Within the veins of every American flows the undeniable drive to succeed. This power creates rich from poor, turns struggles into money and ultimately opens the window for all peoples to better themselves. Although the American dream still converts dirt into gold today, views on this leap to greatness have changed moderately since the 1920’s.
In the beginning America was new and undiscovered. There were resources just waiting to be taken hold of in order to attain great riches and with this came the birth of the American Dream. The American Dream is the idea that with unfaltering determination one can acquire a prosperous life. Jay Gatsby only wanted to gain money so he could have his dream life with Daisy who needed someone who could take care of her. At the time “he had no comfortable family standing behind him”(Fit. 156). Throughout history people have fled from poverty to America in order to find a better way of life where they can accomplish the ultimate goal of wealth. For example, the Irish immigrants went to America to escape starvation and a worthless existence, in hope for a brand new start at a good life. Since the start, America has been a land where anything can happen and anyone can be rich with a little hard work. America is a place where the old caste system is abandoned and freedom to do anything and be anyone is taken to a new extreme.
In the 1920’s those who were born into wealth looked down on those who had just acquired it. The old rich had high-class traditions, which the new rich lacked. The old rich also did not trust the new rich made evident as Tom says to Nick “ a lot of these newly rich people are just big bootlegger, you know.”(Fit.114). Old rich people were educated and polite while the new rich were just looking for a good time. At partys the newly rich got drunk and displayed despicable behavior which the old rich frowned upon "She was appalled by West Egg...by its raw vigor that chafed...and by the too obtrusive fate that herded its inhabitants along a short-cut from nothing to nothing. She saw something awful in the very simplicity she failed to understand.”(Fit. 113). It is unfair to think that people who were born into wealth were treated with higher respect than those who worked terribly hard for it, but the old rich viewed those who followed the American Dream “as the hollow men as the stuffed men”(Eliot 17-18).
The philosophy of the American Dream has been with Americans for centurie; James Truslow Adams says that, regardless of social class, "life should be better and richer and fuller for everyone, with opportunity for each according to ability or achievement” (Adams). Although this vision has never fully encompassed the entirety of America, it has been generally a positive ambition that all Americans should look past their circumstances and rely on only themselves to succeed at life. However, American capitalism and Marxist ideas have contradicted the traditional dream. Materialism is a simple concept, but its definition has been skewed over time. At ...
We were raised considering the jobs we could do in the future and the universities we may attend; we heard that hard work and dedication was the only essential to fly in this world. Everyone was aware of the standard of living that was expected and few hesitated to buy into the legendary dream. The American Dream itself is what we all grew up desiring. Suburban homes, multiple cars, hefty paychecks and fantasy vacations are its elements. The American Dream is exclusive and unsatisfying at its core.
America was originally founded on the dream of freedom.People have freedom to pursue what they want.That is the ideal behind the American Dream. Early stories in American literature are about peoples pursuit of the freedom to worship as they pleased. Another version of the American Dream is the hope that immmigrants had of building a better life for their children than they had, as shown in the book My Antonia. Another is the search for acceptance, which is shown in the book Black Boy. Another is simply the hope to survive, as shown in the book Lord of the Flies.
The pool of opportunity has grown smaller from what it once was, and it seems that opportunity parallels the wealth in capitalist America—a small number of individuals are successful in their endeavors, and the rest must settle for less with disappointment and disillusionment. While hard work and perseverance may push individuals to new heights, the power of optimism and positive thinking can only take a person so far. The great American dream and frontier is only available to those with certain circumstances, and those circumstances are becoming less available to the new generation coming into the
The American Dream provides Americans hope that if they work hard, they will eventually be successful, no matter how penniless the person. To understand the construction of this topic, there is a need to understand the circumstances involved. The Epic of America, The narrative in which the American Dream was constructed, was produced in the nineteen thirties. During this time, the Great Depression was at the height of destruction, and the new president Franklin D. Roosevelt created the “New Deal,” which inspired newly-found hope. In his Second Inaugural Address, he voiced his vision for the expanded role that the government would take in American's lives by stating, “The test of our progress is not whether we add more to the abundance of those who have much it is whether we provide enough for those who have too little” (Franklin D. Roosevelt). This began the facade of hope towards the impoverished folks attempting to achieve success. In reality the optimism and dedication given towards this dream is disproportional...
The American Dream is a powerful thing in the lives and hopes of its citizens, as shown in Francis Scott Key Fitzgerald’s book, The Great Gatsby. It is, and was, faith in individualism, expectation of progress, and mainly the belief in America as a land of opportunity. However, it also is differs from person to person. This plays a great part in Fitzgerald’s book, The Great Gatsby. His book took place in the 1920 's, which is also called the 'Roaring 20 's '. During this time, many Americans were freely spending. Moreover, the economy was doing extremely well and thus provided citizens with a sense of security and intense freedom. Many used that freedom and economic boom to become rich in business.
