The Great Gatsby and the American Dream

Running Head : The Great Gatsby and the American Dream

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The story of Jay Gatsby provides a critique of the American Dream in the 1920s held by Jay Gatsby . The story details the failure of society to fulfill its potential . Gatsby spends his whole life trying to gain money and status with the aim of getting that which is unattainable . The society has failed in the sense that most of them lived their lives carelessly without regard for the consequences of their actions . They also looked

down on others and generally live a decadent life . Gatsby embodies the American Dream because his beginnings are humble and he has to work hard in to raise his position in life

The American Dream however seems unattainable because so many of the characters who it seems should be satisfied with what they have are really not . Gatsby has a dream to find Daisy , whom he loves but he does not achieve this in spite of working very diligently towards his goal The representation of the American Dream with regard to Gatsby has some irony because in the novel , Gatsby is the only one who works hard to achieve his station . He is actually the only one who truly believes that his dreams and efforts would pay off in the end . Perhaps part of the reason for Gatsby 's downfall is the belief he holds that things could go back to how they used to be as revealed in a...