F. Scott Fitzgerald criticizes the American Dream in his novel , The Great Gatsby. He shows the readers that during this time period the American dream was centered on riches, material wealth, youth and selfishness. People show no regard towards strong moral values and chose material wealth. Hypocrisy and corruption are a way of life for the elite high-class society. Tom is hypocritical in his possessive views of his relationship with Daisy. Gatsby and Wolfsheim’s morals are corrupted by their money-god, and the value of life disappears in all of their lives. F. Scott Fitzgerald believes that the American dream is nothing but a defective illusion and people will always be suppressed from accomplishing true achievement.
Meyer Wolfsheim is a …show more content…
Even though Tom treated Daisy like an object, he did prove that he truly loved her to some extent. When Tom’s mistress, Myrtle, called out Daisy’s name, Tom became outraged and hit her. He honored Daisy by not giving Myrtle permission to talk about her, but he felt it was acceptable to have a mistress. Nick describes Tom and Daisy at the end of the novel, he describes how they smashed people up and then "retreated back into their money or their vast carelessness, or whatever it was that kept them together…"(179). Nick describes their attitude concerning money and he points out their similarity character wise. Their main concern in life is money and everything that comes along with being wealthy. Money is what kept them together, even though throughout the novel a couple of scenes made me believe that they might really have been in love, if not with each other than with the idea of what their marriage …show more content…
Scott Fitzgerald describes a lot of places in the novel that explain and symbolize the American Dream. Gatsby’s flamboyant and extravagant mansion screams of materialism and wealth. Fitzgerald describes Gatsby’s mansion, “The one on my right was a colossal affair by any standard- it was a factual imitation of some Hotel de Ville in Normandy, with a tower on one side, spanking new under a thin beard of raw ivy, and a marble swimming pool, and more than forty acres of lawn and garden” (5). Gatsby believes that the key to his success of achieving his romantic dream is his extravagant mansion. Gatsby’s mansion represents how the American Dream leads people to spending money irresponsibly and living selfish lives. When materialism becomes the number 1 priority for the American people, the reader notices that ethics often get disregarded and it did not matter where one lived because no one can escape the corrupt and immoral effects of the American