Influence of Weath - Great Gatsby

The American Dream, a simple phrase that can mean so much to a person. It holds many different meanings and is desired among characters in many American Literature novels. Sometimes the American Dream can be simply found, while for others, it’s a lifetime goal to find and pursue their American Dream. The Great Gatsby, by F. Scott Fitzgerald, is a short novel about a man, Gatsby, who lost his one true love when he was very young because the love of his life decided to marry a wealthy man instead of him. Gatsby decided to spend the rest of his life trying to earn money and become wealthy in order to win her back. He spent his life trying to impress one girl to fall back in love with him. The American Dream is shown in this novel as an expedition for wealth that rises above all other aspects in a persons life. Through love, determination, and the influence of money, the characters in the novel long to live the life of the American Dream.

In America, or even across the world, it is every girls dream to marry someone wealthy. Some women pursue this dream, while for others, it is a struggle. But in many cases, money plays a huge role in whether or not a woman marries a man. So it is the man’s American Dream to be wealthy. In the novel, Myrtle is a character who dreamed of marrying wealthy but did not. When she married her husband she “knew right away that [she] made a mistake. He borrowed somebody’s best suit to get married in and never even told [her] about it” (35). When she was marrying him, she thought he was rich because of the clothing he wore, but when she realized that he did not have money, she regretted marrying him. She decided to have an affair with another man, Tom. Tom was able to fill her desire of being with a wealthy man. Daisy also was very attracted to men with money. When she let go of Gatsby before, it was because he was not wealthy, but when she was reunited with him, at first she still did not love him. Once he showed her his mansion she questioned “that huge place there“ (90), and when she knew it was his, she began to take more interest in him once again because of materialistic matters.

It is Gatsby’s American Dream to be wealthy because he is well aware that women are attracted to money and materialistic things. He is on a quest to become wealthy in order to win his one true love, Daisy, back. Although it may seem his dream is only to be wealthy, it is not the case. His main dream is to be with the woman he truly loves and has loved for many years. He has to become wealthy to attain his one true love back. To prove to Daisy his wealth, he “took our a pile of shirts and began throwing them, one by one, before [her]. . . “ (92). He goes out of his way to show her all of the expensive things that he has to impress her and make