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Logan Carnes

Shanahan

LA III Period II

15 March 2019

Simply Mythology

According to Glenn Llopis, contributor to Forbes Magazine, “The new American Dream

requires you to earn opportunity.” This doesn’t mean that you will be able to seize it – it takes

time to have a seat at the table​.” The American dream is ​the ideal by which equality of

opportunity is available to any American, allowing the highest aspirations and goals to be

achieved.​ It’s the hope that anyone, regardless of where they were born or what class they were

born into, can attain their own version of success in a society where upward mobility is possible

for everyone. ​Unfortunately the American dream is unattainable because of greedy desires and

the country's limited opportunity.

The American dream is unattainable because of society's greedy desires.. In The Great

Gatsby, even after committing numerous crimes and died, the American dream still was not

achieved, “If that was true he must have felt that he had lost the old warm world, paid a high

price for living too long with a single dream” (Document A). In the novel, Jay Gatsby

overcomes his poor past to gain an incredible amount of money and a limited amount of social

cache in 1920s NYC, only to be rejected by the “old money” crowd. However the way he obtains

this money, murder, gang violence, and bootlegging, breaks laws of society. Obstruction of

justice completely contradicts the perfection of the American dream. Gatsby’s greed caused him

to lose sight of what the American dream really is. Furthermore, Fitzgerald’s novel explains after
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Gatsby’s death his dream was not attained because of his overpowering greed, “He had come a

long way to this blue lawn and his dream must have seemed so close that he could hardly fail to

grasp it. He did not know that it was already behind him” (Document A). Fitzgerald writes this

excerpt with a mournful tone, suggesting the American dream is already dead. The way he says

the dream was behind him, implies his desires and greed consumed Gatsby ultimately resulting

in his death. Though the opposition may claim that everyone wants money it's not greed, he

never attained the dream because his greed clouded his judgement. Daisy was never truly in love

with him just as Gatsby felt for her, his desperate hopes for the American dream were impossible

because the dream is unattainable.

The American dream cannot be attained simply because America limits the opportunity

for underprivileged citizens. Elites of society taking advantage of privilege disables opportunity

for the underclass, “There's a cabal of entitled elites on Wall Street and in washington who have

somehow loaded the dice and made it impossible for average people to get ahead” (Document

B). In today’s time, it's becoming increasingly difficult to reach success in our capitalistic

society. Nations around the world view America as a country of opportunity, however, our

markets have written rules that benefit the rich at the expense of others. Jeff Parker’s political

cartoon “The Great GAPsby Society” depicts a successful man confused why the poorer man is

working so hard and the wage gap carries them further and further from each other (Document

D). White collar workers such as the one depicted in the cartoon continue to exercise their wealth

to limit opportunities for blue collar workers. Unfortunately, whether popular news promotes

equality or not, people are born into their destiny, bred for their professions. Upward mobility in

the United States is non existent. Even with use of money and power coming to light in recent
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events such as the bribery scandal with Lori Loughlin and Felicity Huffman, elite’s use of wealth

has gone on for decades and will continue to go on for eternity.

To finalize, by obsessing with the American dream, people lose sight of all the great

chances along the way. The American dream is the idea that anyone has the ability to change

where they came from, and be as successful as they desire. Contradictory to common opinion,

this dream is nothing more than a dream; it's simply unattainable the elite will continue to use

their privilege to get ahead and blue collar people will continue to break laws while they strive

for what they so desperately want. The American dream, though believed exist by most citizens,

is just as preposterous as greek mythology. Though the American dream is unattainable because

it doesn’t exist, society should continue to work had and strive towards goals.
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Works Cited

Fitzgerald, F.Scott. ​The Great Gatsby​. Penguin Books, 1950.

Foroohar, Rana. “What Ever Happened to Upward Mobility.” ​Time,​ 14 Nov. 2011, pp. 27–34.

Llopis, Glenn. “Why Most People Will Never Achieve The American Dream.” ​Forbes​, Forbes

Magazine, 5 Sept. 2012,

www.forbes.com/sites/glennllopis/2012/09/03/why-most-people-will-never-achieve-the-a

merican-dream/#1b5846025dd4​.

Parker, Jeff. “The Great GAPsby Society.” ​Florida Today,​ 1997.

Tobak, Steve. “The American Dream Is Alive and Well.” ​Fox Business​, 22 Aug. 2016.