"The Great Gatsby" and the American Dream

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Generally, the American Dream is associated with wealth and prosperity- at least in the 1920s. All people cared about was partying and money. There was a substantial gap between the wealthy and the poor. This is made clear in "The Great Gatsby." The poor residents of the Valley of Ashes are wedged in between the wealthy residents of East and West Egg. While the poor are slaving away, the rich are partying. This too emphasizes the theme of my last post.
The author of the book has used the color gold to represent wealth. He uses many colors as different symbols throughout the book. Gold is only associated with the people of East and West Egg. The people of East Egg have inherited their money whereas the people of West Egg have earned their money. Therefore, the people of West Egg have more so earned/achieved the American Dream than the people of East Egg whose wealth has been handed to them on a silver platter.
One thing I am wondering about is what else the American Dream is and how else it is shown in this book besides through wealth. Freedom may be another aspect of the American Dream, but the opposite of it is shown in "The Great Gatsby" through the restraining of the people living in the Valley of Ashes. They are unable to leave because they don't have enough freedom or opportunity to earn more money and live elsewhere. Hence, by broadening our horizons we can see that the American Dream is and was not only about wealth, but has been more about opportunity and freedom.

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