Yasmeen AbdelhadyMrs. GarciaAmerican Literature IIThe American dream is the idea that the American economic, social and political system allows each individual to succeed, to hope for equality and personal fulfillment. America seemed to promise endless social and financial opportunities to anyone willing to work hard. F. Scott Fitzgerald condemns the idea of ​​the American dream in The Great Gatsby. Through the empty lives of three characters, Fitzgerald shows that chasing unattainable dreams will only lead to misery. Everyone in the lower class strives to be in the upper class. Myrtle Wilson dreamed of being a woman of status and marrying a gentleman who could take care of her. Unlike the other characters in the book, instead of fulfilling her own dream, Myrtle had to find a man to fulfill her dream for her. Jay Gatsby, on the other hand, changed his entire life, did everything in his power to be part of the upper class so that he could win the true love of his life. He had to believe that life rewards those who work hard and that if he stuck to his plan, he could accomplish anything he wanted. Despite Daisy Buchanan's love for Gatsby, she chose to marry Tom Buchanan because he could protect him socially and financially. Daisy chose wealth over true love and happiness because she wanted to be a woman of status, whether she was truly happy or not. Fitzgerald portrays Gatsby as an individual who will continually struggle to achieve his dream, but he is more like "boats against the current, drawn back again and again into the past." » (189) Gatsby destroys his old identity, forgetting his past to become a new and improved person, someone capable of achieving...... middle of paper ...... In Atsby's Shaded Context , she returns to the arms of her equally superficial husband. Daisy is careless of people's lives because she let Gatsby take responsibility for Myrtle Wilson's manslaughter. Her reckless actions ultimately lead to Gatsby's death, for which she shows no remorse. Throughout the novel, Fitzgerald depicts a society full of people who have corrupted the true meaning of the American dream. Fitzgerald depicts the ultimate failure of the American dream through individuals who believed that wealth was paramount. His novel suggests that wealth and materialistic gain are people's only concerns. Some people are born rich and others have to work throughout their lives to acquire it. This novel paints the portrait of an entire nation of people willing to throw everything away just to try to achieve an unattainable dream..