You ever finish a book and feel like it punched you in the chest without explaining why? That's The Great Gatsby* for most people. We read it in school, underlined a few quotes, and moved on. But the reason it sticks isn't the parties or the shirts or the green light. It's the themes F. Scott Fitzgerald braids through every page.
So let's talk about which two themes are developed in The Great Gatsby* — because if you only name one, you're missing half the story. The short version is this: the American Dream and the corruption of class and social stratification. Those two ideas aren't just background noise. They're the engine.
What Is The Great Gatsby Really About
Look, on the surface it's a love story. Guy loves girl. Day to day, guy tries to win her back and loses everything. Day to day, girl marries someone else. But that plot is just the shell.
The book is a portrait of 1920s America — the Jazz Age, as Fitzgerald called it. What does it cost to chase a dream? Money is flowing, prohibition is ignored, and everyone's pretending to be happier than they are. Still, underneath, the novel is asking harder questions. And who actually gets to belong?
The American Dream As Fitzgerald Saw It
When people say "American Dream," they usually mean the idea that anyone can make it. Which means pull yourself up, work hard, live better than your parents. Worth adding: gatsby literally builds his life on that promise. He reinvents himself from James Gatz, a poor farm kid, into Jay Gatsby, the mysterious rich man with a mansion.
But here's what most people miss: Fitzgerald isn't cheering for that dream. In real terms, he's holding it up and showing the cracks. Gatsby's wealth is built on lies and crime. The dream he's chasing isn't freedom — it's a specific woman and a past that never existed.
Class And The Lines You Can't Cross
The other thread is quieter but just as sharp. There's old money (Tom and Daisy Buchanan), new money (Gatsby), and no money (George and Myrtle Wilson). And the book makes clear that where you start decides where you end, no matter how hard you try.
Tom and Daisy can literally kill someone through carelessness and walk away. Consider this: gatsby takes the fall. That's not an accident. It's the whole point about class.
Why It Matters
Why does this matter? Because most people skip it and just call Gatsby "a tragic romance." If you do that, you miss why the book is taught in every high school and still sells millions of copies.
Understanding these two themes changes how you read the ending. When Gatsby floats in his pool, dead, it's not just a broken heart. And it's the American Dream drowning in its own illusion. And it's the wealthy class closing ranks to protect itself.
What goes wrong when people don't see this? This leads to they think the book is outdated. They say "rich people problems, who cares." But the questions Fitzgerald asks — can you reinvent yourself, and will society ever let you in — are still live wires today.
How It Works
Let's break down how Fitzgerald actually develops these two themes on the page. This is the meaty part, so stick with me.
Gatsby's Reinvention As A Broken Dream
So, the American Dream theme shows up first through narration. Nick Carraway tells us Gatsby "sprang from his Platonic conception of himself.In real terms, " That's a fancy way of saying Gatsby decided who he'd be and became it. In theory, that's the dream working.
But then we learn the truth. He's a bootlegger. He bought his books by the yard for show. He stares at a green light across the bay that represents Daisy, not success. The dream isn't about building a better life — it's about owning a person from his past.
Turns out, the dream eats itself. Think about it: gatsby achieves the money and the house, but he's still outside the world he wants. The dream promised inclusion. It didn't deliver.
The Buchanan World As A Closed System
Class stratification gets developed through setting as much as plot. East Egg (old money) vs. West Egg (new money) is a geography of judgment. Gatsby can throw parties for hundreds, but Tom treats him like a joke the second they're alone.
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And then there's the Valley of Ashes. Myrtle tries to climb via an affair with Tom. She dies for it. That gray dump between the wealthy towns is where the Wilsons live. That's why george, her husband, dies too. They're the people the dream forgot. The class system doesn't just exclude — it destroys.
Symbolism That Does The Heavy Lifting
Fitzgerald uses objects to hammer the themes home. The green light = the dream just out of reach. The eyes of Doctor T.That said, j. Eckleburg = a dead god watching a morally bankrupt world. Gatsby's shirts = wealth as costume.
Real talk, none of these symbols mean anything without the two themes underneath. Think about it: the light is just a light without the American Dream. The shirts are just cotton without class performance.
The Ending As Theme Payoff
Nick's final line — "So we beat on, boats against the current, borne back ceaselessly into the past" — is the American Dream in one image. Practically speaking, we chase something we can't reach, pulled backward by what we can't change. And the Buchanans? They "retreated back into their money" by the final page. And class protects itself. Always.
Common Mistakes
Honestly, this is the part most guides get wrong. They list five themes and call it a day. But the question asks for two, and the two that are developed* — not just mentioned — are the dream and class.
Another mistake: people confuse "themes" with "messages." He's showing that the dream and the class system are intertwined. " Fitzgerald isn't saying "money is bad.You can't chase the dream without bumping into the wall of class.
And please, don't write that Gatsby is about "love conquers all.Consider this: " It doesn't. That's the tragedy. Love is the bait the dream uses.
Practical Tips
If you're writing about this for school or just trying to actually get it, here's what works.
Read the book twice if you can. Think about it: the first time for plot. The second time, track every time someone mentions money, background, or the past. You'll see the two themes everywhere.
When you write about which two themes are developed in The Great Gatsby*, use specific scenes. Don't say "Gatsby wanted the dream." Say "Gatsby's fixation on the green light shows the American Dream reduced to a fantasy of recapturing Daisy.
And don't separate the themes too hard. Gatsby can't have Daisy because she's old money and he's not. The best analysis shows how class blocks the dream. That intersection is where the book lives.
One more thing — watch Nick. Consider this: he starts admiring Gatsby and ends calling him "worth the whole damn bunch put together. " That shift is Fitzgerald telling you who the real victim of these themes is.
FAQ
What are the main themes of The Great Gatsby? The two most developed are the American Dream (and its corruption) and class division / social stratification. Other minor themes exist, but those two carry the book.
Is the American Dream in Gatsby a positive or negative idea? Mostly negative in the text. Fitzgerald shows it as hollow — achievable in surface terms but spiritually empty and built on lies.
How does class affect Gatsby's fate? Class is why he loses. Tom and Daisy have old money protection. Gatsby has new money and no real standing. When things collapse, they walk away and he dies.
Why is the green light a symbol of the American Dream? It represents what Gatsby can see but never reach — Daisy, yes, but also the promised future the dream sells. It stays across the water. Always.
Does the book criticize rich people specifically? It criticizes a system where old money is shielded from consequences. Tom and Daisy aren't just rich — they're untouchable, and that's the point.
The thing is, The Great Gatsby* isn't really about the 1920s. It's about us — the stories we tell to climb, and the doors that stay locked no matter how hard we knock. Read it once more with those two themes in mind, and it'll hit different.
