Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald is a novel that questions the American Dream. It is about a man who tries to rekindle his past romance, who he has now lost to another man.
The great American Dream is supposed to be financially stable. However, the author believes that it is not the true American Dream if we achieve stability in life without any emotional content. Tom and Daisy Buchannan have everything a family should have- money, kids, a big house. What they don’t have is- love and satisfaction. Tom seems to seek out drama throughout- he has an affair by the side with Myrtle Wilson. He isn’t even happy with her; they fight all the time. He also has business relations with her husband, George.
Then there is James Gatz, who changes his name to Jay Gatsby and his identity. When he met Daisy, he was poor and a soldier in the army. By the time he returned, he had learnt that he lost his love to another man. A man who was prosperous and financially stable. Daisy chose him because she couldn’t wait for Gatsby. Gatsby was now penniless and loveless. He knew that the only way he could win her back was by getting rich.
For this, he got involved in illegal stuff and was a whole lot rich. No one knew how did he get so rich. All of New York wanted to know that. He waited for her all his life, throwing parties, helping out people, living an anonymous yet famous life. Their love was beautiful, but in the end, Daisy refused to get back with him.
The book depicts how money can make you go into this world. You can buy anything in this world, except for happiness or class. Because, even though Gatsby makes a lot of money, that won’t change the class he came from. Rich or poor, you can’t buy loyalty with money. That depends only upon the character of the person. And bad character is present within all the classes. And believe it or not, all classes are unhappy.
The dream should be of being independent, to make one’s life worthy. But in the end, somehow, it fixates upon material wealth and selfish pursuit of pleasure. Somehow the dream seems to be based upon a lie, a fake pretentious one.
The concept of love seems to be deceptive in the book. True love seems to be far off people. Jay seems to be more into the idea of love for Daisy or the idea of being with her. He lives in the past, can’t accept the present, and finally leads to his death. Daisy, living in the present, faces reality breaking Gatsby’s heart.
Dissatisfaction prevails within the story. The rich, although they can buy it all, are unable to satisfy their desires. Money just helps them to crave for more. As a result, people are dissatisfied with their marriage, life and especially with themselves.
So, by the end of the story one knows, that even though the American Dream is attainable, it’s not worth it if one is not emotionally stable.
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