Tom and Daisy Buchanan, the rich socialite couple, seem to have everything they could possibly desire; however, though their lives are full of material possessions and worldly goods, they are unsatisfied and seek to change their circumstances. Tom, the arrogant ex-football player, drifts on "forever seeking a little wistfully for the dramatic turbulence of some irrecoverable football game"(pg. 10) and reads "deep books with long words in them"(pg. 17) in order to have something to talk about. Though he appears happily married to Daisy

Though Myrtle Wilson makes an attempt to escape her own class and pursue happiness with the richer set, her efforts ultimately produce no results and she dies, a victim of the very group she sought to join. Myrtle tries to join Tom's class by entering into an affair with him and taking on his way of living, but in doing so she becomes vulgar and corrupt like the rich. She loses all sense of morality and is scornful of people of her own class. Her constant clothing changes signify her dissatisfaction with her life - she changes personalities every time she changes her dress: "with the influence of the dress her whole personality had also undergone a change. The intense vitality… was converted into impressive hauteur"(pg. 35). She treats the elevator boy in her apartment building with disdain: "Myrtle raised her eyebrows in despair at the shiftlessness of the lower orders. 'These people! You have to keep after them all the time.'"(pg. 36). Though American democracy is based on the concept of equality among people, social discrimination does still exist, and the divisions between classes cannot be overcome. Myrtle strives for a new life for herself, yet she is corrupted by the supposedly 'better' group and finally falls victim to it.

Throughout the novel, Fitzgerald shows the collapse of dreams, whether they are dreams of money, status, or simply of happiness. The biggest collapse, however, is of the American Dream. The failure of the American Dream is unavoidable, not only because the reality of life cannot compare to idealistic dreams, but also because the ideals are usually far too perfect to be paralleled in reality.

Some topics in this essay:
American Dream, Daisy Buchanan, Myrtle Wilson, Tom Gatsby, Fitzgerald's Gatsby, Dream Gatsby's, George Wilson's, America Dream, american dream, Gatsby Buchanans, York Tom's, failure american dream, failure american, reality life, daisy buchanan, dream gatsby, lives empty, lower class, upper class, seek change, gatsby's dream,