The Corruption of The American Dream in Great Gatsby

The Corruption of the American dream in great Gatsby
According to Veronica Makowskys article in Approaches to teaching Fitzgeralds

The Great Gatsby, F. Scott Fitzgerald initially intended for his novel to have the
title Among the Ash-heaps and Millionaires which would suggest that the author
saw the issue of class as an important theme in the novel. Ash-heaps refers to the
area of ashes where for instance the Wilsons live as well as other member of the
working class. This area is a great contrast to that of the fashionable East Egg
where the Buchanans and other members of the upper class live (Makowsky 75).
Throughout the story Gatsby is in pursuit of a dream. There are many claims for
what that dream represents among scholars as well as readers, the most common
ones being the love of Daisy Buchanan and the American dream. The concept of
the American dream is closely related to the notion of class and although the
American dream will not be the main focus of this thesis it will be dealt with to
some extent. The American dream is a much wider concept than class and was,
according to Therse Johanssons thesis: The Broken Dream, originally an
expression describing the wish for a better life among the people who migrated to
America. Later on it would include aspirations towards a better life for those
already living in America as well (Therse 2).
On the surface The Great Gatsby might seem to be a tragic love story between the
golden girl and a poor young soldier going to war. The main theme of the novel
however operates on a much larger scale and it would be a mistake not to
recognize it. The novel offers a story of a whole generation. It is a story of a whole
era, the Jazz era. Throughout American history the 1920s have always been
referenced to as the golden age. It was a time of prosperity and material excess.
Everybody could achieve the American dream if they tried hard enough. It was
also a time of incredible hope. The American dream suddenly became something
that everybody strived for. Fitzgerald experienced his American dream also when
he became an instant celebrity after the publication of his first novel. To some the
1920s seemed almost like a dream. It was a careless time of living like there is no
tomorrow:
They were careless people, Tom and Daisy- they smashed up things
and creatures and then retreated back into their money or their vast
carelessness or whatever it was that kept them together, and let other
people clean up the mess they had made. (GG, 2005, p.181)
However the dream has been corrupted. Fitzgerald portrays the 1920s as a time of
decayed social and moral values, time of greed and cynicism. People were
interested only in pursuit of the material possessions and sexual pleasure. And it
was all accompanied by the sound of the wild jazz music. After the war people
returned haunted by the experience. They became the Lost generation.
Suddenly there was nothing more important than the gayety and enjoyment. This
eventually led to the stock market crash in 1929.
With the two luxurious neighborhoods West Egg and East Egg Fitzgerald
represents the divided society. The two Eggs, even though they might look alike,
are different in behavior and values, which is demonstrated by the behavior of a
few East Egg residents at a West Egg party: Instead of rambling this party had
preserved a dignified homogeneity, and assumed to itself the function of
representing the staid nobility of the countryside East Egg condescending to
West Egg, and carefully on guard against its spectroscopic gayety (Fitzgerald 47).
Fitzgerald makes East Egg the symbol of the old money America that despises
the new money America which is symbolized by West Egg. ( Flth 16)
With focus on their socioeconomic backgrounds, Fitzgerald makes clear examples
of the typical residents of both East and West Egg. Tom and Daisy Buchanan are
the typical residents of East Egg as they have always been wealthy and possess the
freedom that comes with it. They are described as people that without any further
purpose drift: here and there unrestfully wherever people played polo and were
rich together (Fitzgerald 13). To them, there is nothing more to life than existing
in this state of mind (Barbour 70). Gatsby, on the other hand, is the typical resident
of West Egg. With his lack of family wealth and his self-earned fortune he
represents the opposite from Tom and Daisy Buchanan. While the Buchanans seem
to live without goals or ambition, Fitzgerald shows Gatsbys ambitions with the
schedule over his daily activities (162).
As Fitzgerald points out through Nicks observations, the American dream used to
be symbolized with discovery, individualism and the pursuit of happiness.
However the relaxed and frivolous atmosphere of the 1920s has corrupted the
dream. It has become synonymous with materialistic values, greed and immoral
behavior. Gatsbys dream of loving Daisy is at first met with obstacles because
they come from different social backgrounds and he cant offer her what she is
used to. Later when he finally achieves material success and stability, Daisy is no
longer available. That is the sad irony of Gatsby's dream:
Gatsby believed in the green light, the orgastic future that year by
year recedes before us. It eluded us then, but thats no matter to-
morrow we will run faster, stretch out our arms farther. . . . And
one fine morning So we beat on, boats against the current,
borne back ceaselessly into the past. (GG,2005, p. 183)
The premise of the American dream is that if you work hard enough to get
something you will succeed. What he and other characters fail to realize is that the
dream is just an illusion. Gatsby in a way embodies the American dream. He
comes from nothing and becomes somebody. He has a desire and motivation to get
his girl back but like many times before in the history he falls short of his dream.
Fitzgerald is very clever with placing his symbols and motifs. He interconnects
them and so everything in the novel seems to have a deeper meaning. The green
light is not just a light at the end of the dock. It is a symbol of the American dream.
But while Gatsby symbolizes it with Daisy because she is his ultimate dream, Nick
is able to connect it to American past.( ( Pchov pp.33,34))
7- Sebastian Flth. Social Class and Status in Fitzgeralds The Great Gatsby. Sweden: Halmstad
University,2013.
8- Barbour, Brian M. Two American Dreams in Conflict. Johnson 72-67.
9- Johansson, Therse. The Broken Dream: The Failure of the American Dream in The Grapes of
Wrath from a Caste and Class perspective. Linnaeus University, 2010.
10-Makowsky, Veronica. Among the Ash-heaps and Millionaires. Approaches to teaching
Fitzgeralds The Great Gatsby. Ed. Jackson R. Bryer & Nancy P. VanArsdale. New York: Modern
Language Association of America, 2009. 75-83.

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The Corruption of the American dream in great Gatsby

According to Veronica Makowskys article in Approaches to teaching Fitzgeralds

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