Ryan Kaitz
AMST 2031
Professor Matthew Boynton
12/9/17
The Great Gatsby’s Pessimistic Portrayal of The American Dream
The American Dream is often defined by the ability for anyone to achieve their goals
through hard work and dedication regardless of racial or religious background, or original
socioeconomic status. According to Shreya Sachan author of The Degeneration of the
American Dream in The Great Gatsby and Fight Club: “Both novels revolve around the Critique
of Western Capitalism. The American Dream is definitely forgotten and twisted. Hard work, good
ethics and equality for all, which are the basic factors constituting the American Dream, are
degenerated and this is what leads the protagonist to his tragedy”. I would agree with Sachan’s
claim and also argue that The Great Gatsby is a pessimistic critique of the American Dream and
this reflects the feelings toward the American Dream during this time period. The setting for The
Great Gatsby is during the postwar economic boom of the 1920’s and during the era of
prohibition when many found an open space for shady dealings and getting rich quickly in ways
that were both rejected by the law and society at the time. This setting provided the foundation
as to why The Great Gatsby by F.S Fitzgerald is considered to be a pessimistic view of The
American Dream.
In his early life Jay Gatsby came from a dirt poor family of farmers in the midwest. When
he was 16 he ran away and ended up rescuing a millionaire from his yacht. When the millionaire
died Gatsby expected to receive the inheritance, but was robbed of it by the family and
remained dirt poor. But his thirst to obtain wealth and ultimately get Daisy continued and he did
not give up. F.S Fitzgerald intentionally chooses this background for Jay Gatsby because it
provides the perfect “rags to riches” story which is encapsulated by the American Dream and
the belief of upward mobility. Other than his early life, much of Gatsby’s origin story is unknown
or that of legend, for example the stories about him being a Russian Spy or other made up
stories that the narrator hears about Gatsby at his party. Nobody knows much about Gatsby or
his origin, and Gatsby does not reveal it, all people know about him is that he is filthy rich. This
is intentionally done by the author because it supports the claim of the American Dream: that for
the making of success the origin story does not matter. As you can see F.S Fitzgerald used the
the time period, as well as what is known and unknown about Jay Gatsby to set up a typical
“rags to riches” story about achieving the American Dream. However as you progress through
the story you soon realize that F.S Fitzgerald did not intend for this to be a typical success story
of the American Dream, he simply sets the book up this way so it is easy to see at first that his
story is about the American Dream.
Jay Gatsby’s dream is not simply to become rich, becoming rich is simply just a means
as to which he can achieve his true dream. Gatsby’s true dream is to get Daisy back into his life
after she left him for a rich man when he went off to fight in the war. Naturally Gatsby thinks that
Daisy is only with Tom Buchanan because of his money, so if he were to obtain a lot of money
then he could win her back. This is evident from a quote by Nick, the narrator and Gatsby’s next
door neighbor: "He had waited five years and bought a mansion where he dispensed starlight to
casual moths--so he could 'come over' some afternoon to a stranger's garden." (Fitzgerald) This
quote is Nick explaining his realization that Gatsby’s true dream is to get Daisy, as well as his
role in Gatsby’s Dream which is to casually invite Daisy over for tea so that Gatsby can happen
to swing by and show Daisy what he has made of himself. In addition to this plan, Gatsby had
made other attempts to attract Daisy’s attention prior to meeting Nick. Gatsby often threw
extravagant parties that are described in the book as something that everyone who was
somebody would go to, from politicians to famous celebrities of all kinds. Being that it obviously
was not a coincidence that Gatsby lived across the bay from Daisy, Nick makes note of
Gatsby’s true intentions for having the most popular parties in town on page 63 by saying: “'I
think he half expected her to wander into one of his parties, some night.” Here “half expected”
would very much be an understatement, it was his sole purpose for throwing the parties, and
just another one of his many acts in pursuit of his American Dream.
F.S Fitzgerald uses many symbols in The Great Gatsby to reflect Jay Gatsby’s Dream.
One of the most relevant and often recognized symbols when analyzing the story is “The Green
Light.” “The Green Light” as Nick calls it is a physical light attached to a buoy at the end of
Daisy’s dock that can be seen from Jay Gatsby’s house, which again is definitely not a
coincidence. To Jay Gatsby, the green light symbolizes his hopes and dreams for a life with
Daisy, and his envy to live her lifestyle with her. Nick often see’s Jay standing out on his dock
just staring at the light across the bay and this is often seen as Gatsby’s meditation towards
achieving his dream and him reaching towards something that is just out of reach. In the book,
Nick reflects on the green light in perhaps one of the most famous quotes from The Great
Gatsby: “Gatsby believed in the green light, the orgastic future that year by year recedes before
us. It eluded us then, but that's no matter – tomorrow we will run faster, stretch out our arms
farther… and so we beat on, boats against the current, borne back ceaselessly into the past.”
