Another central character that demonstrates the withering American Dream is Jay Gatsby. In the
novel, Gatsby epitomizes the “rags to riches” story that the American Dream often romanticizes
but does not achieve his own definition of the American Dream. Born into an unsuccessful
background, Gatsby was unsatisfied with lingering in poverty with his farmer parents.
Consequently, this dissatisfaction served as a major driving force for his mass accumulation of
wealth and attaining the status of “new money”. Hodo explains, “An American of that time was
considered wealthy according the material wealthy and how much is he able to spend” (303). In
attempt to gain the respect of the “old money”, the elite few that were born into their wealth,
Gatsby flaunts his wealth through hosting grand parties and owning lavish cars. However,
Gatsby’s rise to immense wealth appears to lack much substance when readers learn that he had
obtained his affluence through immoral and dishonest means. More specifically, despite initially
working hard with Dan Cody, Gatsby eventually resorts to crime and acquires his “new money”
status through bootlegging. Although, in contrast to Myrtle, Gatsby succeeds in accumulating a
great amount of money, Fitzgerald toys with the traditional idea that, no matter one’s origins, the
American Dream can be pursued and achieved if they worked hard enough. Again, Fitzgerald
depicts two characters that pursue materialistic wealth but resort to immoral and illegal means.
The fact that Myrtle and Gatsby turns to options that directly contradict moral and societal values
suggests that the corruption of the American Dream and that not everyone is equally equipped to
pursue success.
At face value, despite gaining wealth through crime, it may appear that Gatsby has achieved
his American Dream. However, Gatsby’s definition of the American Dream is not the end goal
of having a great amount of wealth, but rather to win Daisy’s love. A major symbol of this desire
is the green light seen at the end of Daisy’s dock. For Gatsby, this green light represents his
American Dream and his love for Daisy. As the novel progresses, readers learn that Gatsby is
unable to achieve this goal of winning Daisy’s love and that he had been blinded by his own
definition of the American Dream. Hodo explains that “He was not able to understand that
money is not enough to win Daisy’s love” (304). Fitzgerald is aware of the common belief that
one’s self worth was directly related to one’s materialistic possessions and his novel critiques
this belief through painting Gatsby’s failure to ultimately win Daisy. Towards the end of the
novel, Gatsby meets his tragic fate and loses everything that he had amounted to, failing to win
Daisy’s love. As readers witness the lives of George, Myrtle, and Gatsby spiral into tragedy,
Fitzgerald implies the inaccessibility of the American Dream. Uncoincidentally, the central
characters in the novel that appeared to be pursuing a distinct American Dream are the ones that
end up dying.
Although one may argue that Tom and Daisy are characters that directly contradict the idea
that the American Dream is dying, Fitzgerald actually utilizes them as characters that heavily
influence other characters’ endeavoring for their individual desires. In contrast to the characters
that were not born wealthy, Cain says, “They are careless, heedless, at a secure and indifferent
distance from trouble, never facing the necessity to pay attention or minister to others” (454).
Essentially, because Tom and Daisy possessed inherited wealth, they were reckless with their
decisions and never faced any consequences. Although these characters seem to have achieved
the American Dream from the start, thus why they are considered old money, they serve as
characters that gatekeep those who have not through instigating conflict consistently throughout
the novel. For example, Tom plays a major role in the destruction of both Gatsby and the Wilson
family’s lives: he is the one who has an affair with Myrtle all the while leading George to murder
both Gatsby and himself in the end. Furthermore, Daisy denies Gatsby’s love in the interest of
preserving the “old money” status. As Cain explains, because she was blinded by materialistic
wealth and notions of class, she ultimately prevented Gatsby from achieving his American
Dream (454). Again, the ending in which the characters who were in pursuit of the American
Dream are the ones who end up dying while those born privileged escape any serious
repercussions serves as testimony to the withering American Dream.
Although the novel demonstrates the death of the American Dream situated in the 1920s, the
downfall of such an ideal appears to be more apparent in today’s society. Today, the poor are
further disadvantaged and those with wealth do not stay complacent.