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What Is The American Dream In The Great Gatsby

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In The Great Gatsby, Nick states that we will always run faster, try to reach more things, and always be thrown back. This relates to the American Dream, as we always try to achieve more in it, so it is never complete. Gatsby shows that we are always thrown back, and always try to reach more. As do Daisy and Tom as they were rich, young, beautiful, lived in a nice place, and had a kid, but it still was not enough. They had everything that is typically wanted, but they were not happy. In The Great Gatsby Fitzgerald shows the ideals of the American Dream, but also shows how they do not actually equate to a perfect life or complete happiness.
Gatsby shows throughout the novel. how the American Dream is unachievable; we will always want more. In the beginning, he is looking towards the green light, that to him, symbolized Daisy. He was rich, and attractive, and young but he wanted more. …show more content…

One of the first things Daisy tells Nick is that shes extremely unhappy, and he seems surprised. She does, after all, seem to have everything that could ever be wanted out of life. “Their house was even more elaborate than I expected… the lawn started at the beach and ran toward the front door for a quarter of a mile… the motor boat that bumped the tide offshore.” (Fitzgerald, 6, 7) These quotes show that the Buchanans were very wealthy, and their life had the ideals of the American Dream. The only problem was Tom’s cheating. But she also, like the others, wants more and more - and it never ends. She does not only want Gatsby, but she also wants Tom to want her too. As the paragraph before quoted, Gatsby wanted her to say she did not love Tom, but she would not because she did not want them to stop fighting for her. On page 132 she says “I did love him once - but I loved you too...” While Daisy once had what was very close to the American Dream, she wanted more and more and messed it up for herself by looking for more with

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