America has been a zealous follower of self-invention, individualism, which is one of the main traits of Gatsby. Gatsby represents the American idealist, he is, like millions of Americans, a person who realized what

Through Fitzgerald’s intricate use of setting, point-of-view, and writing style, it can be seen that Gatsby still speaks for today’s America because he still embodies the American dream of self-invention, wealth and power, and keeping a dream alive despite great odds. These traits are as evident with the 21st century Americans as they were evident with 1920 Americans. The fact that Fitzgerald managed to mold a novel that stood the test of time represents his prominence as a writer, his genius with his work. And so, despite the decades that has past since The Great Gatsby’s first release, Fitzgerald’s masterpiece and its central character, Jay Gatsby still speak for today’s America, a testament to the unmovable resolve of the American people, and to their incessant devotion to the American dream.

Although Americans and Gatsby share a dream of individualism, they also share a lust for wealth and power—a sort of universal trait if you will, however it is somewhat typified more so in American society. Gatsby ceded into the temptations of wealth and power like millions of Americans throughout the years to pursue his goal. Although his goal, Daisy, “might not have been a worthy goal, Gatsby’s willingness to sell his soul to pursue her, are the purest things in the story” (Cohen). In fact what drew Gatsby to Daisy was her life of luxury, her grace and class, her voice that was “full of money,” things that Gatsby had never experienced before (Fitzgerald 127). And so Gatsby spends a lifetime trying to get Daisy back by “making his fortune the old fashioned way: he stole it” (Cohen). He bootlegged liquor and dialed in the illegal bonds business with Meyer Wolfshiem—if Gatsby were alive today he would have been “in the upper echelons of Enron” (Cohen). Gatsby was engulfed in “the temptations of wealth and power that surrounded him; (his life) was a very American story” (Yoder). In essence through the pursuit of his goal, Gatsby came to believe that with his money and power, he could do anything, he could bring back the past, and win back Daisy. He was corrupted with the idea that wealth and power could get you anything, one of the reasons for his downfall—“If you wanted snow, you just paid some money” (Cohen). Gatsby was living an “exalted dream,” a story of a man from the west that was corrupted by the glitter of th

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