

And yet Gatsby has a number of items as evidence. He has a medal, and he has a photograph, and they’re enough to convince Nick “it was all true”. As a reader, though, we are somewhat doubtful; it seems likely that however genuine these articles may be, they are little more than props to support the fictions hidden between them. There’s a conflict between the real and the illusory here, and thanks to Gatsby’s evidence and Nick’s not-so-reliable narration, we’re not sure what to believe.

Our first experience of one of Gatsby’s parties, for example, shows us a man inspecting the books of Gatsby’s library. They’re “absolutely real” he tells Nick with amazement, having expected the opposite. He hurriedly replaces a volume in fear the entire library will collapse, an action that suggests it wouldn’t stand up to prolonged or intensive scrutiny.

Gatsby himself is much the same.

This conflict between the illusory and the real, and its potential for destruction, is illustrated via other characters in the text as well. Myrtle, for example, seeks to escape her life in the valley of ashes and manages this in part by living a double life. Her affair with Tom began with her noticing his appearance. “He had on a dress suit and patent leather shoes, and I couldn’t keep my eyes off him,” she tells us, adding significantly “I had to pretend to be looking at the advertisement over his head”. Tom, having successfully sold himself and the life he seems to offer, begins an affair with Myrtle which allows her to buy into dreams of social status and romance. She marks this by changing her appearance, and “with the influence of the dress her personality had also undergone a change” Nick observes. Myrtle is a different person with Tom, or tries to be, which in turn allows him to pretend his life is different. When the real world threatens to intrude upon his newly constructed one he reacts violently, so much so that when Myrtle persists in reminding him of Daisy, “Tom Buchanan broke her nose with his open hand.”

Indeed, whenever reality clashes against illusion in this novel the result is violently destructive and Gatsby is far from immune - his constructed identity is “broken up like glass” against the reality Tom confronts him with. Fitzgerald illustrates the violent repercussions of a conflict between the real and the illusory most successfully, though, via Myrtle’s death. Mistaking Gatsby for Tom due to his car (another symbol of his wealth), Myrtle runs into the path of the vehicle and is killed.

The Ultimate Price

Fitzgerald’s novel explores the price attached to the American Dream, presenting it as an ideal which money, in fact, cannot buy. He prepares us for this early with the billboard eyes of Doctor T. J. Eckleburg, put in place to promote a practice only to fade beneath the sun and rain as the business adds its ashes to others in the valley. “God sees everything,” Wilson later says of the eyes which, combined with the reply “That’s an advertisement”, serves as a suitable comment on the importance of advertising in the novel. Advertising may be society’s ‘green light’, granting people the go ahead to buy into the false dreams that motivate them, but they certainly pay a high price for it in The Great Gatsby . It is Jay Gatsby, though, who pays the ultimate price. In acquiring and spending his riches, Gatsby becomes not only his own advertisement and product but his own dream, a dream from which he is awoken abruptly by a reality he had refused to acknowledge.

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The Flaws of The American Dream in The Great Gatsby

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In the 1920s people were blind to see that life isn’t all about parting and spending money. By using wealth they seek to be seen. Sometimes people are so ignorant they ignore what’s right in front of them. The character’s [...]

On the surface, The Great Gatsby is a story of the thwarted love between a man and a woman. The main theme of the novel, however, encompasses a much larger, less romantic scope. Though all of its action takes place over a mere [...]

In every story, there are characters which serve to give the text purpose and drive the plot. Whether the character is dynamic, complex, round or flat, successful pieces of literature must include well-developed characters to [...]

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The Great Gatsby: Corruption of the American Dream in the 1920’s

• The Great Gatsby: Corruption of…

The pursuit of any success in life is an arduous journey, one that can only be accomplished by the few dedicated individuals willing to push their ambition and capabilities as far as possible. Only a minute handful of people make it to a professional sports level, a great actor or actress, or even a great business person.

The challenge is even more difficult because of the amount of people trying to achieve the same goal when only a select few can. Corruption and deceit are inevitable in a dream driven by money. The novel The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald is a classic twentieth-century story that examines and critiques the vision of the American dream.

The story is able to illustrate the corruption money leads to by placing materialistic values in the lives of American’s in the pursuit of the ‘American Dream’.  The Great Gatsby presents several of its characters as having this illusion of living the “American dream”, contrary to what they believe their behaviors and decisions they make only leave them with a false perception of this lifestyle.

The Great Gatsby is set in the heart of the 1920s, also known as the “roaring twenties”, which is when a new ideology exploded. The idea of this free market and industrial revolution provided an opportunity to seize the market. People were starting to see the potential of becoming rich without restrictions.  New York City was the center of this advancement in society.

