Unrealistic Dreams The Great Gatsby

Published Date: 02 Nov 2017

Neighbor I

Unrealistic Dreams: The Great Gatsby

The Great Gatsby, written by F. Scott Fitzgerald is an American novel following the lives of people who lived during the 1920’s. This time period had many nicknames including, The Age of Nonsense and The Roaring Twenties. This time period was a time of prosperity that followed The First World War, many people like Gatsby achieved wealth during this time period. The people who achieved this new wealth were called the "new money" contrasted with the people who had money prior to this period called the "old money." The main goal for anyone living during this time period was to achieve the American Dream. America appeared to give limitless financial and social opportunities for anyone ready to work hard. For particular people striving for the dream and realizing that dream corrupted them, as they acquired wealth only to chase pleasure. Even though the characters in The Great Gatsby look to appreciate the freedom of the Roaring Twenties, their lives prove the bareness that results in fortune and desire become ends too there freedom. "The Great Gatsby is an exploration of the American dream as it exists in a corrupt period…" (Bewley 12). Through several of the characters Fitzgerald shows that chasing unrealistic dreams leads to despair.

A character who chases an unfilled dream is George Wilson, the owner of a small automobile garage. Wilson Wishes to become a wealthy businessman someday, but currently his attempts to become a businessman have been unsuccessful. Wilsons dreams are not corrupt; he wishes for a better life for his family. He wants to be able to give more for his family and make his wife happy. Through trying to make his family happy he maintains many values like integrity and modesty, these values were very hard to come by during this time period due to everyone trying to "get rich quick" through many different schemes. Wilson believes that by chasing this dream that he will be able to escape the area known as the Valley of Ashes. His continuing attempts to try to chase his dreams exemplify his love and devotion to his wife, even after she has an affair with another man. There is one major issue with George Wilson, he is not aggressive or strong enough to completely chase out his dreams. His dream is to become a successful business man, so he relies on selling Tom’s car. Nick states that there is a "damp gleam of hope" in his eyes (Fitzgerald 25). This shows that he really wants to go forth with his dream, but, when he provokes Tom about the car, Tom makes him step down. Him not "stepping up" to Tom show that he is not strong enough to follow through with his dreams. Wilson’s life and dream centered on his wife, when she is murdered, it leaves an unfathomable wound in his heart. He is eager to get revenge for the killing of his wife, so with the persuasion of Tom, Wilson ends up killing an innocent man. After killing the man Wilson commits suicide. Wilson’s wife was the dream, so the death of his wife (his dream) is compared to his own death.  With his wife dead, he had no motivation to live, to face the tasks of the life, so death was his most a promising option for him. Through his really eager attempts to achieve his dreams he ended up committing suicide since his dreams had failed.

Another character pursues an unrealistic dream is Jay Gatsby; he tried to get wealthy to get the love of Daisy this was very unrealistic seeing that Daisy was already married into a rich family. She proved to be unachievable, Daisy spoiled herself in his eyes when she refused to refuse that she ever loved Tom. Gatsby's "romantic readiness" (8) has been ineffective. Gatsby had tried and tried every possible way to get Daisy to love him, one of the biggest things he did was he was involved in many get rich quick schemes that were illegal. Gatsby kept his criminal actions secretive throughout the novel, wanting to play the role of always kind host. The actual acts are not actually told fully in the story but enough evidence is show that he was a bootlegger. A bootlegger was a person who illegal made, sold, and traded alcohol during the Twenties, the Prohibition Era. He attempts to gain wealth to only be put down by the normal "old rich" people and society, like Daisy. Nevertheless, Gatsby desired to have it all: money, class, power, and last but no least his love, Daisy. This idea is shown through Daisy as she is talking to Gatsby, "Oh, you want too much!"(33). Gatsby’s need to have everything—money, class, power, and Daisy, no matter the price, has tainted his life. He is even got to the means to undermine a devoted marriage, "Gatsby is a man trying to break up a marriage in order that he may resume a relationship with a woman who is bland at her most appealing" (Neuhaus 45). This point addresses the question that Gatsby is willing to do anything that he can to get rich in this new era. Through trying to gain his affluence and prosperity Gatsby fails to get anything that he wanted, especially his love Daisy. All of his insidious dreams had failed, thus showing that following unrealistic dreams was quiet common during this time period.

The next example is not a direct example of a dream, but Daisy selects Tom’s money and glamor over Gatsby’s love and care. Despite her love for Gatsby, she decided to marry time due to him being rich. Tom mocks at Gatsby’s background and new wealth; she is upset by his mistreatment of Gatsby, but eventually chooses to go back to Tom again, due to him being steadily wealthy and that she could get whatever she wants with him. Tom gave her "a string of pearls valued at three hundred and fifty thousand dollars" for a wedding gift (77).This keeps her with him since he gets her really nice things. These nice things keep he with Tom, even though she is cheated by her husband with another woman. She can’t permit herself to escape from the constrictions of wealthy society both in the past or now. She has an eternal love for Gatsby, but she would rather be with a superbly wealth man like Tom. This show that her dream is to be wealthy and prosper from this era, her dream gets her strays her away from her real love Jay Gatsby.

In the novel, The Great Gatsby, F. Scott Fitzgerald portrayed a society that corrupted the real importance of the American Dream through Wilson, Gatsby, and Daisy’s dismal pursuit of wealth. The characters in The Great Gatsby look to appreciate the freedom of the Roaring Twenties, their lives prove the bareness that results in fortune and desire become ends too there freedom. The characters in The Great Gatsby came from many different classes of the American society, so a major theme of the novel is that no person in 1920’s, America was safe from empty dreams and their harmful penalties.