if one were to ask a person what they would do with one million dollars, they would have an ample idea of what their answer would be, whether it is to buy a new house or a new car or simply to pay overdue bills. the point is that at least every human being has thought of what it would be like to live in the lap of luxury like the characters in The Great Gatsby. in fact, it has been proven that people would do almost anything to become rich- through lottery, gambling, and even game shows. after they do get rich, however, the question becomes, "Will all this money go to their heads?" .
Fitzgerald focuses on the corruption of the American dream for eternal wealth and youth. By analyzing the upper-class society of the 1920s through the eys of narrator Nick Carraway, the author clearly reveals that the American Dream has transformed from a pure ideal of security into a complicated scheme of materalistsic power. He attributes the depravity of mankind to the wealth that the privileged few do receive. Jay Gatsby, in particular, epitomizes the purest characteristic of the American Dream: everlasting hope.
Gatsby's goal of winning the heart of Daisy gives himj a purpose in life and sets him apart from the rest of the upper-class. His dream is pure, while the others like Top and Daisy Buchanan have become corrupted from their fortune. Fitzgerald intends for Gatsby's drem to be symbolic of the American dream. he genuinely believes that if a person makes enough money, he can buy anything. He thinks his wealth can erase the last five years of his and Daisy's life and reuinte them at the point at which he left her before he went to the war. .
in a similar fashion, all americans have the tendency to believe that if they amass a great amount of fortune, they can manipulate time, staying perpetually young, and buy their happiness through materialists spending. They are completely oblivious to the consequences of being rich.
