How is the theme of dreams presented in The Great Gatsby?

The theme of dreams is presented in The Great Gatsby with Gatsby’s dream of Daisy and the past that he wishes to recreate. When Gatsby says ‘of course you can repeat the past’, this illustrates the strong faith he has in a dream that on the face of it could be one of the more innocent and simple dreams in a novel set against a backdrop of corruption and deceit. However, Fitzgerald frequently uses the motif of time, most explicitly demonstrated when a clock ‘tilt[s] dangerously at the pressure of his head’, potentially foreshadowing that all the dreams that Gatsby has in his head could push Daisy (and therefore his dream) away imminently. It could also be indicative of the American Dream that is quickly becoming shallow and corrupted. Dreams as innocent as Gatsby’s are becoming rare, and Fitzgerald is instigating that even Gatsby’s dream is going to become tainted. Another theme that is explored in relation to dreams is an inability to escape the past to achieve one’s dream. This is demonstrated when Daisy says that she ‘can’t help what’s past’, inferring that contrary to Gatsby’s statement about repeating the past, not only is the past unrepeatable, but also inescapable.  However, it is not only Gatsby who has a dream in The Great Gatsby. Dreams of the working class are also explored with Myrtle whose dream appears to be notoriety, and whose death is described as a ‘tragic achievement’, an oxymoronic statement because her dream was to get notoriety, but she had to die to get it. Despite how corrupt and immoral her dream appears to be when contrasted to Gatsby’s, Myrtle seems equally determined to cling onto it when she ‘rushed out into the dusk’ upon seeing Tom’s car, to represent how she is both literally and metaphorically chasing her American Dream to be with him, despite all the obstacles standing in her way. This links into the reality of dreams that Fitzgerald also explores with the quote ‘so we beat on, boats against the current’ suggesting that the boats represent the dreams we have, but the current is the obstacle we must overcome to get the dream. Sometimes, in the case of Gatsby or Myrtle they cannot escape their obstacles. For Gatsby these obstacles were his past and the fact that he isn’t ‘old money’ with a reputable family name. Even though he is rich, he is ‘new money’ and therefore, according to Tom he is a ‘Mr Nobody from Nowhere’ which highlights the snobbery towards those of ‘new money’ and also could be Fitzgerald criticizing class boundaries that apparently don’t exist, but do to keep the ‘poor’ in their place. For Myrtle, these obstacles were her working class background that she couldn’t escape. Fitzgerald illustrates this with the quote ‘mingled her thick dark blood with the dust’ suggesting that Myrtle is inextricably linked to who she really is (with her blood) and where she came from (the Valley of the Ashes). It could be argued in the terms of Marxist literary criticism that Myrtle’s death could be seen as a metaphor for class oppression. Myrtle’s dream and failure to grasp it is also interpreted by Luhrmann who inserts the line ‘we were born different’ to demonstrate how Myrtle will never be a part of that class. Overall, Gatsby and Myrtle never overcome their obstacles to achieve their dreams.