“The Search for Marvin Gardens” During the 1920’s, Atlantic City was famous for gambling and drinking. People all over would visit for entertainment and to get rich. After world war two crime and corruption took over the streets causing the city to enter an economic decline. Also following the war, cars became more available which led to the decrease of time spent at the city, people no longer had to wait for a train, they can now visit for a little and leave whenever. Less people staying at the hotels for longer, took away more of the cities money. In 1972, “ The New Yorker” published an article called the The Search for Marvin Garden’s by John McPhee who was smart and talented monopoly player. In the article, McPhee persuades Americans to be weary of what trying to become rich in order to be happy can produce and instead search for happiness in …show more content…
For example, in the article McPhee compared how Atlantic City looked like in the 1920’s versus how it was in the 70’s. This strategy will persuade American’s to use the drastic change Atlantic City went through as model of what eventually happens when a place build off of becoming rich loses a considerable amount of its income and goes into a devastating economic decline and Americans will see that money does not conclude to happiness. The reason why Americans will be persuaded is because it provides them with a insightful view by helping people learn from the mistake of Atlantic City by simply looking at what happened to the city over the years and how it arrived where where it is now financially. Instead of making Atlantic City into a more stable community, it was turned into a city based of becoming rich, which ironically overtime the city became poorer. If more people used what happened to Atlantic City as an example of what money can do, less people will use gambling or anything to do with becoming rich fast as a coping method for there lack of feeling
The thought of having an immense sum of money or wealth bring certain people to believe that money can buy almost anything, even happiness, however in reality, it will only lead to lost and false hope. In the novel, The Great Gatsby, the author, F. Scott Fitzgerald writes a story about a man named Gatsby who is a victim of this so called 'false hope' and 'lost.' Throughout the novel, Fitzgerald clearly demonstrates and elaborates on the relationship between having money, wealth, and one's ethics or integrity by acknowledging the idea that the amount of money or wealth one has attained does affect the relationship between one's wealth and one's ethics whether or not in a pleasant manner. Although money and wealth may not be able to buy a person happiness, it surely can buy a person's mind and action given that a wealthy person has a great deal of power. Fitzgerald analyzes the notion that even though many people dream of being both rich and ethical, it is not possible, and therefore, being poor and ethical is much better than trying to be rich and ethical.
The book spans the conception of Atlantic City from 1797 through the 21st century and the development of the casino industry. The focus on the book centers on three main power players of Atlantic City throughout the century. Louis ‘The Commodore’ Kuehnle, Eoch ‘Nucky’ Johnson, and Frank ‘Hap’ Farley. The relationship between the Republican Party and racketeering is an integral part of the book. The theme of power plays, and how both the political and criminal worlds are ...
In “The Real Truth about Money” (2005), Gregg Easterbrook discusses the effects of money on the people’s happiness. He presents his article with statistics of the generation immediately after the World War II and the current generation. He has experienced both generations as he has lived in both and is very familiar with the difference of people’s lives now and back then. Easterbrook is a highly reputed journalist, he is an authorized writer, editor, and professor. He worked with many professional magazines and newspapers; accordingly, he has enough knowledge to write about the people’s happiness in terms of money. Easterbrook has well convinced the readers with psychological facts from university researches and credible
Amusing the Million: Coney Island at the Turn of the Century. By Kasson, John F. (New York: Hill & Wang, 2002. Acknowledgements, contents, tables and figures, introduction, notes, bibliography, index. $17.00 paperback)
While everyone has a different interpretation of the "American Dream," some people use it as an excuse to justify their own greed and selfish desires. Two respected works of modern American literature, The Great Gatsby and Death of a Salesman, give us insight into how the individual interpretation and pursuit of the "American Dream" can produce tragic results. Jay Gatsby, from F. Scott Fitzgerald's The Great Gatsby, built his "American Dream" upon the belief that wealth would win him acceptance. In pursuit of his dream, Gatsby spent his life trying to gain wealth and the refinement he assumes it entails. Jay Gatsby, lacking true refinement, reflects the adolescent image of the wealthy, and "[springs] from his Platonic conception of himself" (Fitzgerald 104).
In doing so, the human species is able to remain at the top of the food chain, eliminating any deviation that could arise otherwise. The author illustrates this through a conversation exchanged between Mr. Adams and Old Man Warner, which discusses the other villages stopping the process of the lottery. This aggravates Old Man Warner as he goes off on a tangent about life before the lottery, how it saved them from a life of limits and poverty (Jackson 4). The Old man is a symbol of the lottery to the town; the eldest and wisest person around, who wholeheartedly devoted himself to this cause. He knows what the lottery has done for society first hand and has the better judgment of the two through age and experience. In the same way that the elderly man promotes the lottery, he is also a reminder that there is no room for questions and curiosity during this time period, as they lead to uncovering pain. Within the text the two discuss, “some places have already quit lotteries […] nothing but trouble in that. Pack of young fools” (Jackson 4). Mr. Adams was shut down immediately, as Warner correlates his age and being naïve as the explanation of how ignorant and ungrateful people are. The towns’ people do not know what life could be like without the lottery, however because someone is telling them that
The notorious and capable Al Capone once commented, “This American system of ours, call it Americanism, call it capitalism, call it what you will, gives each and every one of us a great opportunity if we only seize it with both hands and make the most of it.” “This American system,” as referred to by Capone, is not simply one idea alone but a conglomerate of all ideals held to represent the American culture: capitalism, freedom, and opportunity. These ideals go hand in hand with each other; freedom allows for capitalism to flourish and, in turn, allows equal opportunity for every citizen. However, the key to success in the American system is not simply available by going through the motions of life, but rather requires determination, will, and an urge to succeed and capitalize on every opportunity provided to us. In F. Scott Fitzgerald’s novel The Great Gatsby, Gatsby, the poverty-stricken army officer turned eccentric millionaire, proves that the American system is one that does not discriminate between the rich and the poor, or by creed, or even by race, but allows for equal opportunity for all, supporting those with ambition and drive, while punishing those who lack purpose and initiative, one where everyone has a chance for greatness if they have the drive and initiative to seize that opportunity and “make the most of it” and that the resulting success derived from that motivation erases the significance of one’s background.
