The American Dream In The Great Gatsby, By Jon Krakauer

In 1607, colonists departed from England and left their old lives to build themselves a new, better one in the New World. These people, who established the Jamestown colony, were the first of many to travel the Atlantic Ocean to the land of opportunity in order to hopefully make it and become successful. Later, a new country was formed near that very first colony, and although the colonists did not realize it, their ideals were carried on through the founding fathers of the United States of America. The American dream, the idea that every US citizen should have an equal opportunity to achieve success and prosperity through hard work, determination, and initiative, has driven immigrants and citizens to achieve great things. Jay Gatsby, the main character in F. Scott Fitzgerald’s novel The Great Gatsby, lived the American dream as stated above. Chris McCandless from Into the Wild, written by Jon Krakauer, lived out his personal dream, but not the American dream. Gatsby …show more content…
He did not like societal norms and eventually went off to live in the Alaskan wilderness. While he did create an alias, similar to Gatsby, and reinvented himself, McCandless fell short of the American dream. The American dream is all about “life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness,” and by the end of his journey, McCandless was far from that. In one of his final entries he wrote “HAPPINESS ONLY REAL WHEN SHARED,” and since he was alone in the wilderness, he clearly wasn 't happy or fulfilling his dream (189). Chris McCandless also did not rise the social ladder like Gatsby did, nor did he get any wealthier. In fact, he lost all his wealth by giving his possessions away since he wanted to be less attached to materials and wanted to experience life. While Chris McCandless did what he wanted, he didn 't change his social status or was materialistic which made him fall short of the typical American