The Great Gatsby: Death of the American Dream In his novel The Great Gatsby, F. Scott Fitzgerald tells of the death of the "American Dream." Nick Carraway, a young, seemingly pure man from the west, decides to journey to New York to make his money on the stocks and bonds market. In New York, he is met with a story of love, lust, adultery and murder. The Great Gatsby, by F. Scott Fitzgerald, is a novel telling of the death American Dream, and the downfall of those who attempt to reach its illusionary goals. F. Scott Fitzgerald was born in St. Paul, Minnesota, on September 24, 1896, the namesake and second cousin three times removed of the author of the National An