Tom and Daisy Buchananan as corruptors of the American Dream in The Great Gatsby

Tom and Daisy Buchanan : Corrupters of the American Dream

The elusive American Dream has been around longer than the country Settlers from Europe came to America in hopes for a better life . Now people from all over the world come to the United States to live a life that is fulfilled , escape to freedom , and to make money . They dream of America where anything and everything is possible . However , it has been corrupted over the years . Characters like Tom and Daisy Buchanan in F Scott Fitzgerald 's The Great Gatsby are perfect examples

of individuals who have taken what was once a beautiful objective and turned it into something that is ugly and unrewarding

So what is the American Dream ? It has changed over the years , but the principle has endured . The dream consists of the idea that if one works hard enough , anything is possible . It is a place where wealth and fame is at everyone 's finger tips . Or if one desires a quiet simple life , it is also there for the taking . Many people have the idea that it is the comfortable house with the white picket fence , two cars in the driveway and two point five children . Some see it as wealth , fame , and a name that will live on in history . There are also those whose idea of the American Dream as the right to own land . The American Dream is not just about wealth and materialism , but also on of satisfaction , the betterment of self and society . In the modern world , the dream can also include a stock portfolio and a 401K . No matter what a person 's idea of the American Dream is , it is still alive and well

The nineteen twenties , the setting for The Great Gatsby , ushered in a new set of values which altered the American Dream forever . There were numerous new inventions , and thanks to Henry Ford , many of the inventions that had been only for the rich could now be afforded by the middle class . The latest Jazz music , clothing styles , and the sense of recklessness of the younger generation who had just fought in a war where they had seen more death and destruction than they thought possible . They wanted to go to lavish parties and dance until they could not . Tom and Daisy Buchanan have what most people would consider the American Dream . They are immensely wealthy , have servants , a beautiful but ignored child , and everything that money could buy at that time . However , they were accidents waiting to happen because they lived the dream , but had corrupted it

One of the principle concepts of the American Dream is to work hard to achieve what you want in life . Tom and Daisy had both been born into wealthy families where their money and possessions had been handed to them

When one lost that sense of life or promise - which Fitzgerald

characteristically predicted on youth - then life lost its sense of wonder , its

splendor , its romantic promise...