(152-153). This quote is in direct reference to The American Dream. Nick often described
Gatsby as the single most hopeful man he had ever met. This quote shows how immensely Jay
believed in the light across the bay as well as his faith that he would one day achieve his dream.
In addition, this quote shows the persistence of Jay Gatsby. Whenever it seemed to Jay that his
dream had eluded him or was to far out of reach he would pursue his dreams with more effort,
stretch out his arms more in attempt to achieve his dream. This quote is related to the American
Dream because it fits the idea that when your dream is out of reach at the moment, that doesn't
matter, you just have to work harder and be more dedicated and you will achieve your goals.
Not only does it reference the hardwork and dedication aspect of The American Dream, it also
symbolizes that anyone can achieve their dreams with this effort. The “Boats against the
current” is a reference to that no matter who you are or where you come from, you can fight “upstream” towards your goals and with enough work you can fight the current and achieve them.
Despite Jay Gatsby being one of the most hopeful men Nick has ever known and the
living embodiment of The American Dream in the novel, Jay Gatsby ultimately fails to achieve
his dream. Although he does become rich beyond human belief, he never does get Daisy. After
all of his struggles Gatsby seemingly scares Daisy away with all the drama going on between
Gatsby and Tom Buchanan. Daisy drives furiously home after the conflict and does not know
what to do with herself as she loves both of them. Even after all of this Gatsby still has hope and
tells Daisy to call her when she has an answer. Gatsby was an extremely persistent man and
while Gatsby still believes there is hope to achieve his dream, the reader during this part of the
book can start to see that it will never happen, however it is never really confirmed if there was
truely hope or not because Gatsby is killed just before receiving Daisy’s call. According to Ivana
Nakić Lučić the author of The American Dream in the ‘Great Gatsby’ by F.S Fitzgerald: “In the
end, the character of Gatsby supports the theory that an individual who makes his way up to the
top alone is predetermined to fail. Gatsby couldn't realize the American dream of happiness
because money and success weren't his goals, but only the means by which he tried to regain
Daisy's love. He can't find his place in the American sun and become a part of the golden elite
as he isn't able to give up love which makes him human”. Lučić argues that what keeps Jay
Gatsby from achieving his dreams is his humanity. F.S Fitzgerald could have made Gatsby
happy after becoming extremely wealthy, however he chooses to make Gatsby want more than
just money, which is relatable to most human beings. Being that F.S Fitzgerald makes Gatsby’s
love for Daisy the cause of him not achieving his dream, Fitzgerald hints at the pessimism of
achieving the American Dream being that what makes us human, such as love, is often what
causes us to fail in realizing our dreams. Through this very pessimistic ending to the story F.S
Fitzgerald makes it seem as though American society is led by empty-headed individuals and
their cold blooded actions; and that there is no room in the world for both our dreams of success
and traditional values like empathy and love.
Not only does Gatsby’s failure to get Daisy take away from the optimism of The
American Dream, so does the realization of how Gatsby actually obtained his wealth. In chapter
4, the reader learns that Jay Gatsby did not actually achieve his level of wealth through hard
work and dedication as The American Dream would stipulate, but rather through organized
crime and the illegal sale of alcohol. Nick is introduced to one of Gatsby’s ‘business partners’,
Meyer Wolfsheim, the man responsible for fixing the 1919 World Series and made an immense
profit off of it. When Nick asks Gatsby how he did it, Gatsby keenly replies ““He just saw the
opportunity.’ ‘Why isn't he in jail?’ ‘They can't get him, old sport. He's a smart man’”(Fitzgerald
80). This takes away from the ideal of the American Dream because Gatsby, whom the reader
previously thought of as a hardworking individual, essentially implies that rather than hard work
and dedication, you can illegally swindle people out of their money and cheat the American
Dream by stealing from others. This idea within the novel directly reflects the pessimistic
feelings toward The American Dream in the 1920’s. During the 1920’s the world was in an
economic depression due to the end of World War I. At this time in America, alcohol was also
illegal and thus many individuals, especially immigrants, abandon the ideals of The American
Dream and sought out alternative ways of achieving wealth through organized crime, such as
the illegal sale of alcohol which was extremely profitable. This gave way to the glorification of
mobsters such as Al Capone who achieved their dreams through crime rather than hard work
and dedication.
