Fitzgerald tells us about the depreciation of values during the Jazz Age through depictions of the American dream and the romantic spiritual dream. Throughout the book, the meaning of the American dream of materialism links with the of the romantic spiritual dream of pointless relationships. These goals simply become quixotic dreams.
             The American dream, the dream of success and happiness, comes to define itself as money. Money blinds the characters in The Great Gatsby to believe that the only thing they really need are materials to achieve a happy and successful life. We see this in Tom's life, as he has already achieved his American dream. His mind is fooled by the fallacy that money is all he needs: he believes that he is loved by Daisy when in reality she married him mostly for the money, he that he is above all else and looks down upon those that are not from a wealthy family. The parties at Gatsby's place are full of different people who believe that they have reached a level of success. They too are blind with money believing that it brings them happiness. In reality, it makes an illusion where "people disappeared, reappeared, made plans to go somewhere, and then lost each other, searched for each other, found each other a few feet away." Even in Gatsby we see that money is of great importance. Being the poor person he used to be, he strives to achieve his American dream by working for Wolfsheim. He begins working to live successfully to achieve something of much greater value to him: his spiritual romantic dream. Through his blindness, he believes that with money he is able to win Daisy's heart and obtain "true love."
             The romantic spiritual dream, the belief in true love, has become unreachable. For true love is patient, kind and not self seeking. Whereas, Gatsby attempts to win Daisy's heart with money for his own selfish desires. When showing her his possessions, she offers herself to him. ...