There was music from my neighbor’s house through the summer nights. In his blue gardens men and girls came and went like moths among the whisperings and he champagne and the stars. At high tide in the afternoon I watched his guests diving from the tower of his raft, or taking the sun on the hot sand of his beach while his motor-boats slid the waters of the Sound, drawing aquaplanes over cataracts of foam. On week-ends his Rolls-Royce became an omnibus, bearing parties to and from the city between nine in the morning and long past midnight, while his station wagon scampered like a brisk yellow bug to meet all trains. And on Mondays eight servants, including an extra gardener, toiled all day with mops and scrubbing-brushes and hammers and garden-shears, repairing the ravages of the night before. (43)
This quote shows how extravagant Gatsby’s parties were and how he throws his money around because he has a lot of it. In the end, the American dream is shown to not be achievable since money is put as the highest priority above personal happiness. The American dream is also not achievable based on today’s current economy, unlike the Great Gatsby where money is not seen as an issue. In Barbara Ehrenreich’s excerpt from “Nickel and Dimed: On (Not) Getting By in America” she works undercover for a maid service in Maine getting the real experience of entry-level jobs. Through this experience she gained an understanding of how in America, “the land of opportunity”, not all people are given equal opportunities. The workers in the maid service are treated horribly and unfairly, working with conditions that any normal person would take a sick day for. Ehrenreich states, “If I don’t know how my coworkers survive on their wages or what they make of our hellish condition, I do know about their back pains and cramps and arthritic attacks” (76). This shows that people are not given the equal opportunities that they are promised. These maids are left working for people who have enough money to pay another human being to clean up after their mess. The maids work so hard that it is to the point where they develop health problems and at the end of the day they make less than the person whom they are working for. The original American dream is based on achieving personal happiness and as William Zinsser said, “Happiness goes to the man who has the sweet smell of achievement” (87). One cannot achieve happiness or the monetary comfort that they need to succeed in society because of today’s current financial situation. Although America is not in the state where equal opportunity is practiced during today’s economy, this can also be because of one’s birthright. As stated in the article, “The Slow Death of the American Dream” by Noah Kristula-Green, “…40%