Within The Great Gatsby, Jay is not the only one with hopes of achieving their own
American Dream. F.S Fitzgerald further creates a pessimistic view of the American Dream by
adding a structure to his story where several different characters have their own dreams and in
a depressing turn of events every single one of them fails to achieve their dream. In the case of
Nick Carraway, his dream was to find hope in New York. He came to New York to get into the
very profitable business of selling bonds. When first entering New York, Nick admires the city
and makes note of the skyline from the Queensborough bridge saying: “The city seen from the
Queensboro Bridge is always the city seen for the first time, in its first wild promise of all the
mystery and the beauty of the world. Anything can happen now that we’ve slid over this bridge,’
I thought; ‘anything at all….” This quote reflects Nick’s initial hope of achieving the American
Dream, and the possibility that he will be able to make something of himself in New York.
However, after seeing so many tragedies such as the death of Myrtle, Daisy’s irresponsibilities,
and finally the death of Gatsby, he himself loses his hope to achieve his dreams. When Gatsby
dies, Nick is the only one to show up to the funeral and is utterly disgusted how thousands of
people would flock to his parties but not a single one would come to his funeral. This shows how
despite Gatsby becoming extremely wealthy, he still failed to achieve his dream and died alone.
At the end of the story Nick leaves with a completely opposite view of New York that he makes
clear by saying “After Gatsby’s death, New york was haunted for me. That once golden
shimmering mirage, now made me sick”. The failure of Gatsby’s dream caused Nick to lose
hope in his own dreams, F.S Fitzgerald intentionally structured his story this way to prove the
point that The American Dream is a collective idea and that when people lose faith it it others
will follow and the the ideals of the American Dream will cease to exist.
In addition, to using characters to reflect the pessimism of The American Dream,
F.S Fitzgerald also uses geographical locations in New York to take a particularly Marxist view
of New York as a whole. Within the novel F.S Fitzgerald creates the places of East and West
Egg to exemplify the lifestyle of Bourgeois (The owners of capital and means of production).
Tom Buchanan was born into his wealth and Jay Gatsby obtained his wealth through organized
crime, thus no character in the story was able to achieve this status through legal upward
mobility as The American Dream would suggest is possible. This reflects F.S Fitzgerald's
disbelief in the possibility of upward mobility and further degenerates the view of The American
Dream. F.S Fitzgerald also creates the places where the proletariats reside, called “The Valley
of Ashes”. The name in itself suggest a place where hopes and dreams of working class
Americans go to burn and die. In addition, F.S Fitzgerald describes the people of the valley of
ashes as people who work there their entire lives and never make it out. This goes against the
principle idea of The American Dream by implying that people who came from a low
socioeconomic status are unable to move their way up and are stuck with their current status
despite their best efforts to move up in the world.
Key characters who live in the Valley of Ashes are George and Myrtle Wilson. Tom
Buchanan, a member of the Bourgeois is having an affair with George’s wife Myrtle. At one
point during the story, Tom takes Nick along to the Valley of ashes to visit Myrtle, and just
before going inside George and Myrtle's home Tom says “Come on Nick! Life is about
dominating.”, shortly after, Tom goes inside to have sex with Myrtle while her husband is away.
F.S Fitzgerald added this to the storyline to directly reflect the financial domination of the
Bourgeois over the proletariat and how the capital owners in society essentially rape the
working class of their hard earned money as Marxist theory would state. This is a very
depressing view in the eyes of The American Dream being that people at the top take
advantage of and hurt the people below them who are working hard just to make ends meet.
Another symbol within the Valley of Ashes is a giant billboard with a pair of eyes on it
known as “Dr. Eckleburg’s eyes”. This plays a significant role in symbolizing the working classes
view on The American Dream because according to Ivana Nakić Lučić: “the condition of the
middle class of the American society is reflected in doctor Eckleburg's eyes, vacant and dim like
the hopes of people wishing to change something.” F.S Fitzgerald used this pair of eyes, that
looked down on all of the people of The Valley of Ashes, to reflect on the lack of hope for
upward mobility that the working class population had during this time period and to show how
many hard working individuals would not be able to achieve their dreams during the 1920’s.
In conclusion, The American Dream is defined by the ability for anyone to achieve their
goals through hard work and dedication regardless of racial or religious background, or original
socioeconomic status; The Great Gatsby by F.S Fitzgerald is a pessimistic critique of the ideals
of The American Dream. Fitzgerald uses multiple characters who fail to achieve their goals,
characters who obtain their wealth illegally and without hard work, and various symbols and
geographical areas coinciding with Marxist theory to portray The American Dream in a negative
light. He chose to portray it in this fashion to reflect many people's views towards The American
Dream during the 1920’s, when many people abandoned its principles and chose alternative
ways to obtain wealth such as the illegal sale of alcohol.