Figurative Moon In The Great Gatsby

Norman Vincent Peale has a famous quote describing how one should "shoot for the moon. [For] even if you miss, you'll land among the stars.” But what if the only desirable outcome is to reach the moon? In The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald, we see Jay Gatsby attempting to reach this figurative moon, in his pursuit of a girl named Daisy. Fitzgerald frames Gatsby's struggles in the context of achieving the American Dream, with Daisy being the top prize. What is the American Dream though? According to the Oxford English Dictionary, the American Dream is, "the ideal that every citizen of the United States should have an equal opportunity to achieve success and prosperity through hard work, determination, and initiative." According to this definition, Gatsby achieves the American Dream, however, Gatsby does not obtain his personal American Dream, which is Daisy, a character who is above Gatsby in the social hierarchy. In highlighting this failure …show more content…
When introduces Gatsby to the reader, Nick describes his desire to reach his goal as something that," it is what preyed on Gatsby"(2). Daisy is quite reckless in nature due to the privilege of being a member of the upper class. Nick describes how," they were careless people, Tom and Daisy-- they smashed up things and creatures and then retreated back into their money or their vast carelessness, or whatever it was that kept them together, and let other people clean up the mess they made"(179). Gatsby takes the blame for killing Myrtle while it was actually Daisy who was at the wheel of the speeding car that knocked down Myrtle. Gatsby does this as a final attempt to rekindle his relationship with Daisy, but when she never calls on him after the incident, Gatsby knew it was over. Not only does Gatsby ultimately fail in achieving his American Dream, it is his pursuit for it that eventually kills