The Great Gatsby

In its history, America has always aspired to be a beacon of hope, the city on top a hill for the rest of the world. When the 1920's rolled by, America's culture and ways of thinking had been changed, but for the worse. With new technology and wealth in abundance, the American's sacrificed their old puritan ways for a new pursuit of happiness, and unwittingly a new, darker American Dream. As witnessed in the novel, The Great Gatsby, the American culture welcomed “…a whole phenomenon of modernism, with its sexual freedom, motorcars, and migration from the small and simple town to the big and clever city-most especially pagan and glittering New York City: star of the novel (Hitchens 80).” A combination of reckless hedonism and moral bankruptcy led to an overall obsession with wealth and worldly possessions, and ultimately an obsession with ones own individual pleasure. As time goes on, the American Culture turns its back on old moral values and glorifies worldly wealth and pleasure, effectively corrupting the American Dream and all that it stands for.

The counter culture influence on America is the idea that obtaining wealth, money, possessions, power, and love should be accomplished by any means necessary. This obsession leads to sadness, destruction, and in The Great Gatsby, even death. After the war, Gatsby wanted to get rich so he could eventually impress Daisy with his money. Since Gatsby was poor, he needed a way to get rich fast, eventually turning to illegal

ways of reaching his ultimate goal of Daisy. Even today, icons like Martha Stewart and caught stealing their way to the top, obtaining wealth and power however they can. The 1920's were the age of change, the age of reckless hedonism and moral bankruptcy, and Gatsby pursued his dreams by any means, even when it meant stealing money and stealing another mans wife. Fitzergerald himself had an agenda for why he bothered to write The Great Gatsby, as when Carroll claimed, “Fitzgerald set out to write a book that would make him rich enough to win Zelda (Carroll 1).” In the end, for Gatsby, he was killed by his own greed for Daisy, and his dream turned into a nightmare, screeching to an abrupt halt.

Along with the obsession of obtaining wealth and power, another great change in culture affected the means by which Americans would obtain their wealth and power. This change was in morality. Gone are the days in which everyone followed strict laws and went to church everyday in fear of being labeled a pagan. Gone are the days of a set moral code of conduct, were God was put in front on ones own desires. Gone are the days of the true American Dream, the Dream that inspired the pilgrims and colonists to pursue happiness, freedom, and God. As said by Hitchens, “No other culture is so addicted to this narcissistic impression of itself as having any innocence to lose in the first place (Hitchens 80).” What was before fueled by the intention of leading the rest of the world by being an example, the American Dream evolved into the pursuit of ones own goals of happiness, fueled only by ones own desires, however malicious they may be. The American Dream transformed into a beast of corrupt and evil intentions.

When all of these events on how the American dream switched from good intentions to bad intentions take place in the 1920's there is America's battle worn society to worry about. What was at first a land of prosperity and happiness now resembles a wasteland, a valley of ashes watched over by a God who no longer cares for its people. In The Great Gatsby, the eyes of Dr. Eckelburg represent Gods gaze over the wastelands of America, saying that, “His eyes dimmed a little by many paintless days under sun and rain, brood on over the solemn dumping ground (Fitzgerald 28).” Fitzgerald believes that with no morality, the American Dream is dead. This assumption that God no longer cares about society must also mean that society no longer cares for God, and morality. The results of the 1920's clearly showed that America was headed down the wrong lane of destiny. Now it is too late, as the culture of the past is now integrated in our culture today. The only step that can be taken now is to learn from the past mistakes and look towards to future.

As time goes on, the American Dream is corrupted by society's unwillingness to live by the rules of moral conduct, causing worldly pleasures and wealth to replace the original goal of happiness. America has come a long way since the 1920's, and there are still many decisions to be made concerning what direction America will take next. The mistake that Gatsby made was that he thought he could obtain Daisy by any means necessary, when in reality, Gatsby had “Committed himself to the following of a grail (Fitzgerald 156).” Gatsby made the mistake of justifying the ends with means. People thought that the American Dream could be reached by justifying the means, when in reality, the means was the American Dream.