hrough hard work and perseverance or "luck, pluck, and virtue", as Alger would put it. However, in the modern era, all that changed. The American Dream shrunk from self-betterment, wealth, and success through hard work and perseverance to 'success' through wealth by any means possible, just as Gatsby's dream, his Platonic conception of himself, shrunk into Daisy. The corruption of the American dream can be illustrated by how Gatsby came by his fortune. Through his dealings with organized crime, he didn't adhere to the original American Dream guidelines. His very dishonesty that allowed him to get the wealth and connections to be near Daisy is also the very thing that would make it impossible for him to live in Daisy's world or she in his. In effect, pursuing his dream without thought to honesty or morality, Gatsby guaranteed that his dream would not come true. This is true also of the American Dream. Those who try to attain the American Dream without thought to honesty or morality are doomed to have their dreams remain unattainable or, if they achieve wealth, to have the dream become meaningless due to their very immorality (like Jordan's cheating takes the meaning out of her 'wins'). Also, in the novel all the immoral and dishonest people (Tom, Daisy, Jordan) have all the money. This concept of the corruption and destruction of the American Dream is also physically illustrated by how the 'fresh, green promise' of the world was displaced by the 'gloomy', 'gray' Valley of Ashes.The Great Gatsby illustrates how the pursuit for happiness through materialism cannot be successful without accompanying morality. Cut off from their mid-West traditions and ethics, the characters in the novel live in a sort of sick parody of the American Dream. They cannot be truly happy because they lack the inner reserves for such an emotion. This parallels modern society's rootlessness and accompanying corruption of the American Dream. Without something to bel...
