The Materialized American Dream In F. Scott Fitzgerald's The Great Gatsby

An Analysis on the Materialized American Dream Today

The Declaration of Independence states “We hold these truths to be self-evident that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.” Soon after the Declaration of Independence was built, James Adams, a historian and a writer, derived this idea to the so-called the ‘American Dream’. The amelioration of a genuine need for security, a steady employment, and a solid living established the groundwork of the American Dream. However, as massive technological and industrial changes took place, the concept of an ideal living changed which furthermore made the American Dream inconsistent. Through this inconsistency, the idea of the American Dream seemed to fade away from American citizens. It may seem paradoxical, but even now, the concept and the understanding of ‘American Dream’ are debated. According to dictionary.com, the American Dream

For instance, in The Great Gatsby, F. Scott Fitzgerald indirectly criticizes the American Dream. Instead of the idea of pure joy attainable for the compensation of hard works, Fitzgerald portrays his idea of the American Dream by Gatsby. In the book, Gatsby’s American Dream is the affluence of material goods and winning Daisy, a fascinating girl. Gatsby, however, ends up dying because of his endless greed. Summing up, The Great Gatsby’s meditates the idea of the American Dream as reaching towards goals greater than themselves, being completely out of reach. This is evident by the green light that symbolizes Gatsby’s American Dream and the Valley of the Ashes which symbolizes the consequences America faces through the obsession with wealth. With this example, it is perceivable that the modern view of the American Dream is more likely to be on monetary values than on internal