In The Great Gatsby, one of the predominant themes is the death of thee American dream. In this, F. Scott Fitzgerald is showing how the American dream has become corrupt and that the dream is dead.. The Great Gatsby took place in the roaring twenties. A time when man no longer found happiness in simple pleasures like he did once such as life liberty and the pursuit of happiness. This is when the first breakdown in the American dream occurred. The idealization of the American dream was over, people took what they were born with for granted and ....