When people think about their dreams, they often include money, success, and material prosperity. The “Great American Dream” is something that many people are familiar with, but it has no clear definition. Everyone has their own definition of a dream. People often include freedom, money or power in themselves. While there may be many different definitions for the “Great American Dream,” not all of them are noble or correct. Misleading dreams lead to pain; in F. Scott Fitzgerald's The Great Gatsby and Tennessee Williams' The Glass Menagerie, characters who follow their misunderstood dreams struggle to achieve happiness. Throughout literature, the “Great American Dream” is portrayed as many different things. The reality is that the “Great American Dream” should be a person's ability to follow their dreams, no matter what they consist of. While controversial, it seems right to let everyone have the option of whatever they want to do. In The Great Gatsby, dreams play an important role in the plot. Gatsby's dream prevents him from seeing the truth that Daisy is a bad person. This is obvious when Nick says to Gatsby, “You can't repeat the past,” and Gatsby replies, “Can't you repeat the past? … Of course you can!” (110). Gatsby is very passionate about his dream. Unfortunately, his dream is completely false. Even though Gatsby wants to be alone with Daisy, he doesn't realize how completely wrong he is. He puts so much devotion into reuniting with Daisy that he becomes oblivious to the fact that Daisy is not who he thinks she is. Gatsby paints an impossible picture of Daisy that he will never be able to live up to. In addition to Gatsby, Amanda, in The Glass Menagerie, also deals with false dreams. Although Amanda's dream of having her own children...half of paper...spinelessness leads to her unhappiness. People who cannot see the difference between a good, noble dream and an immoral dream that leads to nothing worth fighting for run the risk of living sad lives. Likewise, people who can't fight for anything are in danger of living meaningless lives. Dreams can be either misunderstood or ignored completely. Both actions lead to inevitable misery. When looked at from an impartial perspective, there seems to be almost no chance of winning in the game of life. Even though goals, dreams and aspirations seem to be important components of success, without the worry of money and power, everything suddenly becomes simple. No one follows false Grails and no one falls into misery. In the grand scheme of things, discovering the ultimate root of personal happiness and striving for it immediately resolves life's complications.