Elaborate on what F. Scott Fitzgerald suggests of the state of the American Dream, the people who pursue
it, and the impact of that pursuit through his depiction of Jay Gatsby and the people in Gatsby’s life
through the novel, The Great Gatsby.
The Great Gatsby: Opulence and Corruption
Cayla Bleoaja
At first glance, The Great Gatsby is a tale of the thwarted love between an infatuated,
wealthy young man and his lost love. Injected in F. Scott Fitzgerald’s novel, however, is the
disintegration of the American dream in a period of unparalleled affluence and overindulgence.
In the vicinity of Long Island, New York, Jay Gatsby and Daisy Buchanan expose the 1920s as
an era of decadence, of deteriorated societal and ethical standards, evinced through the
characters’ disparagement, avarice, and hollow quest for pleasure. Fitzgerald insinuates that the
American Dream is in decline, the individuals pursuing it are characteristically perverted by
egocentric materialism, and the consequence is increased corruption in society.
Fitzgerald never uses the words “American dream” in his writing, but instead illustrates
the increasing hollowness of the philosophy through characters, various locales – such as the
valley of ashes, and symbols such as the green light at the end of Daisy’s East Egg dock. The
American Dream, “a national ethos of the United States, a set of ideals in which freedom
includes the opportunity for prosperity and success, and an upward social mobility for the family
and children, achieved through hard work in a society with few barriers”, is deteriorating (1).
Individuals are willing to behave immorally and fraudulently to gain a fortune, and the greed for
prosperity results in the crumbling of American values.
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in which the nation escalated into a global superpower and its economy was dynamic. However,
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After the culmination of World War I in 1918, an extraordinary decade arose in America,
the generation of youthful Americans returning from the devastation of the battlefront was
trapped in growing disillusionment, because the early-twentieth-century social values appeared
like carcasses of duplicity in contrast to the ruthless slaughter they faced on the battlefield. The
stock market’s vertiginous upsurge in the war’s aftermath generated an unexpected, prolonged
escalation in national wealth. The populace consumed in unprecedented quantities. People
acquired fortunes, regardless of social backgrounds. The rowdy jazz music and heedless
exultation of debauched parties exemplified in The Great Gatsby by the Gatsby’s opulent
celebrations thrown every Saturday evening ultimately stemmed in the exploitation of the
American dream. The unconstrained craving for affluence and carnality transcended noble
ambitions.
Nick Carraway and Jay Gatsby are both fighters in the World War. Gatsby ascended from
a penurious upbringing in bucolic North Dakota to attain a magnificent fortune and to glorify
luxurious wealth in an attempt to impress Daisy Buchanan, an alluring woman who pledged to
wait for him, then later wed Tom Buchanan. Still in love with her beautiful and sophisticated
aura, Gatsby desperately dedicates himself to winning her back, even if it means acquiring vast
wealth through illicit engagements. He procures a garish mansion on West Egg, throws
profligate weekly parties, entertains a fraudulent society, and overlooks Daisy’s shallow,
capricious character. Though she is a married woman, illustrating her true character by choosing
to marry another man rather than awaiting Gatsby’s return, Gatsby invests his time and passion
into pursuing his “green light at the end of your dock”. His despairing desires and attempts to
impress Daisy are egocentric and reckless– far from noble.
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by diverse geography and venues. East Egg characterizes the old upper class and West Egg the
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Throughout The Great Gatsby, facets of the American society in the 1920s are embodied
rising aristocracy. New York City epitomizes the uncontrolled, unethical pursuit of wealth and
gratification. The East, moreover, is linked to the corrosion and venality of New York, whereas
the West is coupled to traditional communal principles and beliefs. The valley of ashes, lastly,
symbolizes the deterioration of America society and morals. Extending between West Egg and
New York City, the barren expanse of land produced by industrial residue is a product of
excessive capitalism. “This is a valley of ashes,” Fitzgerald writes, “a fantastic farm where ashes
grow like wheat into ridges and hills and grotesque gardens; where ashes take the forms of
houses and chimneys and rising smoke and, finally, with a transcendent effort, of ash-grey men,
who move dimly and already crumbling through the powdery air. Occasionally a line of grey
cars crawls along an invisible track, gives out a ghastly creak, and comes to rest, and
immediately the ash-grey men swarm up with leaden spades and stir up an impenetrable cloud,
which screens their obscure operations from your sight. … The valley of ashes is bounded on
one side by a small foul river, and, when the drawbridge is up to let barges through, the
passengers on waiting trains can stare at the dismal scene for as long as half an hour” (26). The
desolate region signifies the moral decay, waste, and societal hypocrisy arising from unrestrained
greed and materialism. People, such as George Wilson, are imprisoned in poverty and reside in
hopelessness among the ashes, losing their vigor, while the elite pamper themselves – consumed
only with their own desires.
The dissolving American dream also exposes the hollowness of the aristocracy.
Fitzgerald probes the sociology of affluence, especially the relationships, parallels, and
disparities between new millionaires and the past nobility. The newer possessors of fortunes are
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prodigiously sumptuous manor which he keeps “always full of interesting people, night and
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portrayed as vulgar, garish, venal, and absent of social elegance. For instance, Gatsby inhabits a
day”, dons a pink suit, drives a Rolls-Royce, and fails to discern elusive gestures, such as the
artificiality of the Sloanes’ insincere invitation to lunch. In the third chapter, Nick Carraway is
invited to one of Gatsby’s extravagant parties. “In his blue gardens,” he observes, “men and girls
came and went like moths among the whisperings and the champagne and the stars.” The older
generation of aristocrats, in contrast, retains grace, discrimination, and sophistication. Daisy and
Jordan Baker’s sinuous white gowns and the Buchanans’ dwelling characterize these differences.
However, those in the East Egg possess a cavalier, insensitive character; scarring others is never
a concern because they have become so comfortable with money’s capability to comfort their
conscience and satisfy their desires. The Buchanans, for instance, rather than attending Gatsby’s
funeral, travel to a new, distant residence. Their capriciousness and egocentrism permits them to
physically, mentally, and emotionally detach themselves from the tragic calamity. In contrast,
Gatsby’s genuine, devoted heart motivates him to wait outside Daisy’s window until four in the
morning – though he was willing to remain “all night, if necessary” – to ensure that she is not
hurt by her husband (144). It is Gatsby’s reputable traits, incongruously, that lead to his death.
Rather than allowing Daisy to be penalized, he claims the blame for killing Myrtle in an
accident. “Yes,” Gatsby says, admitting that Daisy was driving the automobile, “but of course
I’ll say I was” (143).
The most heartrending aspect is that Gatsby’s dream – and ultimately, life –is devastated
because of Daisy’s unworthiness, in the same fashion that the American dream was damaged
because of the worthlessness of mammon and pleasure: “There must have been moments even
that afternoon when Daisy tumbled short of his dreams -- not through her own fault, but because
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himself into it with a creative passion, adding to it all the time, decking it out with every bright
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of the colossal vitality of his illusion. It had gone beyond her, beyond everything. He had thrown
feather that drifted his way. No amount of fire or freshness can challenge what a man will store
up in his ghostly heart” (95-96). Jay Gatsby’s desire to recreate and “repeat the past” costs his
life, leaving Nick to journey back to Minnesota, where American ideals have not yet
deteriorated. Through his literary masterpiece, Fitzgerald illustrates the decay of the American
Dream, the decadence of the individuals pursuing insignificant riches, and the upsurge of
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corruption in society.