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Dead Dreams, Dead Relationships: in The Great Gatsby

“I now pronounce you husband and wife,” says the officiator. The crowd goes wild. The newlywed celebrities walk down the red carpet to the waiting limousine that will take them to the culmination of their dreams: the raving mad dream of having a relationship with each other has been accomplished. In the ideal world, dreams stimulate relationships and add to the meaning of what one’s purpose is. In F. Scott Fitzgerald’s The Great Gatsby however, couples abandon each other when all the dreams in a relationship dry up. Nick Carraway, Jay Gatsby, and Myrtle Wilson all demonstrate this phenomenon.

The main character, Nick, never has a real dream toward Jordan. Even though Nick has a romantic engagement with Jordan, he fails to do anything about it. Nick claims that, “I [am not] in love, but I [feel] a sort of tender curiosity” (57). By saying this, Nick shows that he has no dream of ever being in love with Jordan. His idea for a dream is just to have a weird feeling towards her. Society demands so much more than having a peculiar feeling toward someone. All throughout the story, Nick is given opportunities to achieve his dream of marrying Jordan, but older dreams keep getting in his way (58). Nick is trying to live two dreams: one that he has back at home and this one with Jordan. However, he does not have a strong enough of a dream to drop the one he has going on back at home. Nick’s indecisiveness again shows that his dream is not strong enough. These two dreams eventually collide with each other, ultimately dooming his dream for a relationship. While Nick does not use his dream to marry Jordan, Gatsby permits the dis appointment of Daisy not fulfilling his dream to destroy him.

Gatsby’s dream of loving Daisy evaporates when he realizes that she could never be as perfect as he had envisioned her to be. Just as Daisy and Gatsby reunites after almost five years of separation from each other, Gatsby loses his dreams of having her. Nick echoes Gatsby’s feelings by saying, “Possibly it has occurred to him that the colossal significance of that light vanished forever” (93). All her perfection radiating in that green light is ordinary again to Gatsby. Gatsby realizes that his dreams are crazy. Daisy cannot satisfy him any more. Nick also points out, “There must have been moments even that afternoon when Daisy tumble(es) short of his dreams … not through her own fault, but because of the colossal vitality of his illusion” (95). Men habitually set down dreams for a perfect woman, except that when he finally finds her, he sees flaws in her. It is as if he has blinders on when he is dreaming about her, but then they are removed when he finally meets her. This is certainly the case with Gatsby. He realizes his dreams are too high for even the perfect Daisy to fulfill. Another character has this problem, except this time her dreams are the opposite from Gatsby.

Myrtle’s dreams are about marrying a gentleman who is wealthy and will take care of her. The only problem is George Wilson (her husband) fails her, and this causes her to seek Tom. She says that she thinks George is a gentleman, but then goes as far as to say, “he [is] [not] fit to lick my shoes” (35). She claims frequently that she has never wanted to marry such a man. Her dream is to marry a rich gentleman, and Tom fit the bill. Certainly these dreams, of wealth and of having a gentleman for a husband, drive Myrtle to run away from her husband and to seek Tom. George locks Myrtle up to keep her from escaping: she however still makes a run for it (137). This shows how desperate Myrtle is in wanting to disengage from her husband. Her discontented dreams drive her to seek a new dream. She runs away from George to seek her gentleman and wealth that will satisfy her dreams.

Nick, Gatsby, and Myrtle all dream of obtaining and maintaining a great relationship. They all try and fail to achieve this ultimate satisfaction. Whether it is Nick not really having a dream to begin with, or Gatsby realizing that his dream could not be feasible anymore, or Myrtle’s dream of marrying a gentleman, they all fail to understand that couples abandon each other when all the dreams in a relationship dry up. When newlywed celebrities or couples see that their dreams have diminished or disappeared, hopefully, they will accept that fact. Sometimes dreams simply do not turn out the way couples wants them to be. Even in the midst of all the gloom, couples should not stop dreaming, for this is their sole motivator.

False Values, True Personality: in Death of a Salesman

Flipping through the channels or surfing the web can bring up numerous things. What a person wants to read might be there, as well as advertisements and other forms of distractions. One does not have to crack the surface to see that there have been negative values broadcasted by the media. While some are not affected by these assaults, the majority of people have been. Indeed, these assaults not only affect our generation; they have affected our ancestors as well. In Arthur Miller's Death of a Salesman, he articulates the interpretation of false appearances within the American Dream with the downfall of Willy: on the other hand, the true realization of appearances lead to the salvation of Biff. Willy will demonstrate the destructive nature of false values.

The main tragic character in this play follows all the wrong values and makes his decisions on appearances. More importantly, the appearance of being well liked leads to the downfall of Willy. As one literary critic puts it, “he assumes that success comes from those who are ‘well liked’” (Bentley 730). The basis for Willy’s argument comes from his idolization of Dave Singleman, who when he dies, attracts hundreds of people to his funeral (Lowman 81). Willy only knows the result of Dave’s death and not even his life. Out ward appearances are only Willy’s concern. Willy further believes in this by telling his sons, “the man who makes an appearance in the business world… is the man who gets ahead” (Lowman 33). He again believes that appearances are the only things that matter in the real world. He does not take into any consideration that actual work is needed to achieve anything. All of this emphasis on appearances alone ultimately lead to his downfall. Another critic restates this point by saying, “his misfortune [is that] he choose(s) a career in which appearances [are] everything” (Bloom 106). His very job as a salesman depends on how other people view him. Willy stakes his livelihood on the judgments of other people. These judgments eventually prove detrimental not only to his psychological health but also to his family’s health. In spite of all of Willy’s disillusionments and misdirection, Miller strategically places into his play a character that polarizes the false appearances with his search for meaning in life.

Unlike Willy, who is totally lost in false appearances, Biff realizes who he really is and saves himself. At first Biff really adheres to what Willy’s dreams are, and Biff is successful in life during high school, but then “Biff’s psyche or fate mercifully releases him from Willy’s dreams” (Ardolonio). Biff’s psyche, or character, causes him to steal things. Fresh out of high school and never going to college, he labors in a multitude of jobs. His personality of always filching things keeps him moving. His rearing by Willy is the cause of purloin. As a direct result of Willy, Biff regards everyone as lower than him (Lowman 86-89). In the end, however, after all the snitching and inability to be satisfied, he realizes what his father has done to him. Biff has to face the consequences of the false values and pays for them by becoming a vagabond. With these failures now in mind, Biff finally confronts himself by saying, “how the hell did I ever get the idea I was a salesman?” (Lowman 104). He finally realizes through all of his stealing and blunders that he could never become a salesman, a job that his dad wants him to be. He looks into his life at all his blunders and finally decides a salesman’s life was not for him. Biff tries to express to his father how he feels about himself by saying, “Pop, I’m nothing! I’m nothing, Pop. Can’t you understand that?” (Lowman 133). He determines and addresses to his dad that he truly is nothing. He is not the product of Willy’s dreams anymore. In this confession, Biff fully acknowledges who he really is and does not opt for being a fake, someone who constantly uses false appearances. He truly understands how destructive false appearances are and attempts to break away from them.

Biff succeeds where Willy has not. He is finally able to differentiate from the false values and find himself again. Willy on the other hand, takes the false values and destroys himself with them. The American Dream is misinterpreted into being well liked and appearances. Arthur Miller is trying to show how corrupt our society has become by using the character of Willy, but at the same shows what the Dream is really meant to be through Biff. Biff shows people that by viewing themselves truly, will lead to salvation. The media has made a great impression on all people and has sadly degraded some souls. People can differentiate between false values if they understand who they are.