The Failure of Jay Gatsby in Reaching His American Dream

The failure of Jay Gatsby in reaching his American dream

Jay Gatsby has clearly failed to reach the American dream in Francis Scott Fitzgerald’s The Great Gatsby. This statement is going to be supported by many arguments in this work. The main purpose of this paper is to prove that Daisy—who is identical with the dream for Gatsby—was the reason why the protagonist failed to reach his aim: the American dream. To be more accurate, Daisy was not the person that Gatsby wanted her to be. To define shortly, one could say that the dream is “the belief that every man, whatever his origins, may pursue and attain his chosen goals, be they political, monetary, or social. It is the literary expression of the concept of America: the land of opportunity” (Pearson 638). One should consider the followings.

First of all, the American dream has its origins in the constitution of the United States of America, since it contains certain basic rights—for instance, liberty and the pursuit of happiness—that serve as fundaments. From the early days of the new nation, achieving these was in the center of citizens’ attention. It is enough to think about westward movement, in which people aimed to find their own piece of land and happiness. Also, many European immigrants arrived to the Liberty Island hoping that they can live in a country that is governed with certain rules that aim to maintain liberty. Last but not least, huge percentage of individuals living in the 20th century identified the American dream with the acquiring of big house, beautiful car and big family. One thing can be observed: as time passed and the new century commenced, peoples’ perception concerning the American dream has changed. The pursuit of material prosperity is as determining as it had not been experienced before (Loc.gov, “The American Dream”).

To continue, in the era of Gatsby—more precisely in the twenties—, the concept of American dream has changed; pursuing of different values came to the fore. In this...