“The American Dream is the belief that anyone, regardless of race, class, gender, or nationality, can be successful in America if they just work hard enough.”
The American Dream is reoccurring theme in the Great Gatsby. Many characters in the novel are trying to become successful. To begin with, Gatsby himself was trying to pursuit the American Dream by winning Daisy back from Tom because her voice sounds like “MONEY”. While Mr. Wilson was trying to succeed through work and Myrtle by her affair with Tom to get to the higher class.
On the other hand, Daisy and Tom are wealthy from the beginning and they have no interest in pursuing the American Dream. And for this reason, they act as the competitor or a foe of the American Dream. For example, when Daisy leaves Gatsby and kills Myrtle, she brings tragedy in their lives instead of success and therefore, destroying their way to the American Dream.
Finally, the book was portraying the country during the 1920s, the era of modernism, in which young generations were optimistic about the future but when Gatsby dies, Nick describes that “[Gatsby] did not know that it was already behind him … under the night.” which implies that Gatsby cannot reach his dream anymore. Additionally, this novel indicates that that the American Dream doesn’t exists and the new “rich” cannot become the old “rich.” In other words, like the rumors about Gatsby in the novel, the promises of the American Dream are not true.
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