New York is known for its culture, parties, great restaurants, high population, fashion, downtown areas, fun, media, and pop culture. This influx of prosperity happened right after the war which in turn started to create a monetary value on life and huge consumer society. This brought new opportunities and ambitions for people sparking the potential for a wealthy upper-class life. It was all about booze, partying, gambling, fashion, money. The moral depravity of this era meant human existence will begin to deteriorate further into an abyss of sin.

Jay Gatsby is a man whose life was comparable to the American dream. In New York, Jay is the most well-known man who throws the most spectacular parties. He lives in a beautiful mansion with new cars in the driveway, groomed gardens, and walkways. His closet is filled with the most fashionable suits and beautifully colored shirts enough to make Daisy cry.

His house was referred to as “a colossal affair… a factual imitation of some Hotel de Ville in Normandy, with a tower on one side, spanking new under a thin beard of raw ivy, and a marble swimming pool and more than forty acres of lawn and garden.“ (Pg9) Other characters live such a life, such as Daisy and Tom. “For instance, he`d brought down a string of polo ponies from Lake Forest.“ (Pg10) All these characters seem to value the material side of life and are trying to strive for wealth, acceptance, and power.

All these materialistic belongings paint a picture of beauty for those chasing this fictitious happiness but in reality, they bring life full of stress, jealousy, hubris, and corruption. Jay indulged in everything he could to make his life and possessions perfect only for one reason, to win the love of his life Daisy back. “His extraordinary gift for hope.“ (Pg6) Jay invested in so much just for her, and it still was not enough because his wealth was not on the same level as his rivals.

Towards the end of the novel, she chose her richer husband in the higher class `egg` over Jay a man who she truly loved. She chose to live in wealth and riches instead of living in true happiness with Jay. In addition to this, Gatsby earned all his money illegally; he was a bootlegger and also sold alcohol illegally to generate his income. Instead of everyone striving for equality they became selfish and wanted everything for themselves, for example, the West vs. East egg and who was considered better.

Along with the social discrimination that still lies within society; Tom being the main example. “It`s up to us the Nordics who are the dominant race to watch out or these other races will have control of things.“ (Pg17) All these examples are paramount to show evidence of change in the values of the 1920`s, and the destruction among society they were causing.

The American dream is shared amongst many people in hopes of living a perfect wealthy life. When people become so involved in materialistic things, it will not bring happiness in the end, but more hardship. The paths that people take to achieve this dream are not going to be truthful and honest with them.

The ambition of man is filled with venality and will do whatever it takes to reach their goal of power in the business world. This dream is not much of a dream as it is a nightmare. Unlike those of athletes, actors, supermodels, the dream to be rich is a villainous road that will derail your conscience into corruption. It is looked up to as a dream by those who have not yet traveled the road of wealth, but once you live this life it will deteriorate the true meaning of life which is love. For Jay Gatsby, he lost sight of this, and inevitably lead to his own demise.

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Author:  William Anderson (Schoolworkhelper Editorial Team)

Tutor and Freelance Writer. Science Teacher and Lover of Essays. Article last reviewed: 2022 | St. Rosemary Institution © 2010-2024 | Creative Commons 4.0

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Essay: The Corruption of the American Dream in ‘The Great Gatsby’

English / Samples March 25, 2011

Sample Essay

Words 3,403

‘The Great Gatsby’, is widely considered to be a great work of American literature. Despite being one of Fitzgerald earliest works it is considered to be one of his master pieces.

A discussion of the corruption of the American Dream in ‘The Great Gatsby’ must be preceded by a discussion of what the American Dream itself is.

The American Dream has been generally defined as the idea that in America everyone can gain success and prosperity through hard work, they are not limited by things like social class and misfortunes of birth. It has also been linked with specific material possessions such as having two cars or owning a house. Success is however, a quite relative term. Most people would define an economically successful man as being one that is richer than his peers. Seen this way, it is a mathematical impossibility for most people to be rich. Most people cannot be rich anymore than most people can of above average intelligence.

To imply that the American Dream has been corrupted is to imply that it was once something pure and noble. Several people have traced the American dream to the “Protestant Work Ethic” (Fraser). It seems obvious however, that rather than being a work ethic, the American Dream is merely a crude glorification of wealth and denigration of the poor and poverty.

A clear picture of the American Dream may be seen in Kurt Vonnegut’s Slaughterhouse Five, in the words of the fictional American double agent masquerading as a Nazi propagandist Howard W. Campbell, Jr.

