How does Fitzgerald portray the American Dream?

Fitzgerald portrays the American Dream in The Great Gatsby as an elusive, idealized vision that ultimately proves hollow and corrupted. Through Gatsby’s obsessive pursuit of wealth and status to win back Daisy, the novel shows how the dream is tied to material success and social acceptance but is based on illusions and a longing for a romanticized past. Gatsby’s lavish parties and mysterious wealth mask the emptiness beneath, and the tragic ending—with Gatsby’s death and Nick’s disillusionment—reflects the failure of the dream. The green light symbolizes this unreachable ideal, highlighting the gap between aspiration and reality in the Jazz Age’s morally careless, materialistic society.