cars and the american dream

The cars in the novel Great Gatsby help to define the culture of wealthy Americans in the 1920's. Automobiles were still a novelty, not everyone was financially able to own one, and they weren't so much viewed as an integral mode of transportation as they were a symbol of status.

For the wealthy Americans in the Great Gatsby, the car was treated as a commodity; proof that they'd attained the American dream and possessed the money to do as they pleased. Gatsby had multiple cars, and he had a chauffeur; one of his cars was a flashy Rolls Royce; the other a station wagon. Cars of the time weren't so reliable for getting you to and fro, but they certainly made a statement about who you were, or maybe simply who you thought you were and how you wished others to perceive you. It wasn't the car itself, or the clothes, or the house, but the ability to show them off that was important. It was all about things what people believed made them happy.