The Great Gatsby: Broken Dreams

Jay Gatsby in the Great Gatsby represents the American dream that everyone thrives to achieve, but throughout   the Great Gatsby there is a perfect illustration of the destructive power of dreams, that people aspire too.   The American Dream is essentially the idea of being able to create prosperity and happiness coming from nothing, this came from when the American economy boomed in the around the 1920’s which allowed people to make tremendous amount of money quick and easily. But this was not easily achieved unless you put in all you hard work and dedication to making your dream come true, this is what Nick Carraway represents in the Great Gatsby, Gatsby represents Nick’s life long dream of which he ultimately is unable to obtain. Gatsby has got it all, the cars, house and an abundance of money, it is clear from the outset of the novel that Nick pines for what Gatsby has, this shows us the unrealised of .

In The Great Gatsby, Fitzgerald uses the American Dream to show moral decay in society, how anyone will do anything to get to there Dream, he does this by showing the reader the over the top lavish lifestyle that the elite live, and the amount of money it takes to fund this, just like Gatsby’s parties this breaks the illusion of the American dream for the readers. Gatsby is the is the illusion of the American dream, but so is Tom and Daisy. Fitzgerald then uses the other character to show how they will never reach there dream like Myrtle and George Wilson's desire for an upper class status, Georges descriptions sums up everything,   “He was a blonde, spiritless man, anaemic”. Myrtle has a deep desire to be like Daisy, she hates being married too George and openly expresses is when they are in the New York flat together, she resents George for tying her dreams down to the Garage where they live and work when she married him, a perfect example of this is when she talks about the Hotel boy ’she isn't fit to lick my shoe”, she dreams of being a part of the elite...