Corruption Of The American Dream In The Great Gatsby

Fitzgerald reveals the idea of corruption in the American Dream through conditions such as wealth and materialism, power and social status, and relationships involving family and affairs. He uses examples of this corruption to show the reader that people are willing to lie, betray others, and commit crime to be able to live a ‘better and fuller’ life. The need for money and materialism throughout The Great Gatsby shows the decay of the American Dream.

His life represents The American Dream in the way that he was corrupted by his love for Daisy and was corrupted by money in the process. Gatsby became a bootlegger to obtain money to impress daisy. Money represents wealth which is one of the steps to achieving the American dream. Gatsby is portrayed as the tragic hero because of his love he was willing to abandon his family and change his lifestyle so he can finally be accepted by Daisy. The shirts symbolize the change in Gatsby from when he was younger to the present (poor to wealthy).

Money, power, and success have blinded people into thinking they are in love and it has led to these women being oppressed. Tom and Gatsby in this book are what is called the patriarchy. According to Revise Sociology, the patriarchy is “The systematic domination of women by men in some or all of society’s spheres and institutions.” In Tom and Daisy’s marriage; they are both having an affair, Tom wasn’t at his child’s birth, and he oppresses Daisy physically, maybe by accident, and socially, by not allowing her to go wherever she wants to go. In Tom and Myrtle’s affair; they are both married, yet they have this affair, she is dependent on him because he oppresses her economically and psychologically, and he also oppresses her physically when he broke her nose. In Gatsby and Daisy’s relationship; she is having an affair with him and he psychologically oppressed her with his money and wealth only to get the idea he has of her as his “Golden Girl.” Fitzgerald’s argument is, when love is not the main reason for a relationship it will lead into oppression of women.

Kane goes through the same experience, although he does not recognize what love is, he understands when he is not loved. After his first marriage failed, he spends millions upon millions building an opera house for his second wife, an upcoming singer; Kane hired only the best for his darling. But, she too fails to fulfill his idealistic world and gives up on her career. Kane ends up buying a palace isolated and away from the real world. This is exactly what Gatsby does to attract Daisy, and like Gatsby, Kane gets it completely wrong.

"The negative side of the American Dream comes when people pursue success at any cost, which in turn destroys the vision and the dream." In this quote, by Azar Nafisi, it explains how dreaming can be tainted by reality, and that if a person doesn’t compromise they may suffer. In the book The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald, the American Dream is one the many themes present. The American Dream that most people in this book hope to have involves wealth, status, a fun social life, and someone to lust after. It is the life they all strive to have until they obtain it and see its meaningless composure.

Gatsby is in love with Daisy, and bought his mansion across the bay from hers and throws these extravagant and large parties as a way to capture her attention. Gatsby has been trying to get into contact with Daisy for quite a bit of time, all without her knowledge. Although Gatsby wishes to be with Daisy, she is married to Tom and so far has expressed no desire to end her marriage, despite how badly Tom treats her. Gatsby enlists the help of Jordan Baker and Nick as a way to reunite him and Daisy. Characters also struggle with illusion and reality when they spread rumors about how Gatsby killed a man.

Fitzgerald was very clever in the sense that he created the sad ending which tends to stamp on reader’s mind more tenaciously than happy ones. First, the novel expresses a cautious belief in the American Dream. As mentioned above, Gatsby believes lavish life will help him win the love, but ultimately, Daisy has fled with Tom. At the end of the novel, Gatsby dead, along with George and Myrtle, and only the rich alive, the novel has progressed to a charged, emotional critique of the American Dream. Fitzgerald shows hopelessness with the dead of Gatsby and Wilson at the end of the novel to show that the purity of the American Dream is death.

Fitzgerald uses symbol and character to build his theme of money does not guarantee people 's perceptions or dreams. Dreams are not guaranteed to come true. Myrtle Wilson, MYRTLE WILSON THE WHORE OF A WIFE, dies before achieving any of her dreams. She had an affair with Tom Wilson as an attempt to bring herself closer to the wealthy upper class, but she was never happy with what she had. In this novel, dust is a symbol representing the poor and desolate.

However, he does not want to marry her: “[…] [I]sn’t it a mad thing I’m saying again that you’d be asking marriage of me” (TW I. 4). Likewise, Michael’s mother does not approve of such a marriage and she says: “[…] I never knew till this day it was a black born fool I had for a son” (TW II. 34). Despite the scorn of his mother, Michael eventually decides to marry Sarah because, like a bourgeois, he has patriarchal economic reasons for tying up his woman as wife as she earns a great deal of money.

During the whole novel Gatsby tries to reconnect with his one true love a woman from his previous life named Daisy. But Daisy the women he wishes to reconnect with is married to a man that is wealthy his name was Tom Buchanan. Both of them love Daisy a lot and will not let her go. The outcome of them not letting her go led them to awful decisions to win over Daisy. However they show different characteristics to accomplish there goal of getting Daisy.