The Great Gatsby and the American Dream The novel The Great Gatsby by Francis Scott Fitzgerald is written in the United States in a period of great optimism and economic growth. The book clearly reflects this tendency and depictures the prosperity present in the American socity in the ninteen-twenties. However, The Great Gatsby also presents a quite pessimistic view of the coming years, of the dangers of this development, as well as a critisism of one of the most common ideals- the American dream. The tragic story of the life of Jay Gatsby who seems appearently successful according to these standards, but is emotionally dissatisfied, exemplifies the gre