Abstract: The Great Gatsby described a tragic story about the disillusion of “American Dream” happened in the 1920s.The hero, Gatsby, was imbued with hope and dedicated to pursue his dream. However, the nature of the current society and the social status were doomed to end up his dream. The novel penetrated with two sides between the social reality and the “American Dream”, and pointed out that Gatsby’s tragedy was resulted from his fantasy for life and love. It also analyzed the reason why the "lost generation" of young people at that time had lost their ambitions and dream.

Key words: American Dream; love; money; social status; disillusion