The American dream surrounds the idea that everyone has equal opportunities. The idea that anyone who is capable to do so can work and can make money to improve their social class, or that a child born poor can become president or prime minister. In Fitzgerald’s novel The Great Gatsby, each character has their own American dream that they are striving towards.
The progression from caterpillar to butterfly represents the American dream and how, ideally, everyone has an equal opportunity of being successful and wealthy.
Jay Gatsby
James Gatz (Gatsby) is born to a poor farming family and, with a lot of ambition, achieves the traditional American dream. He leaves home, saves a man’s life then, both literally and figuratively, makes a name for himself. He does all this to achieve enough wealth to please and marry Daisy Fay (later Daisy Buchanan). However, as a result of his success in attaining wealth, he began to believe he could do anything. So he decided that he wanted to recreate his past or, more specifically, recreate his past with Daisy. When Nick told him, “You can’t repeat the past.” (Fitzgerald, 106) he replied, “Why of course you can!” (Fitzgerald, 106) Unfortunately for Gatsby, the result of his attempt to attain this dream not only corrupted him, but it also cost him his life. As Nick wisely says, “Gatsby turned out alright in the end; it is what preyed on Gatsby, what foul dust floated in the wake of his dreams that temporarily closed out my interest in the abortive sorrows and shortwinded elations of men.” (Fitzgerald, 8) In this quote, Nick contemplates the American dream and the lengths to which Gatsby went to achieve it only to meet an unfortunate end. He also describes how he is haunted by the way nobody, not even those who claimed to be Gatsby’s friends, seemed to care.
Jordan Baker
Jordan Baker is a well-known professional female golfer. She uses the new freedom provided to women in the Jazz Age of the 1920s to show her independence through her athleticism. Her American dream is to have equal opportunities as men and she eagerly welcomes these new ideas and liberties to fulfills them as best as she can.
Myrtle Wilson
Myrtle Wilson’s American dream is to improve her social status. She finds convenience to do this from the wealth offered to her by Tom Buchanan, with whom she has an affair before her death. This is evident in the scene where Nick accompanies the two to New York; Myrtle cajoles Tom into buying her a variety of material objects, in this case magazines and a dog, which she views as indicators of wealth and upper class. However, these objects are not shown to be valued by the upper class in the novel, they are portrayed as being wanted by and sold to the middle class because they believe it makes them seem more upper-crusty.
James Gatz (Gatsby) is born to a poor farming family and, with a lot of ambition, achieves the traditional American dream. He leaves home, saves a man’s life then, both literally and figuratively, makes a name for himself. He does all this to achieve enough wealth to please and marry Daisy Fay (later Daisy Buchanan). However, as a result of his success in attaining wealth, he began to believe he could do anything. So he decided that he wanted to recreate his past or, more specifically, recreate his past with Daisy. When Nick told him, “You can’t repeat the past.” (Fitzgerald, 106) he replied, “Why of course you can!” (Fitzgerald, 106) Unfortunately for Gatsby, the result of his attempt to attain this dream not only corrupted him, but it also cost him his life. As Nick wisely says, “Gatsby turned out alright in the end; it is what preyed on Gatsby, what foul dust floated in the wake of his dreams that temporarily closed out my interest in the abortive sorrows and shortwinded elations of men.” (Fitzgerald, 8) In this quote, Nick contemplates the American dream and the lengths to which Gatsby went to achieve it only to meet an unfortunate end. He also describes how he is haunted by the way nobody, not even those who claimed to be Gatsby’s friends, seemed to care.
Jordan Baker
Jordan Baker is a well-known professional female golfer. She uses the new freedom provided to women in the Jazz Age of the 1920s to show her independence through her athleticism. Her American dream is to have equal opportunities as men and she eagerly welcomes these new ideas and liberties to fulfills them as best as she can.
Myrtle Wilson
Myrtle Wilson’s American dream is to improve her social status. She finds convenience to do this from the wealth offered to her by Tom Buchanan, with whom she has an affair before her death. This is evident in the scene where Nick accompanies the two to New York; Myrtle cajoles Tom into buying her a variety of material objects, in this case magazines and a dog, which she views as indicators of wealth and upper class. However, these objects are not shown to be valued by the upper class in the novel, they are portrayed as being wanted by and sold to the middle class because they believe it makes them seem more upper-crusty.