The American Dream

The book 'The Great Gatsby' by F. Scott Fitzgerald was an icon of 

its time.The book discusses topics that were important, controversial 

and interesting back in 1920's America. The novel is 'an exploration

of the American Dream as it exists in a corrupt period of history. 

The main themes in the book are the decay of morals and values and the
frustration of a 'modern' society. The Great Gatsby describes the decay
of the American Dream and the want for money and materialism. This
novel also describes the gap between the rich and the poor (Gatsby and
the Wilsons, West Egg and the Valley of the Ashes) by comparing the
differences between the Western United States (traditional western
culture) and the Eastern United States (money obsessed values). On a
smaller scale this could be seen as the difference between the West Egg
(the 'new, money) and the East egg (the 'old' money). The 1920's were
a time of corruption and the degradation of moral values for the United
States and many other countries.

Fitzgerald depicts the 1920’s as a time of decay social and moral values, evidence of this is the greed and the pursuit of pleasure. Jay Gatsby’s constant parties epitomized the corruption of the American Dream as the desire for money and worldly pleasures overshadowed the true values of the American Dream. After WWI ended in 1918, veterans found that life was not as rosy as it had been before. The war led to an economic boom as more and more people were buying materialistic items that they would have never bought. With this economic boom it became apparent that any person of any social status could become wealthy. This created the social rift between the families that had just found new money and the old wealthy industrialists. 1919, the women’s suffrage movement, running strong, were quick to establish prohibition in the United states with their influence. This consequently led to an increase in crime and illegal smuggling of alcohol; Al Capone is the prime example of what came out of that era of prohibition.

Fitzgerald intricately places characters in these social trends. Meyer Wolfshiem, a man that is the epitome of the underground mafia. WWI vets Nick and Gatsby’s new found cynicism. Also, Jay Gatsby’s need to climb the “social ladder” shows the need of wealth of the individuals in this era. If one reads the passage in which Fitzgerald characterizes Gatsby’s house as an “amusement park”, it is also said that there are guests that attend without even meeting the host. This shows the need for “new money” people to socialize with others to climb this “social ladder”. Also the rift between “old money” and “new money” is quite evident with the geographical placement of the individual characters; East Egg, “old money” individuals, who have been wealthy for generations past, and West Egg, “new money” representing self-made individuals.

The original idea of the American Dream as described in chapter 9 is about moral values and the pursuit of happiness. It’s written in the American Constitution that every individual has the right to “Life, Liberty and the Pursuit of Happiness”. This right it seems has taken a twisted turn in the early 1920’s. The pursuit of happiness soon turned into the pursuit of wealth and ultimately to greed. This led to social rifts among the different classes and eventually corrupted the true American Dream. Throughout The Great Gatsby it is shown how social rift came between the love of two individuals, Daisy and Gatsby. This led to the eventual corruption of Gatsby himself, the pursuit of wealth, greed, and illegal deeds. T.J Eckleburg, the greatest symbol in the novel, represents more then just an advertisement, but like the onion, inside he represents everything that is corrupt in the new American Dream. After renouncing his parents, James Gatsby was said to be the “son of God”, the only thing Gatsby believes in is money. Wilson in chapter 8, mistakes the advertisement as an advertisement for God, this in turn means that the advertisement portrays money.

On the last page of the novel Nick compares the “green breast of the new world” to the green light at the end of Daisy’s dock. The “green breast of the world” represents the dreams of the immigrants that came to the new world seeking religious freedom, opportunity, love, and democracy, along the way instilling universal family values. As they settled with these goals in mind, they strived and created what is America today. Fitzgerald describes the corruption as being the modernization of the beauties of what the settlers had seen before. Remember that accident which involved Daisy and Myrtle, Myrtle’s left breast had been torn off, this was regarded as Myrtle’s “greatest achievement”. This achievement was the realization of American society which has torn off the green breast of the new world and replaced it with a corrupted rendition of what the settlers brought along with them. Along with this, Fitzgerald adds in the Valley of Ashes, which is the opposite of the green breast; a valley in general is different in that the green breast of the new world represents a hill, opposite to this is a valley which is a concave piece of land. The green breast represents the true American Dream and the Valley of Ashes represents corruption, like that of Myrtle and her adultery or Wilson and his killing of Gatsby.

Fitzgerald uses an abundant amount symbols to fully satisfy the most rewarding symbol, the corruption of the American Dream. Settlers first came to America with one ambition, a better life. What came of this better life? The American Dream, a life in pursuit of opportunity, freedom, love, equality, family and wealth. These dreams soon diminished as materialistic values seemed to be above all else. These materialistic values consequently led the decay of the American Dream. The new American Dream described by Fitzgerald portrays a world where greed, the pursuit of money and pleasure are above all else. Fitzgerald portrays a world that has lost its way in the corruption of the American Dream.