The notion of the american dream figures prominently in this story. how should readers define "american dream"? moreover, is pursuing the american dream necessarily a good thing, as evidenced by the great gatsby?

James T. Adams defined the American Dream in his book Epic of America as “a dream of a land in which life should be better and richer and fuller for everyone, with opportunity for each according to ability or achievement." Assuming that this is the universal definition for it, the American Dream is not being fully fulfilled. This is ultimately for one reason, because we are human, which means we are bad. That leads to us to being racist against people with different color skin than ourselves, sexist against someone who isn’t the same sex as them, lustful against those who have something they don’t, and many other things that lead us astray from the American Promise. In the Great Gatsby, Gatsby did not achieve the American Dream. Materialistically speaking, sure, he owned a huge house and threw huge party with fireworks (thanks Leo for that image). But was his life richer and fuller? No. He spent the last of his years trying to win his love. While that may be sweet and romantic, that doesn't mean he was satisfied. He was trying to reach for something that would eventually never stay. 

Death in the morning