American society has been built around the notion that with hard work and motivation, one can obtain the wealth and stature that is so desired in the pursuit of the American Dream. The American Dream in the 1920's was portrayed in F. Scott Fitzgerald's The Great Gatsby as ugliness and ruin of moral values. The characters desire for material comfort and wealth out way that of the pursuit of happiness in individual relationships. The Great Gatsby is an ideal example that narrates the fall of the American Dream in the 1920's. It portrays people obsessed with self-image, wealth, and of loveless relationships. In The Great Gatsby, Fitzgerald examines and evaluates Gatsby's vision of the American Dream in the 1920's.
             The narrator of the time is Nick Carraway. After serving in World War 1, 29 year-Old Nick learns the bonds business and gets drawn into the affairs involving Jay Gatsby. Having come from a prominent family himself, Nick is accustomed to the ways of the social elite. Eventually, Nick will be drawn in to the middle of the relationship between Daisy and Jay. Daisy being Nick's cousin who is married to Tom Buchanan. Tom is an extremely wealthy man and prone to having affairs. Jay Gatsby, having been born to poor middle-western farmers, changed his name from James Gatz to have a more acceptable and well to do name.
             Tom and Daisy Buchanan are classified as East Eggers. They are part of the elite society where they have inherited their fortunes. Jay Gatsby, on the other hand, is classified as a West Egger, residing on the side that has come into new money through sometimes shady means. Because of the time period, new rich were looked down upon and not accepted into the old rich societies. The sole distinction between the two sides, East Egg and West Egg, is how wealth and fortune are obtained. Gatsby wants to associate with the upper-class, the old rich, but this division of class wants nothin...