F. Scott Fitzgerald penned The Great Gatsby in the midst of the Roarin’ Twenties. It was a period of cultural explosion, rags-to-riches histories, and a significant shift in the ideals of the American Dream. Fitzgerald’s characters all aspired to fill an American Dream of sorts, though their dreams weren’t the conventional ones. In the novel, the American Dream did a sort of one-eighty. Instead of looking west, people went east to New York in hopes of achieving wealth. The original principals of the Dream faded away, in their place, amorality and corruption. The fulfillment of one’s own American Dream is often marked by corruption, dishonesty, and hope.
The American Dream is defined as the improvement of one’s self while obtaining such things as love, wealth, status, and power as one reaches the top. The dream has had different distinctions throughout the years but keeps the bases of a desire of something greater. In the past century, the ideology has transformed into the idea of owning a big house with multiple cars and a bank full of money as the indication that you have “made it.” In the novel The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald, the author navigates his readers into a life filled with gregarious parties and extravagant cars when a man named Nick meets the untouchable Gatsby. Unable to move away from past, Gatsby devotes his life to acquire wealth and status in order to reconcile with the love of his life. The characters in the novel attempt to define their happiness with materialistic objects but the author demonstrate the truth by illustrating the illusions of the American Dream.
Years ago, the United States of America was the prime example of prosperity and opportunity. In recent years, in the worst recession since the Great Depression, unemployment and interest rates have skyrocketed. The “American Dream” is an idea that was once a commonly accepted ideology in this country. It has since become only a fallacy. The “American Dream” is no longer an attainable idea, only a fantasy. The “American Dream” is not a true dream that will ever be equally attainable by everyone.
In 1931 when the American Dream arose, Americans believed that the harder one worked, the more one would prosper (Meacham, 2012). In other words, they strongly believed that the American Dream was gaining a better, richer, happier life. Today, the American Dream is still hoping to earn a college degree, get a good job, buy a house, and start a family, but according to MetLife’s fifth annual survey, 41% of the respondents said it was about personal fulfillment, while most American’s say it is out of reach for many (White, ...
People who work hard enough become successful and build a good life for themselves and their family. Millions of Americans and others who admire America have believed this for generations. However, is this still true? Brandon King debates his interpretation of the American Dream in his published work, “The American Dream: Dead, Alive, or on Hold?” During his essay, the speaker highlights how important the American Dream is to the economy and providing a distance from inequality. The speaker emphasizes his belief that the American Dream is still alive within America and that people must work hard to achieve it. When discussing the American Dream, King will agree that the idea is alive and thriving in the minds of Americans; yet, I argue that the idea is on hold within American society due to lack of upward social independence and economic mobility.
Money constitutes the American Dream, because in America, to be successful in life means being wealthy. We live in an industrialized nation, in which money controls our very own existence. The Lesson by Toni Cade Bambara establishes an argument about society’s injustice that entails financial opportunities by revealing the differences in living conditions between upper class and lower class. Another important point Stephen Cruz, a successful business person and a Professor at the University of Wisconsin at Platteville, makes in his speech is that the American Dream is getting progressively ambiguous, because the vision of success is being controlled by power and fear which only benefit 1 percent of Americans. For most people, the American Dream is to be financially stable to the point of content; however, realistically the accomplishment of the American Dream is often obstructed by society’s limitations and influences from higher power.
With America actually being seen as the land of assurance, the American dream is usually associated with the freedom and opportunity of gaining prosperity, recognition, power, triumph, and contentment. On the surface, this dream appears virtually delighted, offering individuals the exceptional hope of accomplishing success despite of one’s race, religion, or family history. The American Dream is accurately what it seems to be the chance of perfect lying nearby the corner. However, the actual nature of this dream prohibit the pleasure of the victory one has earned, as the desire is always demanding one to work a slight harder and gain a slightly more.
When Mr. Fitzgerald wrote “The Great Gatsby,” he described the actions of the human society. In a certain way, not only did he describe and critic the high class but also the lower class, which ended up critiquing the American Dream. The American Dream was a idea give to believe that a human being should pursue being happy, wealthy, and loved which has cause any human being to go in search for this idea. All that is end up being found is the fact of having the illusion of having more material is to be happy than being happy by valuing what you already have.
Throughout American history, there have been a number of people who have exemplified and supported Adam’s idea of the American Dream (Meacham np). One of these was Benjamin Franklin with his “way to wealth.” Another was Franklin D. Roosevelt, the great symbol of hope to the American people during rough years. Calling the nation toward a more positive mindset, Roosevelt declared, “The great fact to remember is that the trend of civilization itself is forever upward, that a line drawn through the middle of the peaks and the valleys of the centuries always has an upward trend.” (Meacham np) Roosevelt was right, though people fail, it doesn’t mean their chances of succeeding are over. They can still achieve the American Dream if they stay positive about it and really work toward it.