Paper 3- 12 Hours

Lecturer: Robert Sprague

Course: ENG 101

Institution: West LA College

The American Dream

The Novel ‘The Great Gatsby’ by Scott Fitzgerald in 1925 mainly clashes with ideology regarding the establishment of the American Dream. It does not support the ideology in the real society and describes the social set up as a counteraction of the matter. The characters of the novel try to focus on the matter concerning the American dream, although so many issues come up and the book overrides the subject American Dream. Various characters in the novel seem to focus on the American Dream only to be failed by the circumstances in life that took control of their financial statuses. Some of these actors include Gatsby and the Wilsons who gave clear differences in the society.

First, American dream can be described as a United States’ ethos and the guiding principles that were created from time memorial which allows for the valuation of behavior, treatment and lifestyle of people in the presence of wealth, social class and prestige. The principles are associated to the moral values that have to be appreciated in the sense that the people should not harm each other nor cause others to suffer losses. It also involves focusing on the rights of others; there is freedom and liberty for every person and all men are equal. With these attributes, it is important to note that there should not be even a hint of matters such as child molestation.

The book therefore represents a counteraction of the moral ethics and the value of the individual affairs in relationship to the other life processes. American culture is unique, and therefore there are different people that want to have that type of cultural lifestyle because they believe that the popularity and wealth has been achieved through embracing the social policy. Since its inception in Virginia in the 18th Century, the American Dream has evolved with the times due to the changes in the preferences. When the United States achieved their independence in the later 18th century, the main agenda was to register the American dream so that it attained at the expense of justice and ethics. According to the book, there are unique features that explain the concept alongside the struggle for supremacy through wealth creation and amassment.

The evolution of the American dream has seen the ideology go through various life steps and so not everyone allows for the successful transition between the different social classes. During the periods of the 1920s, there were various changes that occurred that discouraged in selecting the best sociological ideals and other driving forces such as corruption, role of women in the society and also the plight of the common man.

Fitzgerald’s The Great Gatsby describes the American dream as one that separates the two types of classes. In the United States, there are two types of classes, the Western part of the country that contains those full of moral direction while the eastern side focuses on monetary valuation. However, the characters have similar direction towards the achievement of individual goals. A goof instance is the point where Gatsby wants a source of quality lifestyle like a grown up and having great materials in his possessions. He even indulges into illegal business such as the sale of alcohol in order to attain his goal. Tom accuses him by saying,

“I found out what your ‘drug-stores’ were.” He turned to us and spoke rapidly. “He and this Wolfsheim bought up a lot of side-street drug-stores here and in Chicago and sold grain alcohol over the counter. That’s one of his little stunts (103)

During this period of time, the constitutional law did not allow the brewing alcohol. A man by the Class disparity is shown in this scenario as Gatsby plans to have that place and also transfer from the social class, specifically to New York. The crisis that comes into play is the point where he brags with the wealth and yet he is spendthrift. The American dream at this stage is therefore compromised in the book.

Second, American dream contains the point of openness in the society. This controversy is not adhered it. Gatsby met a woman and begins wooing her through his wealth and finally they got married. However, the controversy of openness is that after meeting her, he feels that his woman should tell one of their friends, Tom, something that she does not do. Daisy disobeys the ethical issues that are enforced in the American dream. She loves herself more than the original cultures that have to be followed in the American vision. She is ready to dump her man, Tom for Gatsby just for the sake of wealth.

American dream is crashed when the eventual step for Daisy is to tell Tom, her long term husband, that she never loved him and therefore she loves Jay Gatsby. However, in the real sense, one can tell that the reason for the love brewing is the amassed wealth that Gatsby made. As she tried to speak of not loving Tom right in his face, Daisy had the guilt because she had emotional attachment towards him. She affirms that “Even alone I can’t say I never loved Tom,” she admitted in a pitiful voice. “It wouldn’t be true.” (102). This shows that she just went to Gatsby for the wealth as she still could not wish to hurt Tom.

Therefore, the morality of the original American vision is destroyed through taking interests on values that are not aligned to the cultures of the American society. Lies and dishonesty is still strong especially in Daisy. Daisy and Tom had a child. However, Daisy did not tell Gatsby about the true story as he only knew the presence of daisy and not the child. Therefore the values of the traditional culture are broken.

Child molestation is also another issue observed in the book. When Daisy is already married to Gatsby, she comes with her daughter. However, she fails to take good care of the child. The expected interests on a child have changed and so the child goes through mental turmoil. In fact, Daisy even assumed her daughter to a point that she did not value the child the right way and does not make quick visits for the child whom he also never gave proper attention towards the little girl and therefore the child had self esteem issues.

Therefore, the child underwent a difficult position in the environmental settings. She never had the opportunity of fulfilling the requirements of the American dream in enjoying life with the parents. She does not even know her real parents and so she through moments of questioning herself if there are people closely related to her and can feel the urge of being close to them.

In summary, the American Dream has diminished in existence during the current times and this is depicted by the novel The Great Gatsby. In conclusion, American dream is full of norms, ethos, cultures and traditions that are supposed to be followed in order to have an environment where no one takes advantage of the other, everybody fights for his or her rights and also there is sense of appreciation for every human being. However, there are various events that occurs leading to the change of culture and ideas regarding the same. The book, ‘The Great Gatsby’ provides a clear picture of the going against the American dreams as people just concentrate on the issues that would add monetary values in their lives instead of adding value to the relationship between them and the other individuals. The persona narrates what the father remarked and said, “Whenever you feel like criticizing any one,” he told me, “just remember that all the people in this world haven’t had the advantages that you’ve had.” (4) This shows that life was all about the opportunities that one had and not the desire to follow the interests of the heart. Persons such as Daisy have demonstrated the sense of moving away from the American dream and following the paths of extra capitalism and selfish gains.

The persona says, “I’ve heard it said that Daisy’s murmur was only to make people lean toward her; an irrelevant criticism that made it no less charming” and then “I’ve heard it said that Daisy’s murmur was only to make people lean toward her” meaning she wanted to have favors through having appealing outlook (10). The American community should therefore ensure that it goes hand in hand with the current trends concerning human beings treating each other with ethics.

Works Cited

Bloom, Harold. Scott Fitzgerald's the Great Gatsby. Infobase Publishing, 2010. Ebook