Gatsby, The Great

5. Evaluate The Great Gatsby as a criticism of the corruption of the American Dream.

What is the American Dream? To put it simply, it is the idea that through hard work and perseverance, you gain money and become happy. Throughout the course of F Scott Fitzgerald's The Great Gatsby, though, this so called American Dream is thrown on the dirt, stomped on, flattened by a steamroller, thrown in a fire, turned to ashes, fed to a dog, the following feces burned again, and thrown into a tornado to be scattered into the oceans across the world. Basically, it completely destroys the idea, by personifying it through Gatsby himself.

Gatsby himself started out as a lowly boy, who started to attend college but could not keep up with the bills and payments required to continue attending because the job he had taken up was, as he believed, below him. So he dropped out of college to become the image of what he wanted to be - a rich man with power and the capability to fulfill his destiny. And, in the process, he wishes to become a happy individual who can live life to its fullest, as a rich and powerful man. In the process, he meets Daisy, who he falls in love with and wants to share his destiny with.

Gatsby, however, looses Daisy because he has to go to war; and when he comes back, she has married Tom and has mostly forgotten about him - until he comes up in conversations, at least. Gatsby, who has accomplished all of the goals of the American Dream, on the other hand, is still missing two things - Daisy, and happiness. Through Nick, Gatsby manages to get closer to Daisy, and the end of the American Dream is finally in grasp - all he has to do is manage to convince Daisy that she doesn't love Tom and she loves him, and they can go off and be happy.

Wait. Crap.

Cue confrontation. Gatsby tries to get Daisy to tell Tom that she doesn't love him - but Daisy, much to his dismay, tells him that she loves both of them. This reacts in an argument, after which Tom insists that Gatsby allow him and Daisy to drive back in Gatsby's car. Daisy drives, and on the way back, hits Myrtle in Gatsby's car. There is a huge freakout, as the impact of killing someone sets in - especially someone like Myrtle, who had a connection to Tom. When George finds out about his wife's death, he eventually links it to Gatsby - the American Dream - and goes to his house...

Draws a gun...

...

Gatsby embodies the American Dream as someone that works hard to accomplish something he can never have. He is also selfish in the regard that he wants everything to go his way. He wants Daisy all to himself, he wants to complete his amazing destiny as a powerful man... and what does he get for it? He loses Daisy, even when he gives everything for her, and he even takes the fall after Daisy (accidentally) kills Myrtle. Gatsby represents the flawed vision that we know as the American Dream... that thing that we will never reach, no matter how hard we try.