status. Those of lower classes believe that their problems will go away if they can gain enough wealth to reach the upper class. Many people believe that the American Dream is this joining of the upper class, and once reaching that point, not having to be concerned about money at all. The logic behind this is that being poor keeps people from being happy, and once you become rich, you do not have to struggle with the problems of life, and can therefore be happy. The Great Gatsby takes this belief, and shows its flaws through the lives of Jay, Tom and Daisy. In fact, all of the characters in the story are affected in some way by the lives of these three characters.Gatsby makes becoming an upper class citizen his priority. The life of the upper class in turn, makes the acquisition of wealth their priority. Wealth becomes Jay’s vehicle in his quest for his primary goal, Daisy. In Gatsby's rise to power morality is sacrificed in order to attain wealth. While the story does not go into great detail as to how Gatsby’s wealth was accumulated, it can easily be seen that his business ventures were shady at best. Gatsby's dream was doomed to failure because of his lack of principles. This shows a major flaw of the American Dream philosophy, just like the get rich quick schemes of today, Jay is trying to buy Daisy’s love, not earn it. Nick attempts to tell Jay that his dream is pointless by saying that the past cannot be relived. Jay quickly told Nick, "Yes you can, old sport." This shows the confidence that Jay has in fulfilling his American Dream, and his commitment to it.Tom Buchanan, Daisy’s husband, was a man from an enormously wealthy family. Nick, described Tom's physical attributes as having a "hard mouth and a supercilious manner…arrogant eyes had established dominance over his face…always leaning aggressively forward…a cruel body…his speaking voice…added to the impressi...
