In The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald, dreams, goals and ambitions manage to attract and enchant the characters. A goal becomes more than a goal; it becomes something the characters immerse themselves in and through which they define themselves. These dreams then create expectations that are impossible and detached from what can realistically be achieved. Gatsby dreams of love with Daisy, a dream that will ultimately consume his life. She seduces him into sacrificing himself completely for her achievement. Likewise, Tom's ambitions to control every aspect of his life end up consuming him. This fundamental tendency of human dreams could be considered to seduce dreamers into giving themselves over completely to those dreams that constitute their dangerous nature. Probably the best-known evidence of this is found on the last page of the book, where it is stated that Gatsby “believed in the green light,” which is a metaphor, as the affix implies, of “the orgastic future that year after year recedes from us” (180). The fact that such a future is constantly receding would convince any rational person to give up, especially since it is receding faster than we can chase it, which is implicit in the wording of the end of the paragraph: “Tomorrow we will run faster.” , let's spread our arms again... and a beautiful morning--” (180). The fact that this statement is so narrow in scope, as if the speaker has tunnel vision, implies that the goal is unattainable because we know that the speaker is Nick, who sees the bigger picture and realizes that such a path results in ruin. But Gatsby is so enraptured by his dream that he cannot bear to let it go, nor accept the idea that his attempt to achieve it is doomed to failure. slip “precipitously from his control” (125). He doesn't feel anything constructive, but he feels panic, which is a typical reaction to the inability to deal with the environment and situations. It is this moment that gives us a clearer view of how Tom has become consumed by his ambitions. Let's take Tom as one example and Gatsby as another. It seems clear that Fitzgerald wants the reader to see the dangerous and seductive side of dreams like these. Some might call it a cautionary tale for the dreamer, because it warns us that this is a situation to which everyone, from the optimistic and idealistic Gatsby to the pragmatic and realist Tom, is susceptible: the danger of being trapped by an unattainable dream or ambition, and then seeing that dream fall apart before us. Works Cited Fitzgerald, F. Scott. The Great Gatsby. New York, NY: Scribner, 2004. Print.