The American Dream Quotes

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Recommended: Analysis of American Dream (150 words)

Kayla Scicluna Blythe Tellefsen English 100 13 June 2016 The American Dream There are many different ideas that come to mind when someone thinks about the American Dream. An American dream is the thought that an individual can be successful and have an equal amount of opportunity as the next guy. Raoul Duke has a somewhat twisted idea of the American Dream as he travels Las Vegas seeking an adrenaline filled, crazy trip to money. Raoul imagines the American Dream as one that only comes once in life and in order to live it, you must take risks and follow it wherever it takes you. “You have no faith in the essential decency of a white man’s culture. Jesus, just one hour ago we were sitting over there in that stinking baiginio, stone broke …show more content…

Reality itself is too twisted (Raoul Duke, page 47).” This quote makes me believe that they go to Vegas because of its image being “Sin City” or “What happens in Vegas, stays in Vegas.” It’s a city of no consequences, alcohol, drugs, sex, and money. It has an attraction some people cannot resist. Raoul has an attraction for it possibly because he can get away with a lot in the city and he is free to do drugs and act like a mad man there without drawing too much attention to himself. That could be the American Dream itself. Lastly, “There was also the socio-psychic factor. Every now and then when your life gets complicated and the weasels start closing in, the only real cure is to load up on heinous chemicals and then drive like a bastard from Hollywood to Las Vegas, (Raoul Duke, Page 12).” Mankind has a way of liking to go numb to the pain of being man. If Vegas offers to get rid of that feeling in a multitude of ways then that is a life Raoul would want to live the American Dream. A life with no consequences is the ideal dream. In conclusion, so far in “Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas: A Savage Journey to the Heart of the American Dream,” by Hunter S. Thompson, Raoul Duke portrays the American Dream as a life lived to the fullest by going numb on drugs and alcohol and living recklessly while trying to make money in a city that has seldom

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