After World War I, the boosted economy and the legends of Wall Street created an illusion for Americans that happiness can be purchased. Corrupted by such delusions, post-war youth fanatically devoted themselves to the American Dream. However, in such an impulsive world, people only valued materialism but ignored their inner worlds. Francis Scott Key Fitzgerald, the representative writer of the “lost generation”, once lost himself in the illusion as well. When reality knocked him down mercilessly, he finally grasped the fallacy of the American Dream and wrote The Great Gatsby. In the novel, Fitzgerald depicts the protagonist’s tragedy to criticize the lack of social morality and to reveal the collapse of the American Dream.

As a representative of the generation which lost themselves to the illusion, the main character Gatsby is childish, ambitious, and dauntless. To pursue his dream of marrying Daisy, Gatsby risks his life and takes up an illegal business. He blindly believes that with a high social status and tremendous wealth, he can change the past and realize his dreams. Lamentably, Daisy, in Gatsby’s mind, is a derivative of his dream. However, his dream is merely a fusion of Daisy and his expectations. Daisy is not an innocent girl. On the contrary, she is snobbish and careless. Even after Daisy’s reunion with Gatsby and basking in his new status and wealth, she eventually chooses Tom, a symbol of the upper class who has tremendous wealth and an old money reputation, instead of Gatsby, her “true love”. Fitzgerald utilizes the comparison between Gatsby’s dream and Daisy to reveal the huge gap between the American Dream and reality. The American dream consists of the idea that if one works hard, he or she will realize dreams. Moreover, Fitzgerald uses a personality like Daisy to symbolize the general population of the wealthy class living in that age, who fanatically pursue the material life and abandon authentic happiness and mental stability. Desperately holding onto his dream, Gatsby buys a mansion in the West Egg in Long Island, which is directly across the water from Daisy’s mansion. Every night, Gatsby stares at and reaches out to the green light from Daisy’s dock. For years, he holds parties in his mansion only because he wants Daisy to appear just once. Meanwhile, Daisy’s husband, Tom, the emblem of the upper class and inherited wealth, has numerous affairs with women and is doubtful to truly love Daisy. Therefore, when Daisy reunites with handsome, young, and wealthy Gatsby, she seemingly and quickly falls in love again. It seems like Gatsby finally fulfills his dream; however, Daisy’s love doesn’t satisfy his ambitions. He still feels desolate. Although he feels the vanity in Daisy’s words and behavior, he persists that Daisy will change to the goddess of his dreams. Childish and stubborn, Gatsby affirms that Tom has changed Daisy into a worldly girl. Therefore, Gatsby wants Daisy to tell Tom that she never loved him, which will change nothing but give Gatsby a false hope that his dream is still achievable. 

Waiting for Daisy for the whole summer, Gatsby finally sees his chance. On the last day, Daisy and Gatsby invite Nick, Tom, and Jordan to eat together. Just at the time that Gatsby wants Daisy to explain everything to Tom, timid Daisy retreats and tells the truth: “Even alone I can’t say I never loved Tom, it wouldn’t be true”. These words are as sharp as knives, and they cut deeply into Gatsby’s heart. In this scene, Fitzgerald portrays that Daisy did love Tom, vanity and her luxurious life with him. Furthermore, it reflects that no matter if she lives with Gatsby or Tom, she always chooses for herself the life of old money, blindly accepts anything that is remiss about it, and it gives her a false sense of security which forces her to abandon true love. In return, Tom, the symbol of that life, chooses Daisy too. Essentially, he provides wealth, and security for Daisy, but never gives even a penny of happiness to Daisy. Fitzgerald describes this relationship to criticize the upper class, who chooses their company by the other’s external goods instead of the internal qualities, which eventually leads to loneliness and unhappiness. On Gatsby and Daisy’s way back home, Daisy accidently kills Myrtle, Tom’s mistress. To protect Daisy, foolish Gatsby ignores all the consequence and takes the responsibility from Daisy. When Tom finds out his mistress is hit by a yellow car, he immediately realizes that it was Gatsby’s car. Facing inquiries from George Wilson, Myrtle’s husband, Tom accuses Gatsby of hitting and killing Myrtle, and does not correct Wilson’s belief that she had an affair with Gatsby. Indignant, George Wilson arms himself with a pistol and shoots Gatsby while he is waiting for Daisy’s call. Sadly, at his funeral, no one shows up except for Nick, the narrator and the only true friend of Gatsby, Gatsby’s father, and a stranger. Daisy, careless and cruel, doesn’t show up or even send a flower. Instead, she chooses to escape to other cities with Tom. Her behavior indicates that she never truly loved Jay Gatsby even after all he had done to gain her love again.

Fitzgerald ends the whole story with the death of Gatsby to leave the audience with a stronger impression and pushes the readers to think about the reasons behind his death. Gatsby’s failures not only show the collapse of his own dreams but his failed attempt to achieve glittering success and happiness by his pursuit of the American dream. Basically, the message becomes that no matter how hard a person works, his effort and achievements will not be recognized by the upper class. In other words, the lower class can never procure equality with the upper class.  The partygoers and high-ranking people that made their way to Gatsby’s, in the end, were not Gatsby’s true friends. Lastly, Fitzgerald finishes this novel with the famous quote, which is now written on his gravestone: “So we beat on, boats against the current, borne back ceaselessly into the past”. Fitzgerald’s quote represents the thought of “the lost generation”. They were confused about society and its fast development, which eventually leads to a decay of human virtues. In turn, we are left with a society of strict hierarchies and the false hope of energetic and ambitious Americans.