The American Dream as Represented in The Great Gatsby
             The original American Dream can be defined as an attitude of hope and faith that, if achieved, will attain fulfilment of human wishes and desires. It was based on the assumption that each person, no matter where he/she was from could attain succession in life on the sole basis of his/her skill and/or effort. The Great Gatsby makes it clear what happened to the dream as it reached the third decade of the twentieth century, a period when the old values were corruptably replaced with the pursuit of a higher economic status.
             In the first three chapters, information about the characters and their lives are revealed in great detail. It appears that each of these ex-Midwesterners have moved East in the pursuit of the "corrupted" American dream. To them, money, fame, glamour, and excitement are all part of this dream. Fitzgerald provides insight on this topic on page 157 when Nick says "youth and mystery that wealth imprisons and preserves". Throughout the novel, Nick Carraway finds himself trapped in a place surrounded by great mansions, fancy cars, and endless material possessions. Nick expresses his thoughts when he states on page 188, "They were careless people, Tom and Daisy - - they smashed up things and creatures and then retreated back into their money or vast carelessness or whatever it was that kept them together, and let other people clean up the mess they had made."
             A word that can be associated to many of the characters' version of the American dream is position. For example, Gatsby's whole life is spent trying to attain money and status so that he can reach a certain position in life. That is what motivated him to move to West Egg, make money by any means necessary, and strive to win Daisy back. There is a position in life that he yearns for, and will do all that it takes to achieve it. Nick states that "in a moment she looked at me with an absolute smirk o...