In The Great Gatsby, F. Scott Fitzgerald satirizes the mythology of the American Dream, the belief that anyone can be successful and content through determination and will alone. Jay Gatsby is exactly such a dream, having brought himself up out of poverty and into wealth based on ambition. His existence is far from success, though, with his manor, auto, and booze soaked events. Gatsby; however, is emotionally impoverished, obsessed with lost love. Fitzgerald’s not just criticizing Gatsby’s dream, he’s criticizing the culture that makes his dream so alluring. The American Dream, to Gatsby, has been a pursuit of wealth and status rather than importance or self-actualization. Gatsby’s liaison with Daisy is not a liaison, but an obsession with what she represents: old money, status, and a world that Gatsby wasn’t worthy of belonging to. This is ultimately an illusion of tragedy. Gatsby believes that he can reconstitute the past and recreate the future all over again if only he were wealthy enough. No wealth whatsoever can change him within the society of East Egg, however. His dream is impossible structurally not due to a lack of will, but because the probabilities are against him. Fitzgerald’s message is clear: the American Dream, as promised, is a lovely illusion. It gives hope but murders with deceitful hope. Finally, the disintegration of Gatsby reveals the superficiality below the glamour. Not only does the dream perish, but it never existed in the first place.