Men and women around the world work countless hours of their lives to achieve their dreams. In the United States, many people strive to earn the money necessary to be able to buy what they believe will make them truly happy. In the majority of cases, this is what we call the American dream. In “The Great Gatsby” by F. Scott Fitzgerald, Jay Gatsby is a man who started from nothing and becomes involved in criminal activities to live his version of the American dream. Gatsby's case is similar to that of Charlie Wales in "Babylon Revisited", in that he discovers that there is more to the dream than money and that the dream will not always live up to the expectations that 'he has for his life. The American dream is an ideal, something known to be unattainable. Some see it as unlimited wealth, the perfect house with a gleaming white picket fence out front and a beautiful family to go with it. Others can see it for what it is, a dream – something we can all see happening and wish we could achieve, but it is just a dream, not suitable for the real world. The Merriam-Webster Dictionary defines the American Dream as “an American social ideal that emphasizes egalitarianism and especially material prosperity; also: prosperity or life which is the realization of this ideal” (1). Jay Gatsby lives his life based on the idea that if he has large sums of money and the woman he believes to be his true love, Daisy, he will live the American dream. However, things don't turn out the way he hoped because the truth always comes out and for Gatsby, it ends his life. Jay Gatsby was born into a poor family living in a small town. He grew up as a smart and ambitious boy who set goals in life to have...... middle of paper... people in his life who would and could be there for him and loving him for who he was. instead of how much money he made. Charlie and Gatsby fought to live the American dream, but neither of them ended up with the life they hoped for: Gatsby lost his life together. The stories both prove that you can have all the money and all the material things, but if you don't have the people in your life worth living for, you will never live the true American dream. , F.Scott. “Babylon revisited”. The Norton Anthology of American Literature. 8. Baym, Nina. Levine, Robert S. ed. New York: WW Norton & Company, 2013. 2164-2178. Print.Fitzgerald, Frances Scott. The Great Gatsby. New York: Scribner Paperback Fiction, 1995. “American Dream” print. Merriam-Webster.com. Merriam-Webster, nd Web. November 21. 2013.