Caitlin Williams Sarah Craig English 1013 October 14, 2013 The American Dream Do you still believe in the American dream? Some say the American dream has fallen apart, while others believe that it is still alive. In Bob Herbert’s article, “Hiding from Reality” he said, “However you want to define the American dream, there is not much of it that is left anymore”(564). He believes, that we’re failing at the American dream and nobody will be able to save it. But, in the article “The American Dream: Dead, Alive, or on Hold?” Brandon King states, “I believe that the ideals and values of the American Dream are still very much alive”(572).
If we were asked to explain the contradiction between our beliefs and reality many of us would be hard pressed to do so without tracing back how we came to know and understand the American dream to begin with. One way to better understand the meaning of the American dream is to examine it within the framework provided by Hochschild, who places the ideology of the American dream within four tenets of success. According to Hochschild these tenets define the American dream as well as its intrinsic flaws by answering the following questions about the pursuit of success: Question Who may pursue success? Answer-"everyone regardless of ascriptive traits, family background or personal history"(18). Flaws Fails to account for aspects of inequality such as race and sex discrimination (26).
Charles Foster Kane, publisher of the New York inquirer and numerous other papers, and one of the richest men in the world, influenced America’s thinking for half a century. However, Kane is flawed, self-serving, destructive opportunist, a classic tragic figure doomed to fall. Because he had lots of money, Kane believed he could buy anything including the friendship and love. Message is simple: success, power, riches cannot replace love and tranquility. Many people walked out on Kane’s life: first wife Emily, the best friend Leland, and second wife Susan.
All the themes of his novel turn out to be negative, especially his major theme of the unattainable “American dream”. Fitzgerald has created no honest characters other than Nick; even the protagonist is corrupted in the pursuit of his dream. Finally, the plot line of The Great Gatsby is centered around wealth, careless upper class people, and the idea that social status can never be changed no matter how hard one may try. "The rich get richer and the poor get - children."
People struggle determining what the American Dream is. No one can clearly define what the American dream is but can only describe what it means to them. Many say the American Dream is coming to America to have the many opportunities and live their lives in riches. Others demonstrate that the American Dream is being treated fairly and equally, no matter what race, color skin, and family they come from. Those who are blessed enough to be born in a life of wealth and comfortable livelihood may not be able to grasp the meaning of the American Dream, but others who struggle in life and are restrained by the opportunities that did not come their way, tend to understand what the American Dream is.
THE GREAT GATSBY ESSAY America has always been classified as the land of the free and the home of the brave; never the land of the rich and home of the socially powerful. Society however, still feels that the ideal way of life is to be rich and powerful. This “ideal” way of life can be known as the American dream. Many movies, folktales, and novels have examples of how being rich and powerful benefit the best and only way to live life, to be happy. One of the most well known examples of this “American dream” is the story of Cinderella, who finds happiness only when she becomes rich.
The combination of “shinning arrogant” negatively connotes that Tom embraces his persona to the full extent of his capabilities, which is a grave problem since he has inherited “old money” and is one of the richest people known throughout the story. It transcends to his relationship with Gatsby who is indeed poorer than him and how he would downgrade poor people. His mouth being “hard” also substantiates his “vast carelessness” and that the way in which he behaves towards people (in “a supercilious manner”) doesn’t matter to him. Nick’s intrusive narration comes to the forefront of the reader at this point. It leaves us almost, instantly compelled towards having a negative impression of Tom, and to connect, possibly making them conform to his attitudes, as well as others “ at new haven who had hated his guts”.
* Gatsby has not achieved his wealth through honest hard work, but through bootlegging and crime. His money is not simply ‘new money’- it is dirty money, earned through dishonesty and crime. * his wealth lifestyle is little more than a façade, as is the whole person Jay Gatsby. * The society in which the novel takes place is one of moral decadence. Whether their money is inherited or earned, its inhabitant are morally decadent, living life in quest of cheap thrills and with no seeming moral purposes to their lives.
The American Dream If someone is asked to state the American Dream, he or she would most likely say that it is the perfect life, having money, a nice car, nice clothes, a family, and a nice house. However, in The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald, this American Dream is not as perfect as it seems. In this novel, the so-called American Dream is corrupt and misconstrued. Many of the characters in this novel have a dishonest view of the American Dream, especially Jay Gatsby. He did not always have this view though.
In that era, most people thought money was the key to happiness. In time, it was proved true that it wasn't everything to be rich. But in The Great Gatsby, most of the characters shown have a desire for money to bring them happiness. Gatsby, most of all, achieves all the money that he ever wanted and was accomplished in almost every way, but he never gained his true happiness, which was having Daisy be with him. But throughout his life, he never loses his reliance on money.