In The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald, Jay Gatsby fervently reaches for the green light, a symbol of his dream: a dream of attaining his lost love, Daisy. As he realizes that accomplishing his aspiration requires bolstering his bank account, he works hard (legally and illegally) to achieve the American Dream of wealth and happiness. Yet, due to the materialistic nature of society and the people around him, the fading green light, and Daisy herself, elude his grasp, leading to his tragic demise. Taken place in the Roaring Twenties, a period characterized by economic prosperity and consumerism, Fitzgerald exposes the hollowness at the heart of the American Dream.
 
The novel unfolds from the perspective of Nick Carraway, who rents a low-rent bungalow in West Egg, a suburb full of the mansions of the "new rich." Nick is Daisy Buchanan's cousin, which connects him to the rich residents of East Egg, where the "old money" resides. Nick's meager accommodations sit directly next door to Jay Gatsby's opulent digs, and one night, Nick witnesses Gatsby "stretching out his arms toward the dark water," embracing "nothing except a single green light" (21) located at the end of the dock of Daisy's East Egg property. Nick is invited to East Egg and meets the representatives of old money -- Daisy and Tom Buchanan. Their materialistic pursuit contradicts Gatsby, a representative of new money whose mysterious character is unveiled to Nick during one of Gatsby's lavish parties. He emerges as a self-made individual who ascends from the lower classes to the top of society. His motivation extends beyond mere materialism. He is driven by his love for Daisy, whom he met during the military training before World War I. Hence, the purpose of his parties is to attract Daisy's attention.
 
When they were younger, Daisy and Gatsby were in love, but Daisy realized he was too poor to take care of her, which became the reason why Gatsby joined the military. Meantime, Daisy married Tom Buchanan in search of financial prosperity and security. The choice mirrors the prioritization of financial stability and social standing over romantic ideals in an era of materialism, especially for those in society who are already well-off (old money). In contrast to Gatsby's genuine affection for Daisy, Tom Buchanan is characterized as a selfish racist and brutal sexist. His affair with Myrtle Wilson, a woman from the working class, emphasizes his disloyalty to his marriage. Myrtle expects Tom to improve her social status while Tom solely views Myrtle as an object of his desire who will satisfy all of his perverse needs. Due to her marriage that is abusive and emotionally devoid, Daisy develops an obsession with Gatsby when she meets him again and emerges transformed in West Egg with immeasurable wealth and an unchanged love for her. Daisy's desires can be summarized by Nick's comments: "She wanted her life shaped… by some force — of love, of money, of unquestionable practicality — that was close at hand" (129). With Nick facilitating their connection, Daisy and Gatsby rekindle their romantic relationship. Nonetheless, like the distant and dimming green light that signifies the divide between past and present, Gatsby's effort to reclaim the past is destined to be tragic. He acts like a boat "against the current, borne back ceaselessly into the past" (154).  When Tom discovers their relationship, Daisy responds with genuine confusion, claiming to love both Tom and Gatsby at the same time. Dismissively, Tom tells Daisy to return home with Gatsby. After the departure of Daisy and Gatsby, Tom drives home and comes upon an accident: Myrtle is hit by a car.
 
The novel's focus shifts to Myrtle, who is involved in an argument with her husband. Her husband has long been "his wife's man and not his own" (117) but has recently learned of her affair with Tom. Frustrated by her husband's tendency to lock her in the room, Myrtle rushes out of the house in anger. Meanwhile, Gatsby's speeding yellow car strikes and kills Myrtle. Though Daisy is the driver, Gatsby chooses to take the blame and ultimately dies at the hands of Myrtle's vengeful husband. Later, Nick finds that it is Tom who blames Gatsby for the crime in front of Myrtle’s husband. Tom shows no remorse, claiming that he has already paid for his lie. In fact, the punishment he received entails simply abandoning the apartment where he and Myrtle spent time. When Nick organizes a funeral for Gatsby, none of Gatsby's "friends," including Daisy, attend. Disappointed at the East Coast's corrupted nature, Nick reflects on his narration as a story of the West and resettles in Minnesota.
 
The American Dream becomes the core of one's identity as it portrays the possibility for everyone to be successful through hard work. As a vision of building a life, the American Dream is polluted by the materialistic society, leaving its promise of uncorrupted success and happiness impossible. Though Gatsby is motivated by love, his path to achieving success is materialistic. The parties he holds are exploited as a tool to build connections, including with Nick, who becomes a key figure in realizing Gatsby's dream of reuniting with Daisy. Furthermore, Gatsby's attraction to Daisy is rooted in his possession of wealth. He owns "bedrooms swathed in rose and lavender silk and vivid with new flowers," "bathrooms with sunken bathes," and "dressing rooms and poolrooms" (77). These capture Daisy's attention and impress her easily. In a society driven by the pursuit of wealth, materialistic success emerges as the shortcut to approaching the upper class, like Daisy and achieving one's ultimate aspiration. Daisy's obsession with Gatsby's wealth serves as compelling proof of this phenomenon, reinforcing the notion that money can facilitate access to love. This also deceives Gatsby into blurring the boundary between emotional and materialistic achievements.
 
Additionally, Gatsby's tragedy contributes to the illustration of the American Dream's incapability to overcome society's materialistic nature. Different from his contemporaries, Gatsby's pursuit of his dream is motivated by love rather than money, sharply contrasting with Myrtle, who is driven by a shallow admiration for Tom Buchanan solely because of his material possessions. Nevertheless, in the relationship between Gatsby and Daisy, it is consistently Gatsby who makes sacrifices and works actively to foster a stable connection. Daisy holds the freedom to come and go from Gatsby's life at will, never facing pressure to make a definitive choice between him and Tom. When she accidentally kills Myrtle, Gatsby takes the blame, and she accepts his sacrifice as if it were justified. Her cowardice, moreover, originates from her prioritization of maintaining her luxurious lifestyle over her love for Gatsby. As a typical example of the old money elite that dominates society, Daisy's choice reflects the selfish pursuit of material wealth at the expense of love and others' lives. Hence, Gatsby's tragedy mirrors the American Dream's loss in its emphasis on genuine desires like love in a materialistic society.
 
Finally, an uncorrupted American Dream cannot be achieved under a rigid social hierarchy dominated by old money; the foundation of the American Dream fails to address or eliminate the lingering elements of the past, which act as barriers to future development. Gatsby's continuous effort to retrieve the past reflects a cultural obsession with nostalgia and the inability to move forward. Additionally, the essence of old money like Daisy surrounds materialism rather than the uncorrupted core of the American Dream. Hence, Gatsby's unwavering love serves both as a symbol of his uncorrupted American Dream and a constraint that prevents him from achieving success. The premise of the American Dream's establishment should ideally eliminate the entrenched influence of old money and the materialistic beliefs in the Roaring Twenties. The novel's critique of the American Dream originates from the Dream's failure to accomplish the premise. The failure leads to Gatsby's death and Nick's departure from the East Coast, a place characterized by its emptiness and corruptness.
 
In conclusion, The Great Gatsby is a realistic portrayal of the failure of the American Dream in a materialistic era. The tragedy of Jay Gatsby reflects Fitzgerald's critique, as how Gatsby, a symbol of the uncorrupted American Dream, dies tragically. His inability to eliminate the materialistic nature of Daisy's character and separate himself from the past leads to his death. Like a boat against the current of materialism, he eventually crashes on the shore.