Gatsby American Dream Destruction

The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald touches on several themes, but the one of most importance is the one relating the to the pursuit of the American Dream. The American dream was defined as the ideal lifestyle. If you lived the American dream you had wealth or fame, a steady job, a family, and a grand house. It seemed as though, if you were living the American dream, you were living a life of unbroken happiness. America was thriving in the 1920’s. People could afford to look the American dream as the “American goal.” In The Great Gatsby,Fitzgerald gives multiple characters individual moments of insight, in which they discover that the American dream causes more destruction than good. For Daisy, Myrtle, and Gatsby, this goal eventually destroyed them.

Daisy was already …show more content…
She dreams of wealth and fame, and hopes for this to one day become a reality. Her desire to live the American dream puts her marriage with George in danger. To this end, she has an affair with Tom. Tom seems to have what she is thirsting for: money and popularity. She justifies her actions the same way Daisy does: convincing herself she never truly loved her husband. “The only crazy I was was when I married him. I knew right away I made a mistake. He borrowed somebody’s best suit to get married in, and never told me about it, and the man came after it one day when he was out…” (Fitzgerald, 35) In this pivotal moment, Myrtle stops loving her husband when she finds that he couldn 't afford his suit. This is the materialistic aspect of the American dream speaking for her. She was not having an affair with Tom because she loves him, but because she knows he can afford his own suit. Ironically, Myrtle was killed by Daisy, Tom’s wife, while she was driving with Gatsby. This shows just how desired the American dream was. Not only did it destroy Myrtle’s marriage, but it also took her