Hello, I hope all of your quarantines are going swell! Mine is just A BLAST!
I would classify the "American Dream" as the idea of making a successful life for yourself in America. Typically, success in this context is defined by wealth, class, and style of living. Specifically in the 1920's, the American Dream is achieving all of these goals, while coming from a low social status or another country. To me, I see the American Dream as a popular goal that many people share, with valid reasons for that goal. In The Great Gatsby, Fitzgerald believes the American Dream is classified by American greed. Instead of it being a valid goal as I see it, he sees it as a destructive divide that ruins people and families, since the root of the goal is financial status.
My definition of wealth is nothing special, pretty mainstream. To me, wealth is the amount of money someone holds. Wealth coincides directly with the American Dream since the dreams fundamentals are based off an acquisition of wealth. In peoples' minds, they have achieved the American Dream if they have gotten a successful job, bought a nice house and/or car, and are financially stable. However I do acknowledge that the definition of wealth can change with perspective, so some people may regard wealth as not necessarily monetary values, but how much of something cherished you own. Some people may define wealth in terms of happiness, while others can define wealth as in how many cats they own. Speaking of cats, here is a picture of my wonderful, beautiful, perfect little child, Boobeary Bettenhausen:
Ah, what an angel. Back to what I was saying...American's views of wealth and poverty are that if you do not have wealth, you must live in poverty and vice versa. In The Great Gatsby, to Nick, wealth isn't defined by great amounts of money, a big house, and a high class lifestyle, but rather by one's character. While throughout the novel, Nick is depicted to be in relative poverty to Gatsby and Tom's enormous wealth, in Nick's eyes, he is the one who is truly wealthy because they all lack in character. My attitude towards wealth and poverty is pretty stereotypical, honestly. In my mind, I do correlate wealth and poverty with the amount of money someone has, however I do not regard wealth or poverty as a means of happiness. I think many people in the world are wealthy and living this "American Dream" but are truly unhappy people. Therefore, while wealth and poverty do lead to status in society, they do not correlate at all with the happiness of a person.
