Corruption of the American Dream

In The Great Gatsby the corruption of the American dream is the main theme. The belief behind the dream was that any person, regardless of national origins, could succeed in life on the sole basis of their own abilities and effort. This idea was central to the theory of the self-made man. The novel is about what happened to the American Dream in the nineteen-twenties when the older values that had given substance to the dream were corrupted by the vulgar and relentless pursuit of wealth. The “Valley of Ashes” quote represents this twisted dream, and depicts metaphorically the lives of Tom, Daisy, and Jordan. They are the “foul dust” in that representation of the twenties.

Tom Buchanan "had been one of the most powerful ends that ever played football at New Haven- a national figure in a way, one of those men who reach such an acute limited excellence at twenty-one that everything afterward savors of anticlimax." Tom is also very wealthy, as his purchase of a string of polo ponies from Lake Forest demonstrates. This combination of monetary wealth and power, along with his large size, give Tom a sense of superiority and cause him to be arrogant. When Nick first meets Tom, Tom tells him about a book he is reading, titled “The Rise of the Colored Empires.” This book warns that if this uprising is not stopped, the minorities will eventually overwhelm the “superior” whites, which Tom clearly believes. Also, later on in the book Tom takes Nick to meet his mistress, Myrtle Wilson. During this meeting, Tom further demonstrates his feelings of superiority when he casually breaks Myrtle’s nose for calling out Daisy’s name. Tom and Daisy are described as “careless people, who smash things up and retreat into their wealth and let other people clean up their messes.” This is an apt metaphor for Tom, who cannot understand why Nick has animosity towards him after Gatsby’s death. Tom feels that he was merely protecting his wife. Despite Tom’s feeling of justification, when Nick talks about the “foul dust” following in the wake of Gatsby’s dream, he is referring directly to Tom.

Daisy was born Daisy Fay, and her name has meaning. “Fay” means a sprite or fairy, and “Daisy” refers to the flower. The flower is mostly white, which represents purity. However, that is merely superficial. Daisies are also yellow, the color of money and the corruption it can bring. Daisy’s character is best summed up by one of the most famous quotes in the book, from a dialogue between Nick and Gatsby. “’She’s got an indiscreet voice,’ Nick remarked. ‘It’s full of –‘ Nick hesitated. ‘Her voice is full of money,’ Gatsby said suddenly.” Daisy’s voice, like money, seems to promise more than it can give. She seems born to disappoint, and is the kind of woman it is better to dream of having, rather than to actually have. Unlike Tom, Daisy does not use her personality or body size as a tool to control others. Instead, when things do not go her way she cries and hides inside the protection her money provides.

Dishonesty is the most powerful quality of Jordan Baker. She is aggressive and strong, and a golfer who is so hardened that she will do anything to win. When Nick tells of Jordan’s first major golf tournament, he talks of her being accused of moving her ball to cheat. However, while the incident is being investigated, all of the eyewitnesses retract their testimony. This occurrence proves that she is a smart woman, willing to do whatever she must in order to succeed. Jordan symbolizes a new type of woman who evolved in the twenties. She is self-sufficient, and adopts whatever morals suit her. Her name is somewhat masculine and her body is athletic, representative of her strides towards equality. Also, she is very blunt and cynical, as well as being completely cut off from old society due to her almost complete lack of family.

Tom, Daisy, and Jordan, with their hollow, empty lives, are the characters represented as the formless bodies of ashes in the valley of ashes. The ashes themselves are symbols of dead, with new, more arrogant and self-centered people being borne of them, like a phoenix. Each new generation is worse off than the one it sprang from, adding further dementia to the American Dream.