Introduction
The Great Gatsby is a chef-d’oeuvre tragic love story and a pessimistic critique of the idea of the American Dream as written by F. Scott Fitzgerald in 1925. The American Dream is the meritocratic belief that anyone, irrespective of his or her class, race, gender, or nationality can become wildly successful in the United States through hard work and persistence. This rosy view of the US promotes the myth of class equality and paints a utopian image of a country that has many inherent problems, such as systemic racism, misogyny, and widespread income inequalities among other social evils that bedevil most developed countries around the world. Therefore, Fitzgerald wrote this subtly sarcastic novel to highlight the many flaws of the American Dream – an idea that has been romanticized for many years since the early 1900s. In The Great Gatsby, Fitzgerald suggests that the American Dream is illusionary, those who pursue it, like Jay Gatsby, end up living miserably, and the impacts of such pursuits are mostly tragic as discussed in this paper.
The American Dream in the Novel
Jay Gatsby is the ultimate embodiment of the American Dream in The Great Gatsby. He is born poor, but he allegedly works hard by associating with a millionaire, Dan Cody, to gain wealth and prominence in society and this concept of success fits well into the underlying concept of the American Dream. Gatsby’s drive for wealth and success is fuelled by his love for Daisy Buchanan. He thinks that if he becomes successful, then he would win Daisy’s love and live happily after. As such, his version of the American Dream is to work hard, become successful, and earn happiness in the process. However, although Jay becomes wildly successful, he does not win Daisy’s love and this tragic turn of events leads to his premature death. Through Jay’s actions and desires, Fitzgerald criticizes the notion of the American Dream by showing that this idea is illusionary and cannot be fully achieved. Those chasing this idea will always want more no matter the level of success that they achieve. For instance, Jay amasses great wealth, but he is not satisfied because his definition of success cannot be completed without winning Daisy’s love. The extreme pursuit of materialism does not guarantee happiness or success. Jay’s desire to earn more and scale the social ladder to win Daisy’s love leads to his downfall. As such, Fitzgerald shows that the idea of infinite success, as embodied in the American Dream, is illusionary.
When the author introduces Jay at first in the novel, he comes across as an individual always yearning for more. Jay appears to be reaching for something that is far away, almost unattainable – something that can be seen but cannot be reached. The narrator, Nick, says,
…He stretched out his arms toward the dark water in a curious way, and far as I was from him I could have sworn he was trembling. Involuntarily I glanced seaward–and distinguished nothing except a single green light, minute and far away, that might have been the end of a dock (Fitzgerald 20).
The image of the green light could be interpreted as the novel’s meditation on the American Dream. The promise of great success through the unabated amassment of wealth forces the believers of this dream to keep on yearning for more even after becoming successful. The green light in chapter one is mysterious and Nick does not know its purpose. This green light, albeit distant, does not dim or go off. It is a constant reminder to Jay that he can achieve more if only he works harder – it is the American Dream.
The illusionary nature of this dream becomes evident once Jay achieves the desired success and ultimately gets the green light. For the first time, in Chapter 5, Jay reveals that the green light that he has always been seeking is at Daisy’s house. Nick says, ‘If it wasn’t for the mist we could see your home across the bay,’ said Gatsby. ‘You always have a green light that burns all night at the end of your dock’” (Fitzgerald 92). It becomes clear that Jay’s idea of success as enshrined in the American Dream is closely tied to winning Daisy’s love. Interestingly, when Jay finally meets Daisy, he does not recognize that his dream has come true. The meaning of the green light disappears the moment Jay reaches it. When Daisy puts her arm through Jay’s, he seems unmoved or excited, even though he has achieved one of his lifelong dreams – to have daisy. According to the narrator, possibly it occurred to Jay that
The colossal significance of that light had now vanished forever. Compared to the great distance that had separated him from Daisy it had seemed very near to her, almost touching her. It had seemed as close as a star to the moon. Now it was again a green light on a dock. His count of enchanted objects had diminished by one (Fitzgerald 93)
In this passage, the author sarcastically, albeit subtly, criticizes the idea of the American Dream. The dream is an illusion that only exists in the mind of those in its pursuit. Jay has finally reached the green light that he has been yearning for years. However, its meaning is now lost and he wants more. This is the nature of the American Dream – the promise of unparalleled success based on materialism is vague and empty. Even after achieving wealth and success, and eventually reaching Daisy, Jay is not satisfied, he is not happy with his life, and thus he is always seeking more. In this state of confusion, Jay starts losing everything that he has accumulated and ultimately his life.
