Emily Rollend Mrs. Droope Honors English 10, 2nd hr. 1 June 2014
To What Extent is The American Dream Achievable?
The American Dream can be perceived in many different ways, but it depends on the person, and the attitude the person has towards it. The American Dream, too some, is an illusion, and to others it’s a reality. The American Dream is the tradition social ideals in the United States, such as equality, material prosperity and the pursuit of happiness, as well as your personal dreams incorporated. What some people lack is the motivation, the right set of mind and a positive outlook to achieve their Dream. The American Dream is achievable to all that put forth the effort, have patience,work hard and are motivated. It is unattainable to those that choose to be pessimistic, lazy, and lose sight of reality. These different extents of achievement are shown in The Great Gatsby, by F. Scott Fitzgerald, which incorporates the American Dream. In The Great Gatsby, Fitzgerald shows a timeline of a man named Jay Gatsby’s life written in the point of view from Nick Carraway. Jay Gatsby’s American Dream was to get back together with his lost love Daisy. Gatsby started making money by bootlegging, which was illegal, and ended up buying himself a large house to try to impress Daisy, but made no further effort to get her back and steal her from Tom Buchanan. Gatsby was lost and alone and wasn’t putting necessary effort into getting Daisy to choose him while they had an affair. Gatsby had Daisy, they were having an affair, so Gatsby lacked motivation to try harder to win her over entirely. When they met again Gatsby showed Daisy clippings, “Here’s a lot of clippings----about you.”, this shows that Gatsby knew what Daisy was doing, and kept track of things she did, but never worked towards getting her back , which shows his lack of effort in getting her back.(Fitzgerald 99) He had money, and nice things, but Daisy wasn't only looking for those things. Gatsby thought that Daisy wanted him to have a lot of money and that would be good enough. Gatsby had false hope, he thought that being successful and having money would make Daisy choose him. When Gatsby was younger and first met Daisy, he didn’t propel himself forward to try to become the person Daisy wanted him to be, so he waited and then became successful, while she married and fell in love with someone else. She wanted him to have money, because back then he had the personality and qualities in a husband that she wanted. But five years later, Gatsby had money but lacked the qualities she wanted. If Gatsby would have worked harder when he first met Daisy and tried to make her understand that he would do anything for her, Daisy wouldn't have gone off and fell in love with another man who would give her what she needed. Five years before they met again, he would've reached his dream of being with the women he loved, if he would've dropped everything and influenced Daisy that he was going to change and be successful. Gatsby was running toward a dream that was already behind him in the past, Daisy didn't want to leave Tom for Gatsby. Gatsby didn't reach his Dream of being with Daisy because his endeavor was weak, and he lost sight of reality and was living in the past. The American Dream isn’t achievable for everyone, only to those that work hard and try to do everything in their power to reach it, think realistically, and don’t just sit around and wait for things to just happen. Daisy, one of the main character in The Great Gatsby, achieved her dream by knowing exactly what she wanted, and pursuing it. Daisy wanted a husband who was wealthy, and would take care of her. She realized that Gatsby couldn't give her what she wanted in life so she moved on to marry a man named Tom Buchanan who could supply her with whatever her heart desired. Gatsby didn’t have everything she was looking for, so she had to move forward with her life and direct herself to bigger and better things. Not only did she quit her escapade with Gatsby, but she moved on in hopes to better her life and achieve her dream, to marry a man who would love and support her. Even when Gatsby changed and had become successful, Daisy still chose to maintain being with Tom because she had already reached her dream and didn't need anything more. Daisy, Gatsby and Tom were arguing and Daisy turned to Tom and said, “Oh, please let’s get out.”, this shows us that through everything she turns to Tom, and will always go back to him, because he is a part of her Dream.(140) Daisy knew what she needed to do, and knew exactly what path to take and what to look for, so she reached her Dream. Even when her Dream started crumbling and Tom was having an affair, she wanted nothing more than to stay with him and work things out. She didn't want to divorce him because she loved him, she would not give up her Dream, she was committed. The difference between Daisy and Gatsby, and how they worked for their Dreams, is that Daisy was committed to her Dream, motivated, and knew she would have to sacrifice and work for it. Gatsby was living in the past, he lost sight of reality, and wasn’t putting effort into trying to get Daisy back like her should have, he lacked motivation. Anyone can achieve their dream if they know exactly what they want, are committed, and don’t mess around. People who set their minds to something and do their best to pursue it will achieve their American Dream. An example of how the American Dream can and can’t be attained can be shown in through Tom Buchanan. The problem with Tom is that he wasn't exactly sure what he wanted. His dream was uncertain. He already had money and was married to a beautiful southern belle, but he didn't know if he was actually happy. Because of this, Tom had an affair with Myrtle Wilson, thinking that maybe he would find happiness in her. Jordan Baker tells Nick, “Tom’s got some woman in New York.”, proving that Tom doesn't know what is right in front of him, he was blinded.(19) Tom didn’t realize what he had right in front of him, which was a perfect life. To Tom, his American Dream was both attainable, as it was laying in front of him, but was also unattainable because he wasn't sure what he wanted just yet. The American Dream can be achieved if you choose the right path that is lying in front of you, but you have to know where you are going in order for you to obtain it. The American Dream is a set of social ideals mixed in with different individual goals that a person may have for themselves. It can be achievable if you are willing to set your mind to a single goal and work for it, unachievable if you don’t know exactly what to work towards and you don’t have patience and put effort into it, and can be both achievable and unachievable if you have everything lying out in front of you, but you don’t grasp it. All of these aspects of attainability are shown in The Great Gatsby, by F. Scott Fitzgerald.