THE GREAT GATSBY, THE AWAKENING FROM THE AMERICAN DREAMTHE IDEA OF EAST AND WEST AND CLASS DISTINCTIONThe first point with which Fitzgerald's masterpiece opens, “The Great Gatsby” is the definition of the two islands that Nick Carraway pronounces. West Egg, where Nick lives, is the place of the nouveau riche, people who have worked hard and earned their money in a short time. But the fact is that they are only materialistically rich. They do not have the traditions and culture of the East Eggers but they do not worry about it because they believe that spiritual satisfaction would automatically accompany material success. This belief is the cause of Gatsby's reaction towards Daisy when she comes to his house for the first time. Gatsby tries to impress Daisy by showing off his shirts but does not understand the traditions of East Egg society and therefore does not realize that he cannot impress her with his shirts. On the other side are East Eggers like Daisy and Tom Buchanan. They inherited their money and didn't work for it, so they don't value it like Western eggers do. They also come from high-class families and there is no need for them to try to gain acceptance in aristocratic societies. The best example is Tom Buchanan. He is a rich man with a beautiful wife and from the outside it seems like he has a perfect life. The point is that, even if he hasn't, he doesn't want to and wouldn't dare do anything that would shatter this idea of ​​the perfect life in the minds of others. The love story Tom has with Myrtle clearly shows this philosophy he has in his life. Myrtle is a money chaser, and since her husband doesn't have as much money as Tom, she doesn't want it even though George loves him... middle of paper... yrtle.THE IDEA OF MONEYAnother sign of the fall of the American dream The Great Gatsby is how Gatsby makes money. Gatsby obtains his fortune through the illegal sale of alcohol. The sale of alcohol was banned in the United States in the 1920s. Gatsby came from the western United States where there was “old money”. There he met a person named Dan Cody, who taught him how to bootleg. So he became incredibly rich in a short amount of time because he absolved himself of moral responsibility. But this wealth causes mistrust. Only insincere people attend his big parties and relationships are not based on trust or affection but on personal interest. Nick realizes this towards the end of the novel when he sees that only three people come to Gatsby's funeral. Gatsby remains alone, no one shares his sentimentality and no one even comes to his funeral.