Jessica Liu

Mr. Humeniuk

English Honors III

1 March 2022

Great Gatsby Analysis

The American Dream is the belief that anyone from any walk of life can achieve wealth and success. However, this belief rests on the idea that anyone from any walk of life has equal opportunity. In “The Great Gatsby”, Fitzgerald explores the idea of the American Dream and the corruption of the belief.

Jay Gatsby, born James Gatz, is a classic story of the American Dream. Unlike the rest of the main characters, he grew up poor but was deeply ambitious with a determination for success. Nick says,” His parents were shiftless and unsuccessful farm people — his imagination had never really accepted them as his parents at all,”. The word “shiftless” means stuck, and for Gatsby’s parents, this meant they were unable to achieve wealth, success, and are stuck in the same position. Unlike his parents, Gatsby holds intense ambitions to achieve wealth and successes, so intense that he would rather cut ties with his humble beginnings than be associated with it. For example, Nick states,” The truth was that Jay Gatsby of West Egg, Long Island, sprang from his Platonic conception of himself,”(Fitzgerald, 76). Although he was named James Gatz, he felt as though the name sounded too common and unaristocratic. After meeting Dan Cody, the millionaire, James renamed himself to distance himself from his poor upbringing and become the person he wanted to be: James Gatsby, an aristocratic man with much more wealth and status than James Gatz could ever obtain.

Although Jay Gatsby is a wealthy socialite, far removed from the life of James Gatz, the one thing they both share in common was that they never achieved a successful love life. Daisy is Gatsby’s American dream, but he is more in love with the idea of her rather than the person she is. Nick states,” There must have been moments even that afternoon when Daisy tumbled short of his dreams — not through her own fault, but because of the colossal vitality of his illusion,” (Fitzgerald, 74). After Gatsby finally meets Daisy, he experiences a euphoric sense of excitement and disbelief. Daisy was finally within his grasp, and it seemed all was going according to plan. However, Daisy is a human with flaws, which is something Gatsby doesn’t seem to account for. According to Millet,“His faith is misplaced, because the object of his quest is nothing more than Daisy Buchanan,” To Gatsby, it’s not enough for Daisy to just love him, he also needs to know that she’s always loved him and him alone. However, while Daisy may have once loved him before, she loves wealth above all and it would be untrue of her to say that she never loved Tom.

While the majority have to work hard to achieve the American Dream, those such as the Buchanans can inherit it instead. The Buchanans are associated with “old money” and didn’t need to work as hard as Gatsby in order to attain the American Dream. However, their wealth and success often comes at the expense of other people. the murder of Gatsby was said and done,” instead of dealing with the deaths, [Daisy] and Tom [got] on a plane and [left] the mess for others to clean up,”(Source #1). Daisy alone is the one responsible for the death of Myrtle, and yet instead of doing the right thing, she uses her wealth as a way to escape repercussions. Wilson does not have the same privilege and cannot simply run away. More unfortunate, however, is how Tom’s carelessness results in the downfall of Wilson. According to Judd Taylor, “Tom never sees George as a man, just a pawn he can control,”. Throughout the novel, Tom taunts Wilson about selling his car, never really being serious about it and giving him a sense of false hope. He’s well aware of Wilson’s financial position, and yet he continues. His cruelness only worsens as he cheats on Wilson’s wife and never admits to it. The Buchanans avoid their responsibilities by using their wealth to run away from their problems.

The Buchanan's American Dream benefits only them and often at the expense of others. While Gatsby can achieve material wealth despite his circumstances, he is unable to achieve the very thing that would satisfy him. In the Great Gatsby, the American Dream is unattainable to most and causes corruption for those who have it.

Words Cited

Fitzgerald, F. Scott. The Great Gatsby. Charles Scriber's Sons, April 2021.

Millet, Frederick C. Analysis: The Great Gatsby, Mar. 2008, Michigan State University Press.

Taylor, Judd. Gatsby's Idea of the American Dream, 16 Apr. 1998, pp. 23–25., Atlantic Monthly.