lost and can never be resurrected. Through the unfolding events of a doomed romance, Fitzgerald simultaneously unfolds the tragic fate of American values. Gatsby possesses an extreme imbalance between the material and spiritual sides of himself. His ultimate goal of love swaps places with his secondary goal of becoming rich. He portrays the ultimate failure of the American Dream in that individuals tend to believe wealth is everything. Historically, America was the new world of endless opportunity and wealth. But a nation cannot operate solely on materialism. The spirits of individuals are the true composition of a nation. Gatsby and the other characters of his story act as vessels for the author’s true message- the American Dream, once a pure and mighty ideal has been buried and is pressed into the ground by the inhuman void of money. Nick Caraway conveys this message as an outsider, an honest man who is witnessing the entire ordeal as an observer. The Great Gatsby is not the tribute of a name named Jay Gatsby; rather, it is the tribute of an institution which once was, but is now gone and can never be. ...
