An American Dream; the Inspirer

An American Dream; The inspirer.

In The Great Gatsby, but F. Scott Fitzgerald, a great man is reduced to a corpse because of a jealous lover. In the novel, the American dream is referred to time and time again. The fact that if one works hard, he or she will become rich and achieve their dreams is the notion that the American dream is based upon. In some cases this is true, but for every case where this has happened, there is a case for which it has not. For Daisy, Tom, and Gatsby, the American dream has become a way of life; spending recklessly and living an envious life.

For Gatsby, the spending on himself is not so much as great as the spending on others, in the hope to find his lost love, Daisy. By no means to Gatsby live a frugal life, but the possessions he has within his house are not as elaborate as one might think them to be. Gatsby started out as a nobody, and that was when he met Daisy. After he came out of the military, he went on a series of endeavors to become rich in a hope to win back Daisy, who had left him essentially because he could not provide what she desired. Most of the dealings that Gatsby had seemed questionable, and these suspicions were enforced by the amount of wealth he appeared to have acquired over such a short amount of time. "I was in the drug business, then I was in the oil business. But I'm not in either one now."(Ch5, pg 95) This quotation from a conversation between Nick and Gatsby about Gatsby's enterprises reaffirms the doubtful legality of his accomplishments. The first impression of Gatsby is given by the larger-than-life house he possessed opposite that of Nick. However, the greed of Gatsby was much more selfless then that of either Daisy or Tom, because the majority of Gatsby's spending was on elaborate parties in order to one day catch a glimpse of Daisy there.

The American dream of Daisy was no better or worse then the next person. The only difference was how she went about getting it. Owing to her immense beauty, Daisy would not have to work to achieve her American dream; she could simply attract a mate who already posses the wealth she would most readily spend. Throughout the novel, the reader is given the impression that Daisy and Tom share a happy relationship, but not more then a few times is talk of a child concerned, so it is a huge shock in the scene that Daisy beckons her child to come toward her. "That's because your mother wanted to show you off." (Ch. 7, pg 123) These words by Daisy show exactly the relationship she has with her child- to show her off. As the novel progresses, the story unwinds, and character traits are revealed, it becomes more and more evident that Daisy only cares about herself. Her American dream consists of making herself happy and getting what she wants, no matter what it does to individuals such as Gatsby or Tom.

Tom's vision of the American dream is almost nonexistent, because he appears to have inherited wealth. He has an arrogant vision and relationship