The American dream is a little different for each
character in The Great Gatsby, but
they all generally want a perfect or happy life. Not many characters come even close to
achieving this American dream because they are so caught up in the corruption
between one another that the dream is nearly forgotten. It is rather ironic how the characters lives
pan out when trying to achieve the American Dream.
When
examining the question though of what Fitzgerald is saying about the American
dream, you must look at each character in the novel and gather what their
personal American dream was. The
American dream is not once obtained by Wilson, Myrtle, Gatsby, Daisy, or
Tom. Ironically they all dependently
ruin each other’s dreams by a long series of deaths. Overall, Fitzgerald is trying to say that the
American dream is not easily obtained and you must stay true to your character
without committing sin to reach the dream.
Gatsby
is one of the most interesting characters when it comes to obtaining the
American dream. Most people would
believe Gatsby should have been happy with his life and already obtained the
American dream due to everything he had.
Gatsby had the tangible items in life but he never had the love. Gatsby should have been happy with everything
he had but had to continue on his quest of the American dream to get the girl,
Daisy. Gatsby tries to break a marriage,
is a passenger to a crime, and gets killed just trying to obtain the American
dream. In a sense this is karma for
everything he did while trying to achieve the American dream. Gatsby states, “Of course she might have
loved him just for a minute, when they were first married-and loved me then, do
you see?” This quote really shows the stubbornness
of Gatsby and his persistence in getting Daisy.
In the end Gatsby is shot by Wilson because Tom told Wilson that is was
Gatsby’s car who hit Myrtle and Gatsby was never able to obtain the American
dream with Daisy.
Wilson
is another very interesting character to examine when it comes to obtaining the
American dream. Wilson was a very
innocent character because he was never very rich like Tom and Gatsby, but
always tried to provide for his wife Myrtle.
Little did Wilson know, his friend Tom and his wife Myrtle were having
an affair. Wilson finally comes to the
realization that in order to achieve the American dream he can’t stay a
mechanic forever and he must do something for his wife. Wilson states, “I’ve been here too long. I want to get away. My wife and I want to go west.” This was Wilson’s first step in obtaining the
American dream until Daisy ruins it by hitting Myrtle and killing her. However, Wilson did not know that Myrtle
actually ran in front of the car because she believed Tom was in there which is
rather ironic. Tom then tells Wilson
that it was Gatsby’s car who hit Myrtle and Wilson shoots Gatsby before
shooting himself which ultimately left him short of obtaining the American
dream.
After
looking at these characters and the observing their patterns for achieving the
American dream, it could be inferred that Americans have very high and persistent
values for what they desire. However,
these are two good examples of Americans not obtaining their desires because
they persistence interfered with another’s personal life. Due to these high and persistent values, many
Americans cannot obtain their desires.
