Throughout his novel, The Great Gatsby, F. Scott Fitzgerald criticizes the myth of the American Dream. Through his use of settings including East Egg, West Egg and the Valley of Ashes, he deconstructs what it means to live the American dream, as well as it’s failures. The dream is based on the belief that anyone, no matter where they are born and what class they are born into, can attain their own version of success through hard work and dedication. Fitzgerald uses each of his settings to analyse aspects of the dream and put them into a realistic perspective.
East Egg, home of Tom and Daisy Buchanan and Jordan Baker, is regarded in the novel as an exclusive neighbourhood for those categorised as ‘old money’. The residents here were born into rich families and have known nothing but the lavish lifestyle and magnificent estates they have been brought up in. Nick, our narrator, sees these as “…the white palaces of fashionable East Egg, glittered across the water.” Despite all its glory, East Egg represents a false achievement of the American Dream. Contrary to the dream, these people have experienced no hardship in their life being born into money and not having to work for their success. Money has shielded them from the problems of ordinary life. This is proven when Daisy murders Myrtle Wilson in chapter 8. She and Tom then “…retreated back into their money or their vast carelessness or whatever it was that kept them together, and let other people clean up the mess they had made.” Daisy not being made to answer for this crime is final proof of their false achievement of the American Dream. Many examples of modern day celebrities who are born with privilege, much like Tom and Daisy, can be found in today’s society. Actors Tom Hiddleston and Benedict Cumberbatch and singers Taylor Swift and Adam Levine have all been born into privilege. While these people have worked to make a name for themselves, they certainly did not lack the wealth to do so.
F. Scott Fitzgerald uses West Egg, home of Gatsby and Nick, as a representation of achieving the American Dream corruptly. It is extremely hard in society, now and in the 1920’s, for lower class citizens and those in poverty to gain wealth and increase their social standings. Therefore, the most common process these people go through to earn their wealth is bootlegging. From the beginning Gatsby’s character seems suspicious and that he almost came from nowhere to this grand millionaire. Later, in chapter 7 where secrets are spilled, Tom reveals Gatsby’s past as a bootlegger “He and this Wolfsheim bought up a lot of side-street drug-stores here and in Chicago and sold grain alcohol over the counter. That’s one of his little stunts. I picked him for a bootlegger the first time I saw him, and I wasn’t far wrong.” Gatsby got into this business with Meyer Wolfsheim and built up his wealth through bootlegging in order to buy a house across the bay from Daisy. This proves Gatsby as corruptly achieving the American Dream. On top of this, examples of these people who achieve the American dream corruptly can be found today. Well known cyclist, Lance Armstrong, used performance enhancing drugs to win his cycle races and build his wealth and has been proven to achieve his American dream corruptly
The Valley of Ashes represents the American Dream and how it fails those who it was created to inspire. The dream states that anyone, no matter where they are born and what class they are born into, can attain their own version of success through hard work and dedication. The people who live in the Valley of Ashes definitely fulfil the first part of the dream, no matter where they are born and what class they are born into, because they are the deepest in Poverty in the whole novel. They were born into poor families and must work for every meal they have. However, contrary to the dream, no matter how hard they work, they can not attain the success that they deserve under the guidelines of the dream. Tom and Myrtle Wilson live in the Valley of Ashes and are a perfect example of the failure of the dream. George and his wife run a gas station and garage but are so desperate for money that “…a damp gleam of hope sprang into his light blue eyes.” when he saw he had a chance of doing business with Tom and Nick. The couple are the hardest working characters in the novel but never break out of the poverty cycle. Eventually by the end of the book, their misfortune leads to their deaths and society does not give a second thought to it. The Valley of Ashes is a clear representation of how the American Dream fails those that it was created for, and still does to this day where 36% of people around the world or nearly 2 billion people live in poverty.
East Egg, West Egg and the Valley of Ashes are utilised by F. Scott Fitzgerald in his novel to portray the failures of the American dream. Fitzgerald critiques the dream, giving examples of a false achievement of the dream, achieving the dream corruptly and how it fails those for who it was made for. These all contribute to the main idea of the novel that the American dream is a myth and that it is not a realistic belief to aspire to. The dream encourages us to never be satisfied with what we have and always want more. This doesn’t allow us to be grateful and appreciate what we do have which is very important. It is easy in today’s world to get caught up in what society wants you to be or do and forget about your dreams. You need to focus on what you want and not let society influence these thoughts.
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