Gatsby personifies the American Dream in two ways, in its
purity and in its eventual corruption. As a young man, Jimmy Gatz of North Dakota
dreamed of the future; he wanted to free himself from grinding poverty, achieve
important accomplishments, and make a new, better life for himself. As his list of
Resolves and daily schedule indicate, most of his day was spent working; the remainder
of his time was spent in activities to make himself stronger, healthier, more educated,
and successful. He also tried to become a better person. One of the notations in his
journal of that time says, "Be better to parents." Almost none of his time was set aside
for entertainment. He was hard-working, disciplined, focused, and motivated to succeed.
In these respects, he can be seen to represent all those who reached for the American
Dream, believing they could attain it through their own
efforts.
Jimmy Gatz does make his way out of North Dakota,
and as Jay Gatsby he rises out of poverty and builds a spectacular fortune, almost
overnight--the American Dream realized. However, he accomplishes no great deeds, builds
nothing of value, and his success does not develop from hard work or creativity. He
embraces a corrupt lifestyle and becomes corrupt himself--a criminal who works for a
gangster. By the 1920s, the novel suggests, great wealth can be achieved by only a
few--those who inherit it or those who acquire it as famous entertainers, athletes, or
criminals. No matter hard the honest George Wilson works, for example, he will never
escape his poverty. The purity of the American Dream as it once existed is over,
destroyed by social class and social corruption. Even baseball, the great American sport
born in the 19th Century, has become corrupt.
The East/West
motif and symbolism in the novel lie at its heart. Gatsby's early association with Dan
Cody brings in elements of American history, with Cody representing the century gone by.
The days of the 19th Century in which a pioneer like Cody could challenge the frontier
and build a fortune are over, and with the death of the frontier, America changed
forever; the best had been lost. Nick's contemplation of the early Dutch settlers at the
conclusion of the novel emphasizes this theme.
The only
part of America that somehow remains exempt from the corruption of the new century is
Nick Carraway's Midwest. His memories of the Midwest of his youth collide with the
hollow, selfish decadence he observes in the East; his Midwestern values conflict with
the soulless amorality he finds in the Buchanans and their social class. Appalled, he
turns his back on the East and goes home to the
Midwest.
Nick decides that all he has experienced has been
"a story of the West." He, Gatsby, and even Tom and Daisy originated in the West and all
came to the East; Gatsby is destroyed and Nick, because he is a person of integrity,
cannot stay. Only Tom and Daisy belong there because they had been corrupted by their
inherited wealth before they arrived.
