The Success and Failure of the American Dream in Society
             Many Characters in The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald display the life of the roaring 20's. Gatsby's whole life is spent trying to achieve money and status so that he can reach a certain position in life. He works hard in an illegal way to earn something he wants. The novel shows the dreams and expectations many people had during the era; the failure of the American dream being unavoidable; the conflicts people had to deal with involving their past and the goals of the future ahead; and finally the importance of wealth in such a materialistic society.
             During the roaring 20's, the economy was booming and everyone was celebrating. People thought that they could do anything they wanted especially if they had money. That is what inspired Gatsby to move to West Egg, make money by any means necessary, and try to win Daisy back. There is a position in life that he strives for and will do all that it takes to achieve it. Gatsby is a great example to show how everyone wanted to become rich. Wealth brought luxuries, youth, mysteriousness, respect and sometimes an unexplainable happiness that's been longed for. For Gatsby it gave him the reputation of "Gatsby" as well as Daisy herself. Gatsby started off as a middle class man but once he met Daisy, He set a goal, a dream, for himself and that was to become wealthy. This clearly illustrates the American dream of someone wanting something and working hard to achieve it.
             Although that is the overall American dream, to work for something you want, in the roaring 20's it was quite different. Everyone's dream was to make lots of money and show it off. In the 20's, many things were illegal. Gatsby earned his money buy bootlegging and although this is not a proud way to earn money, he still got lots of things out of becoming rich. During the 20's there was a lot of corruption in the everyda...