Introduction
The true meaning of the American dream is nonexistent, everyone will define it differently. “The charm of anticipated success” that is the American dream according to Alexis de Tocqueville, a French political thinker and historian. Jim Cullen states in his book The American Dream: A Short History of an Idea that Shaped a Nation “The Pilgrims may not have actually talked about the American dream, but they would have understood the idea: after all, they lived it as people who imagined a destiny for themselves. So did the Founding Fathers. So did illiterate immigrants who could not speak English but who intuitively expressed rhythms of the Dream with their hands and their hearts” (qtd. A Better Life - Creating the American Dream). …show more content…
They are attempting to be happy in their lives. Jordan is a famous golf player who is not very honest with anyone or even herself. She has to be right all the time and she has to win. In the novel, Nick mentions that she is “incurably dishonest. She wasn't able to endure being at a disadvantage, and given this unwillingness I suppose she had begun dealing in subterfuges when she was very young in order to keep that cool insolent smile turned to the world and yet satisfy the demands of her hard jaunty body” (Gatsby 63). Another Character is Myrtle, who is one of the lower class. She is married to George, a poor man who rents a suit for his own wedding. However, she wants to be with the upper class, her American dream is to be rich, have power and to have all what they have. Tom is a wealthy powerful man who has a beautiful daughter and wife. But he is also a greedy character; his American dream is the more, the better. He needs to feel control and to feel that no one is better than him. He is not satisfied with only his wife Daisy; he wants to have two women. Daisy is the American dream for a lot of characters in the American dream, including Gatsby, however she never feels this way. She always manipulates others to get what she wants but her flaw is that she never really knows what she wants. Gatsby really works to achieve his dream and for him, Daisy is his American dream “Her voice is full of money” (Gatsby 127). All these characters dreams are destroyed through the novel. Jordan’s fatal flaw is dishonesty which means her success has to come to an end. Myrtle, after she married George, she soon realizes her mistake. Her relationship with Tom led to destroying her marriage and her dream, and her death. Daisy thought she had everything as she had money, love and happiness which in the end of the novel were found to be not true. Hence, she was destroyed by the American dream
The true meaning of the American dream is nonexistent, everyone will define it differently. “The charm of anticipated success” that is the American dream according to Alexis de Tocqueville, a French political thinker and historian. Jim Cullen states in his book The American Dream: A Short History of an Idea that Shaped a Nation “The Pilgrims may not have actually talked about the American dream, but they would have understood the idea: after all, they lived it as people who imagined a destiny for themselves. So did the Founding Fathers. So did illiterate immigrants who could not speak English but who intuitively expressed rhythms of the Dream with their hands and their hearts” (qtd. A Better Life - Creating the American Dream). …show more content…
They are attempting to be happy in their lives. Jordan is a famous golf player who is not very honest with anyone or even herself. She has to be right all the time and she has to win. In the novel, Nick mentions that she is “incurably dishonest. She wasn't able to endure being at a disadvantage, and given this unwillingness I suppose she had begun dealing in subterfuges when she was very young in order to keep that cool insolent smile turned to the world and yet satisfy the demands of her hard jaunty body” (Gatsby 63). Another Character is Myrtle, who is one of the lower class. She is married to George, a poor man who rents a suit for his own wedding. However, she wants to be with the upper class, her American dream is to be rich, have power and to have all what they have. Tom is a wealthy powerful man who has a beautiful daughter and wife. But he is also a greedy character; his American dream is the more, the better. He needs to feel control and to feel that no one is better than him. He is not satisfied with only his wife Daisy; he wants to have two women. Daisy is the American dream for a lot of characters in the American dream, including Gatsby, however she never feels this way. She always manipulates others to get what she wants but her flaw is that she never really knows what she wants. Gatsby really works to achieve his dream and for him, Daisy is his American dream “Her voice is full of money” (Gatsby 127). All these characters dreams are destroyed through the novel. Jordan’s fatal flaw is dishonesty which means her success has to come to an end. Myrtle, after she married George, she soon realizes her mistake. Her relationship with Tom led to destroying her marriage and her dream, and her death. Daisy thought she had everything as she had money, love and happiness which in the end of the novel were found to be not true. Hence, she was destroyed by the American dream