Yasmeen AbdelhadyMs. GarciaAmerican Literature IIIThe American Dream is the idea that the American economic, social, and political system allows every individual to have success, hope for equality, and self-realization. America seemed to promise endless opportunities socially and financially for anyone willing to work hard. F. Scott Fitzgerald condemns the idea of ​​the American dream in The Great Gatsby. Through the empty lives of three characters, Fitzgerald shows that chasing unattainable dreams will only lead to misery. Everyone in the lower class works to be part of the upper class. Myrtle Wilson dreamed of being a woman of high status and marrying a gentleman capable of taking care of her. Unlike the other characters in the book, instead of making her dream come true, Myrtle had to find a man to make her dream come true for her. Jay Gatsby on the other hand changed his entire life, he did everything in his will to become part of the upper class so he could win the true love of his life. He must have believed that life rewards those who work hard and that if he stuck to his plan he could accomplish anything he set his mind to. Despite Daisy Buchanan's love for Gatsby, she chose to marry Tom Buchanan because she could protect him socially and financially. Daisy chose wealth over true love and happiness because she wanted to be a woman of status regardless of whether she was truly happy or not. Fitzgerald portrays Gatsby as an individual who continually struggles to realize his dream, but rather it is like "boats against the current, ceaselessly drawn back into the past." (189) Gatsby destroys his old identity, forgetting his past to become a new person and improved, someone capable of reaching... middle of paper... atsby, she runs back into the arms of her equally superficial husband Daisy doesn't care about people's lives because she let Gatsby take the blame for the murder culpable by Myrtle Wilson. Her reckless actions ultimately lead to Gatsby's death, for which she shows no remorse. Throughout the novel, Fitzgerald portrays a society full of people who have corrupted the true meaning of the American dream eventual failure of the American dream through individuals who believed that wealth was everything His novel suggests that wealth and materialistic gain are all that people care about. Some people are born rich and others have to work their way up in life to get it. This novel portrays an entire nation of people willing to throw everything away just to try to realize an unattainable dream.