The Illusion Of The American Dream In The Great Gatsby By F. Scott Fitzgerald

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The Illusion of the American Dream Richard M. Devos, a wealthy American business man, once stated,“Money cannot buy peace of mind. It cannot heal ruptured relationships, or build meaning into a life that has none.” Multiple people in society base the success and meaning of a person’s life on the amount of money they posses. In The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald, most characters make decisions based on how it will affect their wealth and reputation. One of the main characters, Daisy Buchanan, chooses money and status over others even if it hurts her and the people around her. Daisy’s character reveals the illusion and emptiness of achieving the American Dream through the loss of love, increased immorality, and carelessness. Daisy Buchanan …show more content…
All of her motives become selfish and inconsiderate. When Gatsby started to tell Tom the truth about him and Daisy, Daisy helplessly interrupted by saying, “Please Don’t! Please let’s all go home. Why don 't we all go home?” (Fitzgerald 130). Daisy desperately doesn 't want to risk losing her money and status over her affair with Gatsby. She believes that she can keep it all a secret and selfishly reap the benefits of both relationships. After the day in town, Daisy fanatically drives home and, as a result, kills another woman in the process. Daisy and Tom immediately ran off from the problem they created and left others to clean up the mess. Nick describe their behavior by saying, “They were careless people, Tom and Daisy—they smashed up things and creatures and then retreated back to their money or their vast carelessness, or whatever it was that kept them together, and let other people clean up the mess they had made…” (Fitzgerald 179). Daisy made a huge mess that included people that she loved, yet she inconsiderately refused to help if it meant losing status and money. Daisy became selfish and inconsiderate at the cost of achieving the illusion of her American

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