The American Dream
The American Dream is a key theme of The Great Gatsby, one that the most often discussed in class and analyzed in academia. In the essay, Gatsby: False Prophet of the American Dream, Pearson defines the American Dream concept as the belief that anyone, regardless of their background, can pursue and obtain any goal they set on. The ideal reflects one of the United States unwavering, if flawed in practice, beliefs that it is a land of equal opportunity. However, Fitzgerald was criticizing the socioeconomic element behind the ideal as it was hard to believe that when you’re a person living during a time of economic imbalance between the wealthy and the working class. Back then, over 40% of Americans lived on less than $1,500 each year, the minimum substance level for families and farm prices were at their lowest due the aftermath of World War I (Zeitz). The excessive spending and consumption from the wealthy eventually led to the 1929 stock crash.
In addition, Fitzgerald’s own life mirrored Gatsby’s: both were men who joined the army, met the love of their lives, lost them for a time, went to achieve their wealth and were seen as the American Dream realized, but they themselves were unhappy with their lives despite achieving that ideal. Meanwhile, the women they longed for were out of reach and decided not to wait for them to achieve the impossible with Daisy getting married to Tom Buchanan in the book and Zelda breaking off their engagement in real life. However, that’s a somewhat simplistic view as it often neglects a very important element: Nick Carraway, Daisy’s Midwest cousin. Nick was the country mouse amongst a mischief of rich city mice who was initially charmed by the colorful, lavish lifestyle of the East and had admired Gatsby to the point of lionizing him, even when he was witness to his imperfections. Over the course of the book, he grows cynical and disillusioned towards the East and the people in it, which is unsurprising when you end up being the only person to arrange and attend a murdered man’s funeral. In short, Nick is Gatsby’s other half, representing both the average American and the part of himself that had come from humble beginnings.
Daisy, a reflection of Zelda, is objectified to be the American Dream, whether she wants to be in that position or not. She’s not entirely happy with her life with being a trophy wife to her unfaithful husband, but she doesn’t completely hate it either. After all, he is a wealthy man which means she is in the best position a woman in her class can be in. However, as much as she genuinely loves Tom, she still loves Gatsby enough to rekindle their affair and have Nick act as their confidant. However, it’s hard to notice those aspects of her when she is reduced to an object by Tom and Gatsby. With Tom, the trophy wife label is somewhat literal as he is quick to show her off to people to admire and envy over, quick to wave in Gatsby’s face at every opportunity he gets and quick to put her away on a shelf to have sex with Myrtle Wilson. Meanwhile, it’s slightly more complicated with Gatsby: he does genuinely love her, but in doing so, he also objectifies her as the missing piece to achieving his American Dream. She is just a “beautiful little fool”, after all. However, she still has her own feelings, which all of the men were horrifically reminded of as she killed Myrtle with her car.
These elements are the foundation of the tragic and bleak ending of the novel, with Gatsby being murdered by George Wilson, who committed suicide afterwards. With three murders and Tom’s confession to pointing George to Gatsby’s direction, Nick leaves for home only pausing to observe the green light as the end of Daisy’s dock…same green light Gatsby would often observe longingly at night. The Great Gatsby is often described as cynically depressing due to this, but it’s actually a cautionary tale of the American Dream. Having a dream is not inherently bad, but it needs to be grounded in realism. Gatsby’s folly was lacking that aspect as he expected Daisy to wait for him, despite her status as an upper-class woman cementing her into a specific set of gender roles fitting of that class. He was also a man who was going to war with the guarantee of him coming back alive and unscathed being slim to none. Finally, with the wide gap of the time between their separation and their reunion, there was a chance that Jay and Daisy would have found themselves just as unhappy and satisfied being together than they were separated.
In closing, Fitzgerald’s criticism of the American Dream was more cautionary than scathing; in doing so, he is warning people to not become him. People need more than dreams of success and wealth, or being with a person, or being a person who has everything to have a fulfilling life.