How Did The American Dream Influence The Great Gatsby

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The ideal of an American Dream for any American is to have an equal opportunity to become successful by working hard. Immigrants from all over the world come to America to be able to have that American Dream. People dream of having a white picket fence, and raising a family. Has the American Dream changed over the years? Was accomplishing the American Dream an actual good thing? In the Great Gatsby, wealth was a gateway to the American Dream, but by Fitzgerald’s influence the American Dream may have lost it’s meaning. Nick Carraway introduces us to Gatsby by saying “ Gatsby turned out alright at the end; it is what preyed on Gatsby, what foul dust floated in the wake of his dreams that temporarily closed out my interests in the abortive sorrows and short winded elations of men.” That dream that Nick describes is the American Dream. Wealth was the American Dream but the foul dust that floated in the midst of the dreams made it impossible to accomplish. In the middle of the book we find out that Gatsby was not always wealthy. Gatsby grew up with a poor family. He never really accepted to be poor, and ran off to be able to find a better life. He found Dan Cody, and started working really hard which led to his wealth. Gatsby literally made a name for himself being of low birth. Tom Buchanan didn’t think he …show more content…
Owl eyes had crashed his car, and still kept driving even though there was only three tires. He was consumed by alcohol, but for many people that had become the American Dream. People wanted enough liquor to crash their cars, and enough money to buy more cars. Fitzgerald suggests that maybe wealth is just not good. People who were wealthy became careless people. Daisy’s most famous line “ I hope she’ll be a fool- that’s the best thing a girl can be in this world, a beautiful little fool.” Daisy suggests that being careless in this world is the only way you can get
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