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Corruption of American Dream in The Great Gatsby Analysis

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1997: Novels and plays often include scenes of weddings, funerals, parties, and other social occasions. Such scenes may reveal the values of the characters and the society in which they live. Select a novel or play that includes such a scene and, in a focused essay, discuss the contribution the scene makes to the meaning of the work as a whole. The Great Gatsby and F. Scott Fitzgerald’s Portrayal of the Corruption of the American Dream Through Symbolism and Theme

At the house of Jay Gatsby, one can only expect the most extravagant and thrilling celebrations. While at most parties, people attend as honored guests of the host, the great Gatsby never made effort to request company, but expected company. Lavish alcohol, expensive attire and electrifying music can only hint the luxury of every party–and the current corruption of society. In The Great Gatsby, author F. Scott Fitzgerald uses parties as symbols that implicitly but accurately portray the Roaring Twenties, sustained economic prosperity of the United States and the depravity of the Pursuit of Happiness.

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In the United States of America, as portrayed in The Great Gatsby, only a single ideal motivates the nation to achieve opulence, success and the upward social mobility–the American dream. However, what earlier seemed as a stable push to better things, took flight in a new direction. Furthermore, the end of World War I led to a sustained increase in national wealth, newfound materialism and uncontrollable spending and consumption. The newly rich of the era were scorned by the American aristocrats, and every social gathering was implicitly a fight to prove the most wealthy. In The Great Gatsby, Fitzgerald portrays the 1920’s as a similar age of cynicism with decaying social and moral values, greed, and empty pursuit of pleasure to mirror the current social trends. Similarly, those who attend Gatsby’s parties are evidence of greedy scramblers for wealth while the war between “old money” and “new money” is represented by the geography of the story.

In the novel, the characters reside in divided land and social communities on Long Island. While the “old money” characters reside in East Egg, the newly rich occupy West Egg. Fitzgerald portrays the newly rich as vulgar, gaudy, ostentatious, and lacking in social graces and taste. Gatsby, for example, is obnoxiously rich and follows the garish principles that the East Egg society frowns upon. With his pink suits, bright yellow Rolls-Royce, and immunity to social signals, Gatsby is an exemplification of the ungraceful generation. In contrast, Tom Buchanan, a man of inherited wealth and a West Egg resident, is an example of the aristocracy’s social grace, taste and elegance. However, what they have in style, they lack in heart and appear as careless bullies who use their money to their advantage. As Gatsby and Buchanan become acquaintances, Tom begins to resent Gatsby for his overly-flashy attire, residence and lifestyle.

Despite the difference in social status, Gatsby had previously fallen in love with a young aristocratic girl named Daisy who is, ironically, Tom’s wife. To Gatsby’s advantage, in 1919, the sale of alcohol was banned, creating a business of organized crime designed to satisfy the massive demand for liquor. Thus, Jay Gatsby turned to the economics of prohibited alcohol to earn both money and respect. As a result of his fame, the parties that were meant to impress the love of Gatsby’s life epitomize not only the reckless triumph and the ultimate corruption of the American dream, but also the act that wealth plays in a judgmental society.

Through parties and enormous wealth, Gatsby was able to satisfy his infatuation with Daisy by making himself noticeable. However, Daisy returned to her husband and Gatsby was left abandoned and humiliated by Tom’s efforts. The guests who had selfishly attended his regular Saturday night parties, in the end, were none of Gatsby’s true friends. Likewise, no one had ever shown more than a superficial curiosity for his character, which exemplifies the hollowness of the supplementary American dream.

In Fitzgerald’s novel, The Great Gatsby, the corruption of the American dream is accurately portrayed through Jay Gatsby’s character. The new “American dream” is clouded with riches rather than the overall prosperity of America.Within Fitzgerald’s novel is a profound narration of the effects that materialism has on society. In summary, the members of East Egg and West Egg will never mix, and ironically, the parties that Gatsby threw to impress Daisy only seemed to drive her away. Along with his infamous background and unconventional reputation in society, it is eventually understood that Gatsby will never be seen as someone worthy of Daisy.

In The Great Gatsby, the shallow members who comprise the communities of East Egg and West Egg are emblems for the corrosive characteristic of materialism. The ethos that was once directed toward opportunities of prosperity and success is transitioned to an empty pursuit of unsatisfying wealth. Through social gathering and celebration, Fitzgerald uses symbolism to critique the current materialistic society and the effects and consequences it plays on hopes, dreams and goals.

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