The Great Gatsby and The American Dream

The roaring twenties where when the people of America started seeing the benefits of modernization.  This was the era of change, people also started thinking of this ideal of the American dream. The American dream was the idea of having all Americans having an equal opportunity to achieve happiness and wealth. In the Great Gatsby the American dream is shown by the very symbolic green light across the lake between West and East egg.  Gatsby sees a green light from a dock across the body of water and starts “trembling with his arms extended” as the book states. This green light represents his goals that he is trying to achieve, but cannot because he is blinded by his wealthy selfishness.

The second concept/theme represented in this book is wealth and the way wealth can turn a good person bad. For example, Daisy was corrupted by the power of money, making her believe that a man is only worthy of her, if they are wealthy and cash rich. She thought the only way to have power is to marry a man with deep pockets, which she did when she married Tom Buchanan. Daisy also told Tom that she was a Catholic, she did this because Catholics are not allowed to have divorces, meaning that she will get to stay with Tom until one of them passes away. In The Great Gatsby, Nick states that “Daisy was not a Catholic, and I was a little shocked at the elaborateness of the lie.” Daisy would do anything to keep her wealth and money, even as far as to lie about her religion. In The Great Gatsby, Daisy is the prime example of a person that was corrupted by wealth.

   

             The Great Gatsby is a wonderful show piece that showcases the effects of the American dream in the United States of America. It shows how most people wanted to achieve this dream, however most people are blinded of the wealth to achieve this American dream. It also shows how people would do anything to have the power to be easily attainable, in sorts of marriage and heritage. The American dream blinded people from what truly matters, which is health and love of the people, most people just only cared about the wealth and power that comes from money. Although, The Great Gatsby may not be a good book to readers, it is definitely a book that showcases the American dream in a truly magnificent way.