The Illusion of the American Dream in The Great Gatsby

F. Scott Fitzgerald’s The Great Gatsby is not just a love story, but a piercing critique of the American Dream’s emptiness. Gatsby, with his lavish parties and relentless pursuit of Daisy, embodies the era’s obsession with wealth as a ticket to happiness—yet his tragic end lays bare how this dream is often built on illusion, not reality. Fitzgerald’s prose shines in its quiet tragedy: the green light at the end of Daisy’s dock, a symbol of Gatsby’s unreachable hope, lingers as a haunting reminder of how ambition can blind us to life’s true values. It’s a short, sharp novel that still feels urgent, a timeless warning about confusing material success with fulfillment.