Is the American Dream Everything?

The American dream was an aspiration that slowly developed in America in post-World War II society. Citizens of the United States found themselves desiring monetary wealth, material possessions, and a sense of security in order to achieve the highest level of happiness possible. In both the novel The Great Gatsby, by F. Scott Fitzgerald, and the drama Death of a Salesman, by Arthur Miller, the protagonists, Jay Gatsby and Willy Loman respectively, reveal their struggles for happiness and the American dream. Gatsby and Loman each strive to bring to fruition the American dream, but, unfortunately, each is startled to discover that fulfillment of this dream does not bring about happiness, but leads to his own tragic downfall.

Jay Gatsby lives as a perpetual enigma to all but the narrator, Nick Carraway. Throughout the course of the novel Nick reveals the truths about Gatsby and his life. From early on in his life Gatsby is disgusted with his lowly social position. “An instinct toward his future glory had led him…to the small Lutheran college…[where] he stayed for two weeks…despising the janitor’s work with which he was to pay his way through” (Fitzgerald 105). This dependence on manual labor sickens Gatsby, so he flees to Lake Superior, where he encounters the copper mogul, Dan Cody. Cody employs Gatsby mainly to take care of him while he is drunk, until Cody meets his demise, leaving a small fortune of twenty-five thousand dollars to Gatsby. Unfortunately, Gatsby does not receive this sum due to the greed of Cody’s wife. Gatsby’s time spent with Dan Cody instills within him a hunger for material wealth. After serving a spell in the military with Nick, Jay Gatsby illegally sells alcohol during the prohibition era. It is from his moonshine days that Gatsby amasses his wealth and displays this wealth quite ostentatiously, purchasing a large, very expensive home in a prestigious part of Long Island. However, upon climbing to the top of the metaphorical social ladder, Gatsby realizes that something is missing from his life, a seeming contradiction, now that he has fulfilled the American dream. When Nick first sees Gatsby in Long Island, he is standing alone, “[stretching] out his arms toward the dark water in a curious way…” seemingly reaching for “a single green light, minute and far away” (25-26). This green light is actually emanating from the dock at the end of Daisy’s property, and Gatsby is reaching out, longing to embrace Daisy, his girlfriend from his pre-military days.

Financially, Gatsby is secure; he owns his own house, his own car, throws elaborate parties, and yet longs for something that his money can not buy, love. Using Nick, Gatsby lures Daisy back into his acquaintance. Through use of his own swift planning, Gatsby manages to make Daisy fall back in love with him. The two share their love clandestinely until it is revealed in an argument and Daisy flees As Daisy is driving home, with Gatsby in the car, she gets into an accident and kills a woman. In the ultimate act of love, Gatsby claims responsibility for the accident, fulfilling his true wish, to express his love. Unfortunately, this act of love ultimately kills Gatsby, as the deceased’s husband kills Gatsby to avenge his wife’s death. Yet, at his funeral, the only people who show up to mourn his death are his father, Nick, and a few of his servants. While Gatsby was financially successful, he essentially dies alone, his life missing one of the most important elements of happiness: love.

Willy Loman is another timeless character who strives towards the American dream. He has already started a family, and began financing a house in Brooklyn. He owns his own car, and has a steady job, fulfilling some of the basic elements of the American dream. This desire for a more complete American dream however, turns out to be his undoing. While Willy’s life consists of many elements that are desired by others, he is consistently unhappy, forced to rely on meaningless affairs and his preoccupation with the past to get through his