Another aspect of the state of the American Dream in The Great Gatsby is the lie that hard work pays and through meritocracy, anyone could achieve success. In the novel, Jay appears to have decoded the mystery of the American Dream because he becomes wealthy and successful against all odds after being born poor. According to Nick, Gatsby’s parents were “shiftless and unsuccessful farm people…For over a year he had been beating his way along the south shore of Lake Superior as a clam-digger and a salmon fisher or in any other capacity that brought him food and a bed” (Fitzgerald 98). Even though Jay starts his life in poverty, he has what it takes, according to the American Dream, to become successful. He has a strong work ethic and unparalleled ambition to win Daisy’s love, and a combination of these two attributes allows him to overcome his poverty-stricken past. The narrator highlights the level of success and wealth accumulation that Jay has when he describes Jay’s mansion as, “a factual imitation of some Hotel de Ville in Normandy, with a tower on one side, spanking new under a thin beard of raw ivy, and a marble swimming pool and more than forty acres of lawn and garden” (Fitzgerald 5). Therefore, according to the materialistic nature of success as embodied in the American Dream, it suffices to argue that Jay is living the dream. He rises through the social ranks, gains extravagant wealth, and becomes highly successful through sheer hard work and determination.
However, a closer look at Jay’s life reveals a different side of the story whereby wealth, as the ultimate achievement of the American Dream, is attained unscrupulously through corruption and crime. Traditionally, the American Dream is hinged on the belief that hard work and honesty could lead anyone to success because the country is a land of opportunity and meritocracy. However, Jay violates all these principles and quickly becomes extravagantly wealthy through crime and corruption. In the beginning, Jay attempts to follow the classical way of hard work as a guiding work ethic principle during his years working for Dan Cody. Unfortunately, Jay’s stay and work life at Cody’s place are terminated prematurely when Cody’s wife steals all the inheritance. As such, Jay turns to crime as the only feasible way of achieving his desired and imagined wealth. Therefore, while on the one side Jay’s story imitates the rags-to-riches tale, he gains his wealth immorally and this aspect complicates the notion behind the perfect avatar of the American Dream. This dream is illusionary, and based on Jay’s story, it suffices to argue that it is unattainable, and those that attempt to pursue it do so at the expense of their happiness and lives.
In the end, Jay’s American Dream does not materialize. He turns into crime to become rich and successful as a way of winning Daisy’s love, which is ultimately his American Dream. According to the narrator, Jay knew that when “he kissed this girl, and forever wed his unutterable visions to her perishable breath, his mind would never romp again like the mind of God…At his lips’ touch, she blossomed for him like a flower and the incarnation was complete” (Fitzgerald 110). This quote ties Daisy to Jay’s version of the American Dream. However, it also sets the stage for Jay’s tragic ending. Daisy chooses to stay with Tom, despite confessing her love for Jay. As such, when he fails to win Daisy’s love, he fails to achieve his American Dream and the events that follow lead to his premature death after being shot by Tom Buchanan. Therefore, The Great Gatsby is a pessimistic approach to the American Dream. The impact of chasing this illusionary dream is that it leads to misery and death based on Jay’s story.
Conclusion
In The Great Gatsby, Fitzgerald criticizes the concept of the American Dream by presenting it as a pipe dream that cannot be realized no matter how hard anyone tries. Jay attempts to pursue his version of the American Dream, which is to ultimately win Daisy’s love, but he fails and dies miserably. Additionally, the author criticizes the argument that hard work and meritocracy are the sure ways of achieving the American Dream. Jay’s industriousness while working for Cody does not pay off for him to become wealthy. On the contrary, he becomes rich through bootlegging alcohol among other criminal activities. Therefore, Fitzgerald is pessimistic about the underlying claim that hard work could propel anyone to become wealthy and successful hence the realization of the American Dream. In other words, the dream is illusionary, and its pursuers, such as Jay, lead miserable lives and the impacts of such pursuit are often tragic.
Work Cited
Fitzgerald, F. Scott. The Great Gatsby. Scribner, 1925.