Fitzgerald's Idea of the American Dream

We all know what the idea of the big American Dream is. Americans are full of money, love, opportunities, the perfect family, and fun, right? That is what the American Dream is anyways. But in reality, not everyone can achieve this dream. Almost every single character in The Great Gatsby have certain parts of the American dream, but no one has the whole package deal.  Because of this, I feel that Fitzgerald doesn't see that it is possible to have every aspect of the American Dream.

Some people may see Gatsby as the man with the American Dream in the bag. He has the nicest cars, a huge house with a pool, parties that everyone attends, and everyone loves him. As he is talking about his fantatic home, he states, "I keep it full of interesting people, night and day. People who do interesting things. Celebrated people" (90). But what they don't know is that he does not have the thing he dreams to have the most. His American Dream is to be married to Daisy Buchanan. He has been in love with Daisy for five years now, and has been waiting to get her back. He imagines himself with her everyday. But there are a couple things stopping him. She is a married woman with a child. Because of this, he is unable to just approach her in any way he chooses. He must "unexpectedly" run into her. His new friend Nick is just the help he needs. When discussing their plan, Nick says, "I'm going to call up Daisy to-morrow and invite her over here to tea" (82). The ex-couple meets, and their love has been sparked once again. Daisy plans to leave her husband for Gatsby. But then a problem comes up. Tom tells Daisy and a couple others about who Gatsby really is. If that wasn't enough to get her away from Gatsby, she accidentally kills her husbands mistress. This occurs while she is with Gatsby driving his car. So of course, Gatsby is thought to have killed Myrtle. Myrtle's husband heard of this and murdered Gatsby.

Another example of a failed American Dream is Nick Carraway. Nick moved to New York to be a successful bondsman. Nick has little money and he thought this was the answer to becoming a rich man. He lives in a small cottage right next door to Mr. Jay Gatsby. This causes Nick to get caught up into a bit of drama, so he is unable to achieve his dream. Gatsby is all about partying hard with his friends and getting the woman he loves. Nick begins to fall into the party seen a little bit, but this isn't really what affected his dream. He happens to be a relative of Daisy, and he is the one who Gatsby is depending on. Nick is a nice guy, so he is willing to help Gatsby as much as he can. After talking with Gatsby, Nick says, "I called up Daisy from the office next moring, and invitered her to come to tea" (83). He even told her not to bring her husband Tom. As the relationship develops with Gatsby and Daisy, so does the drama. Daisy's husband begins to catch on and is not happy at all. He eventually ruins the relationship with his wife and Gatsby. Tom even has a part in Gatsby's murder. He didn't kill him himself, but he gave Wilson the idea in a way. Nick was stuck putting together Gatsby's funeral and trying to figure out what is going on with the people who "care" about Gatsby. He no longer had any chance to achieve his American Dream.