Scott Fitzgeralds Novel The Great Gatsby - Essay Example

Just because you buy into the American dream doesn’t mean that you will be happy forever, just because you change your life dramatically doesn’t mean everything will then be great.

This story shows us that dreams have limits and have their own laws which are something Jay Gatsby learns to his unfortunate detriment at the end of the story. This is why Daisy chose Tom: she realized that Gatsby was too poor and too delusional. Daisy is a character who grows throughout the story and realizes what dreams can do. Gatsby may be rich, but in a way, he is living a dream. He thinks he can go back in the past and make the wrong things right again, he thinks he can make Daisy love him again. In a way Gatsby is delusional. He has bought into a dream that financially rewarded him, but the substance of the dream is gone—all that is left is the material husk, shiny and rich, but with nothing real inside it. He has bought the shape of the dream, but not the American dream itself. Tom and Gatsby are different kinds of men. While Tom is outwardly more successful, he has less ambition than Gatsby. Gatsby wants to succeed even if that lie is a success.

America is known as the new world, a land of immigrants. So many people came to America, leaving their poor old lives behind. They came from countries with few economic opportunities, with little freedom. Some came with only five dollars in their pocket. In America, because of capitalism, they could become almost anything if they worked hard and had a good idea. In one generation a family could change from peasants or paupers to a rich and well-heeled family. There was enough money for almost everyone. This was all part of the good side of the American dream: that if you worked hard you could achieve anything for yourself and your family. Tom is one of the lucky Americans who has been born into everything and doesn't have to work hard or be ambitious.

However, there is also a sadder, darker side to the dream. The side that Gatsby represents. Some people fall in love with the dream itself rather than the self-improvement and hard work that is the foundation of the dream. Gatsby is one of these people. He is very charming and suave but he holds a big secret. He is living a life only on the surface. Tom too is superficial but he has always been this way.

The characters in the novel grow throughout and more is revealed about them with every page. It is clear that Daisy ends up living with her decision to choose Tom and that Tom and Gatsby are different men. One appears to be a dilettante while the other one is. Read More