The great gatsby

New York is sort of a microcosm of American society and the American dream. Hope and dream are the two major ingredients of this dream. Wilson represents the working class who must constantly struggle to make ends meet. The Buchanan’s, on the other hand, have unimaginable wealth. In Fitzgerald's America, if you are not rich, at least you can hope and dream to become something. Ironically Gatsby, who has become something, is looked down upon by the old establishment. Still, chapter one sets us up for what defines the characters that we meet in the novel. Even people of wealth, having achieved the "dream", hope to be happy.