a firm believer in the American Dream of self-made success: he has, after all, not only invented and self-promoted a whole new persona for himself, but has succeeded both financially and societally."
             What the author of novelguide is saying, is that you must achieve the aims of the American Dream, at all costs, and because Gatsby has done this, he has become a finished product of the American dream. I believe however, that although Gatsby has succeeded both societally and financially, he has not achieved happiness, which is what we see him craving throughout the novel.
             "As I went over to say goodbye, I saw that the expression of bewilderment had come back into Gatsby's face, as though a faint doubt had occurred to him as the quality of his present happiness. Almost five years! There must have been moments even that afternoon when Daisy tumbled short of his dreams – not through his own fault, but because of the colossal vitality of his illusion."
             This quotation shows us that Gatsby is not happy ("a faint doubt had occurred to him as the quality of his present happiness"), and that there is only one thing in the world that would make him happy, which is Daisy. Although this is only a faint doubt at this point, this doubt grows and grows each time that Gatsby meets Daisy.
             I believe that the American Dream, is not the dream that Gatsby has. His dream is to achieve happiness, by making Daisy his wife. This fantasy becomes Gatsby's personal version of the American Dream, and his whole life focuses around achieving this aim. Gatsby has always wanted to marry Daisy from the moment he met her, but as he did not have enough money, he could not sustain her. He joined the army, and after his time in service, returned to find Daisy married to Tom Buchanan. His dream does not shatter, he is still confident that he can get Daisy back, as he now has
             ...