Themes in Fitzgerald's The Great Gatsby The American Dream At first glance, The Great Gatsby is about a love story between Gatsby and Daisy. The real theme behind this wonderful novel is not simply romance, but it is also a very skeptical view of the extinction of the American dream in the prosperous 1919s. This loss of the American dream is shown by Fitzgerald calling this decade morally deficient. He shows his incredible decadence in Gatsby's lavish and ostentatious parties. This materialistic attitude towards life stemmed from the younger generations' disillusionment with old Victorian values. Furthermore, with Prohibition in effect, illegal bootlegging practices were another way for Americans to fall onto the path of greed, pleasure, and decadence. Nick and Gatsby represent the younger, more skeptical generation who are fed up with the "old ways." Gatsby's involvement in organized crime represents his turning away from the American dream of the pursuit of happiness and the individual to "sit back, relax, and watch the money burn." Gatsby throws away his morals by trying to impress Daisy...