The American Dream

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                                             The American Dream      

     What’s the American dream? As Americans, the idea of life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness have been ingrained in the fabric of our society as the American dream. It is the notion that regardless of where a person comes from, through hard work and dedication, one can achieve their American dream. The fictional characters portrayed in F. Scott Fitzgerald novel "The Great Gatsby" are no different. The novel takes place in the 1920’s during a decade of great social changes in America. World War I had just ended, and the United States was in the twilight of progression and economic prosperity. New inventions, innovation of mass production, and soaring stock market made America among the wealthiest nation in the world. Americans gained “new money” through economic boom; as a result, the strong economy created nation of consumerism and materialism. The opportunity to gain wealth became synonymous with achieving the American dream. Americans bought new cars, fancy clothes, and sent their children to private schools. For many, wealth had become the symbol of the American dream, but for others, wealth had become an illusion that money can buy life, liberty, and happiness as in case of protagonist of the novel, Jay Gatsby .Therefore, Fitzgerald manages to put across the idea of achieving the ‘American Dream’ by use of symbolism in form of characters throughout the “The Great Gatsby”. Whether the dream is as reality or n illusion and the costs associated with the attainment of the have also been looked into in the novel

      The ‘Old Money’ on the other hand, is a representation of people who   have always possessed wealth. Unlike the ‘New Money’ people, this category keeps a low profile and does not show off their richness like their counterparts. It is not easy to identify their true character and behavior thus they live in disguise. The author uses symbols so as to bring out a variety of aspects touching on the American Dream. It is through his narration that the reader comes to terms with how modern values have transformed the American Dream’s pure deals into a scheme for gaining materialistic power, moreover, lack of any sense of morals by the society clearly comes up. Fitzgerald has presented the original aspects of the American Dream together with its modern face in his bid to showing how the once impervious dream has vanished to the people of America. However, main qualities of perseverance and hope accompanying the American Dream, consequently the idea of being successful and overcoming all odds is characterized. Jay Gatsby focuses all his attention to living the dream. From his early days, Gatz was a hard working man who worked tirelessly on becoming the American hero. He grew up in a farm in North Dakota with his unsuccessful and shiftless parents. Tired with this life of poverty, Gatz decided to follow his aspirations of being a great man by changing his name from James Gatz to Jay Gatsby.  This is the beginning of the illusion accompanying the American Dream where he searches for a chance of meeting his desire (Fitzgerald 21-22). Gatsby feels not satisfied with what he has already acquired, he has a longing for Daisy and acceptance. This is symbolic of the constant search in the society today so as to achieve the goals the Americans are always dreaming of.  F.Scott Fitzgerald   attributes wealth, privilege and lack of humanity as the only cause for failure to achieving the American Dream. For instance ‘Money’   has been considered as the main destroyer of the American Dream. People   are obsessed with materialistic things instead of   focusing on the American hope and success. Gatsby uses dubious means to impress Daisy and win her heart back-Daisy is a materialistic girl. Hopelessness looms in the air at the end of the novel following death Gatsby. Therefore, the author has managed to describe the illusion of American dream by use of characters like Gatsby.

     Is the American dream an illusion or reality in Fitzgerald’s novel?  To start off, ‘the American Dream’s principle has been based on American’s ability in pursuing life, liberty and happiness. However, there is a lot of falseness in this ideology that every person has equal chances of achieving success despite the social stratification in the society. The novel has addressed the same queries that relate to the American Dream alongside its illusion. For example, The Great Gatsby is centered on Jay Gatsby, a child from a poor background, who rose from ‘grass to grace’ by blossoming into a man whose total assets was worth millions of dollars. The author states, ‘’For over a year he had been beating his way along the south shore of Lake Superior as a clam-digger and a salmon-fisher or in any other capacity that brought him food and bed…but his heart was in a constant, turbulent riot. The most grotesque and fantastic conceits haunted him in his bed at night…they were a satisfactory hint of the unreality of reality, a promise that the rock of the world was founded securely on a fairy’s wing’’ (Fitzgerald 98-99).Here, the author epitomizes the desperation that has been fuelling the American dream for many decades. The dream was initiated by a desire for a better future and not the greed for money. Gatsby has shown that the ‘Dream” is not cultivated by the rich but rather it is cultivated by individuals who are driven by the desire of making something of themselves.For instance, Gatsby dream to live large is represented by his Discovery of Dan Cody’s yacht while returning to the south shores of Lake Superior where he worked as a clam-digger and salmon fisher. The discovery of this yacht is representation of all the glamour in the world-Gatsby’s vision of the American Dream. Jay Gatsby’s story and how he makes his wealth has left numerous gaps in the highly –illusive ‘American Dream’. For instance, Gatsby did not create all his wealth by himself, his friend Dan Cody gave him a helping hand by giving him a job to work as his apprentice. Gatsby’s gains his fortune through means which are against the ideology that states that ‘hard work and determination will get you far’. Were it not for his luck of meeting Dan Cody, he would not have blossomed into the greater status. On the other hand, Dan Cody, a copper mogul and a drunk epitomizes the extravagant culture of the 1920’s. A product of the Nevada silver fields, Dan Cody, made his millions in the copper business. He represents the “new money,” which was gained during the prosperous decade of the twenties, and played a major role in the development of the “Gatsby” persona. Therefore, the story of Gatsby has shown how advancing in America is dependent on more than just ‘being equal on footing with the rest of the runners’, but one has to rely on luck too.