The American Dream - brought on in the late 19th century to attract immigrants post Civil War - gave a false impression of "making" your own way in America. No matter what you were in ethnic, religious, or political terms, you could be successful (not gender though, and most of these were false anyway). The Great Gatsby represents these ideals and hardships of the common man quite eloquently. Gatsby and Wilson - two ends of the wealth spectrum - both failed in their doings. These two men yearned for something more - Gatsby's want was Daisy while Wilson wanted Myrtle to be faithful. They both failed.
Gatsby built up a large wealthy treasury to use. He threw extravagant parties to attract people just to see if anyone knew Daisy. He would stare over the bay towards her green light. He knew where she lived, but he wanted her to see what he made for himself trying to chase Daisy across the world. He kept his adolescent fervor in his heart the entire time trying to chase her. Gatsby ended up succeeding for a short moment. He had won over her heart with his riches yet he had lost her in the end. Gatsby and Wilson's life became intertwined at this point. Wilson was fearful of Myrtle cheating, he wanted to take Myrtle westward to escape with her. But of course, Gatsby and Daisy ran over her in the yellow car that Tom said was his. Wilson took vengeance upon himself, after realising this so called American Dream was unattainable. He shot Gatsby and committed suicide. That is the real American "dream." Really though, it should be renamed to the "If you already have money you have a better chance at success than those poor people" dream. This represents the situation of wealthy inequality from then and still represents the vast gap in wealth that is evident today.