Although a fiction film, New Jack City details a chapter of New York’s development in which the city struggled to regain control over its dwindling economy and increase in extreme poverty and criminal behavior brought on by crack-cocaine. The poor economy encouraged a desperate scramble for money, and the rush for money, by any means, became the channel through which individuals sought to achieve the American Dream. Further, they planned to realize that dream in any way possible even if it meant making a profit from the very thing [Crack] that brought on their demise in the first
Within the real world individuals constantly ask: Does money actually equal happiness? Money doesn’t equal happiness, money equals superiority or privilege and happiness equals desire. Similarly, in Scott Fitzgerald's’ The Great Gatsby, Tom, Daisy and Gatsby portray money equals superiority and happiness equal desire by the actions they chose to make as well as their deep sentiments.
...lue and having artificial value really changed the amount of power they felt. Research from Stanford shows that the more money people have, the more addictive it is. This causes a problem when people try to obtain items with emotional value, but end up getting caught up in money.
Im his essay In Search of Marvin Gardens, John McPhee examines Atlantic City, New Jersey, the city upon which the board game of Monopoly was based. In his writing, he touches upon both the board game and the physical city equally which begs the reader to ponder the purpose of McPhee’s essay. Did he write his essay to provide for the reader the physical basis for the game of Monopoly? Or did McPhee wish to expose the once glamorous AtlanticCity as a city in its present near-squalor state? As nothing is withoutpurpose, so to must this essay strive to convey something to its readers. It is the purpose of this critique to analyze McPhee’s In Search of MarvinGardens in order to uncover the true purpose behind his writing.Through narrative analysis processes, the true meaning of McPhee’s will be uncovered.
The idea of the American Dream is it began as an idea people could thrive from, but became detrimental through corruption. Society’s necessity for material goods and money for personal happiness distorts the American dream. One’s morals will be compromised once one decides to live a life for the sole purpose of following a corrupted ideal. In Hunter S. Thompson’s literary work, Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas, his viewpoint of the American Dream is expressed. Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas, written by Hunter S. Thompson, expresses the decline of society’s morals due to materialistic needs. Thompson proves through symbolism and characterization that society‘s corrupted perception of the American Dream provokes an individual’s morals to decline.
A penny saved may be a penny earned, just as a penny spent may begin to better the world. Andrew Carnegie, a man known for his wealth, certainly knew the value of a dollar. His successful business ventures in the railroad industry, steel business, and in communications earned him his multimillion-dollar fortune. Much the opposite of greedy, Carnegie made sure he had what he needed to live a comfortable life, and put what remained of his fortune toward assistance for the general public and the betterment of their communities. He stressed the idea that generosity is superior to arrogance. Carnegie believes that for the wealthy to be generous to their community, rather than live an ostentatious lifestyle proves that they are truly rich in wealth and in heart. He also emphasized that money is most powerful in the hands of the earner, and not anyone else. In his retirement, Carnegie not only spent a great deal of time enriching his life by giving back; but also often wrote about business, money, and his stance on the importance of world peace. His essay “Wealth” presents what he believes are three common ways in which the wealthy typically distribute their money throughout their life and after death. Throughout his essay “Wealth”, Andrew Carnegie appeals to logos as he defines “rich” as having a great deal of wealth not only in materialistic terms, but also in leading an active philanthropic lifestyle. He solidifies this definition in his appeals to ethos and pathos with an emphasis on the rewards of philanthropy to the mind and body.
...nt of maturity. In addition, both authors think that matured readers in general are harder to persuade compared to younger readers (those at the of 16 to 18). This is why both Franklin and Douglass intentionally set their "rebellion stage" at the age of 17. This is to encourage the "less stable" teenage readers to dare do something different and to not compromise with normality. This less-stableness would enable these teenage readers to be more receptive to radical ideas. With this thought in mind and armed with Americans vulnerability in believing the rags-to-riches myth, Franklin and Douglass are able generated effective and persuasive narrations.With such effective writing prose, the authors created well-fabricate compositions which modeled upon the "rags-to-riches" chronology.These are the myths, Americans live by them and the country survives with them. Thus, it is the American Dream.
“Money is the root of all evil”(Levit). Man and his love of money has destroyed lives since the beginning of time. Men have fought in wars over money, given up family relationships for money and done things they would have never thought that they would be capable of doing because of money. In the movie, based on F. Scott Fitzgerald’s novel, The Great Gatsby, the author demonstrates how the love and worship of money and all of the trappings that come with it can destroy lives. In the novel Jay Gatsby has lavish parties, wears expensive gaudy clothes, drives fancy cars and tries to show his former love how important and wealthy he has become. He believes a lie, that by achieving the status that most Americans, in th...