All Falls Down 

The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald is considered one of the greatest American novels. Because of its strong ties to American culture, it shows many pieces of what it’s like to be an American. The book highlights class inequalities and the idea of what it means to be successful in American society. This ties the book directly to the American dream: the idea that anyone can achieve anything if they work hard in this country. It is clear that Fitzgerald used this novel to comment on the American dream and shed a negative light on it. Through the fact that Gatsby has to present himself as someone he’s not to achieve his dream and then then loses it anyways, the book shows that nobody can achieve the true American dream without losing themselves in return.

Another aspect of the book that shows the American dream’s flaws is Gatsby’s tendency for deceit. He can only succeed by becoming someone who he is not. We know he has literally changed his name to escape his past as a lower class person. However, his escape from himself is not limited to just his legal name, but he pretends to be a completely different person, imitating new money to impress people, especially Daisy, as he admits in this quote: “But he knew that he was in Daisy’s house by a colossal accident. However glorious might be his future as Jay Gatsby, he was at present a penniless young man without a past, and at any moment the invisible cloak of his uniform might slip from his shoulders. So he made the most of his time. He took what he could get, ravenously and unscrupulously — eventually he took Daisy one still October night, took her because he had no real right to touch her hand.” (Fitzgerald 156). This quote is Nick describing what Gatsby said about his past with Daisy. The comparison between Gatsby’s “glorious” future and what he actually is in this moment: a lower class guy, shows that Gatsby had to put on a facade to succeed socially.  Daisy in this quote is a representation of Gatsby’s transformation into the wealthy and influential Jay Gatsby that we see in the rest of the book. As a lower class person putting on a facade, he has no real right to touch her hand or to join high society, so he did exactly what is stated, he took what he could get, whenever he could get it. Just as he landed in her house by a “colossal accident”, he landed his position as the famous Jay Gatsby through the same methods of deceit and lying about his background. Gatsby also has to resort to illegal activity to succeed, showing that someone who comes from a less well off background often has to sacrifice their morals to reach the level of the higher class. There are hints of Gatsby’s activity, like when he tries to recruit Nick for a questionable job, a party guest suggests he killed a man, and he takes several phone calls that are said to be from Chicago, a hub for crime at the time. After all these hints, the book confirms his illegal activity in this quote after Gatsby passes:  “‘Young Parke’s in trouble,” he said rapidly. “They picked him up when he handed the bonds over the counter. They got a circular from New York giving ’em the numbers just five minutes before. What d’you know about that, hey? You never can tell in these hick towns ——” “ (Fitzgerald 174). This is a phone call to Gatsby’s house from an unknown caller. This is significant because “handing the bonds over the counter” is a reference to ceiling stolen stock and bond securities, which was a common illegal practice at the time. This shows that to obtain his wealth, Gatsby used methods outside of the law. 

Even though he goes as far as possible to obtain his dream, Gatsby still fails, and this failure is represented throughout the book through the recurring symbolism of the green light. The light represents his imagined future with Daisy, where he has joined high society and is able to be fully part of her life. Through this light, Fitzgerald shows us the status of Gatsby’s dreams of success, and at the end of the book ties this metaphor together: “Gatsby believed in the green light, the orgastic future that year by year recedes before us. It eluded us then, but that’s no matter — to-morrow we will run faster, stretch out our arms farther… . And one fine morning —— So we beat on, boats against the current, borne back ceaselessly into the past.” (Fitzgerald 198). This quote is integral in understanding the rest of the mentions of this green light, because it shows how it is directly related to Gatsby’s own American Dream. The green light is not only his relationship with Daisy, it is his dreams of success as a whole, his “orgastic future”. As we see through the description of Gatsby’s past, Gatsby doesn’t just want Daisy, he wants wealth, or more importantly, he wants to rise as far as possible for the impoverished state he was in. The green light’s significance is explored even further in the rest of the book, tying itself directly to Gatsby’s current status. This light’s first mention is in the beginning of the book, when Nick first sees Gatsby. “He stretched his arms out toward the dark water in a curious way, and, far away as I was, I could have sworn he was trembling. Involuntarily I glanced seaward- distinguished nothing except a single green light, minute and far away, that might have been the end of a dock. When I looked once more for Gatsby he had vanished, and I was alone again in the unquiet darkness.” (Fitzgerald 26). This shows the dream in Gatsby’s mind, minute and far away, as he has not seen Daisy in some time, even though he throws parties simply to attract her attention, or stretches his arms out, it is still out of his reach. As the book goes on, the light grows farther and further away from Gatsby, and when Daisy and Gatsby finally meet and she can’t meet his expectations, the light loses all significance. “Possibly it had occurred to him that the colossal significance of that light had now vanished forever. “Compared to the great distance that had separated him from Daisy it had seemed very near to her, almost touching her. It had seemed as close as a star to the moon. Now it was again a green light on a dock. His count of enchanted objects had diminished by one.” (Fitzgerald 98) This is Nick describing Gatsby’s realization that the light has lost its meaning in his life at this point. He has gotten Daisy back into his life, and she simply isn’t enough, so he can’t connect with her. This marks Gatsby’s final attempt to insert himself not only into her life, but into high society as a whole. He has put all this work into climbing the social ladder, but he still isn’t able to actually connect with the elite of the world. This whole transgression marks the struggles it actually takes to succeed in American society with a lower class background. Gatsby does whatever it takes to get Daisy back and force his way into the old money crowd, but he fails, and the green light remains unobtainable to him forever. If this text was meant to support the American dream, would Gatsby’s immense sacrifice and incredible feats over many years really go unrewarded? Fitzgerald has done his best to show that sometimes it doesn’t matter how hard you try, you might just end up dead with your hopes and dreams still out of reach.

The Great Gatsby shows wealth, success, and poverty in America all at the same time. However, the text makes it very clear that you are only going to be truly successful if you had a wealthy background. The American dream, while important in this book, is portrayed as something out of reach for most people. Gatsby puts his all into becoming a member of the higher class, but in the end it all falls down Through the fact that Gatsby has to present himself as someone he’s not to achieve his dream and then then loses it anyways, the book shows that nobody can achieve the true American dream without losing themselves in return.