... The ambitious nightmare Is the American Dream still alive today? It all depends on whom you ask, and how you look at things. Everyone sees things differently and will interpret it that way; to one person the American Dream is just that, a dream and when they wake up it will be a nightmare, and to another it is an ambition, that just makes them want it more. By definition the American Dream is: “a national ethos of the United States, a set of ideals in which freedom includes the opportunity for prosperity and success, and an upward social mobility for the family and children, achieved through hard work in a society with few barriers.” So, the question remains, is it still alive today, and is this really how people are living their lives? As sad as this answer may be, the truth is, probably not, like all good things they must end. The American Dream is a great thing to wish for however, it has been lost in time with the unwillingness to pursue it. The saddest thing is that some people believe the American dream is something that exists today; whereas some people in society have no idea that this dream exists. What ever happened to the zeal that drove America to the top? What happened to the aspiration of striving for greatness and becoming that greatness? That may be a question no one knows the answer too or it is an answer that people are unwilling to give. George Carlin once said, “The reason they call it the American Dream is because you have to be asleep to believe...
Words: 1085 - Pages: 5
...The American Dream has been commonly believed that every person, no matter where they are, can work their way up to success. However, the American Dream is a constant power struggle of enough never being enough. Due to the fact that some become engrossed in their dream, they lose sight of little successes of daily tasks and importance in other things. Through the approach shown in The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald, the foundation of the American Dream is unattainable. Literary elements such as ethos and pathos used by Fitzgerald contributed to the vision of the unattainable American Dream. In The Great Gatsby, The Narrator of the story, Nick Carraway, claims “Everyone suspects himself of at least one of the cardinal virtues, and this is mine: I am one of the few honest people I have ever known” (Fitzgerald 59). As a result of this statement, it is displaying that the audience can trust the narrator in what he describes throughout the story, explaining the issues of each character's life. This is an example of using ethos to...
Words: 715 - Pages: 3
...Have you ever had a dream? Either a dream to change the world, your community, or maybe even yourself? Well that’s what Martin Luther King had, he had a dream, to stop racial segregation so for once and for all, all children of god can be together, eat together, and sing together because in his eyes all people are the same, no matter what color your skin is that shouldn't define you and it shouldn’t affect the way you’re treated because in the inside we are all the same and no matter the race we should all get the same rights and privileges. That was his dream and he fought for his dream. Martin Luther King’s dream became a reality in 1964, the year when all segregation of whites and blacks was no longer allowed anywhere in the United States....
Words: 875 - Pages: 4
...The American Dream' is based on the 'Declaration of Independence': 'We believe that all men are born with these inalienable rights - life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness.' (Thomas Jefferson, 1776). This 'dream' consists of a genuine and determined belief that in America, all things are possible to all men, regardless of birth or wealth; if you work hard enough you will achieve anything. However, Miller believes that people have been 'ultimately misguided' and Miller's play, Death of a Salesman, is a moving destruction of the whole myth. The origins of the American Dream seem to have been rooted in the pioneering mentality of the 18th and 19th century immigrants, most of whom came to America because of a promise of a new and better life. In particular, the opportunity to own one's land. But land 'ran out' and so cities developed and massive variations arose in wealth, which meant that this 'American Dream' changed from being a potential reality, into being a dream, like the name implies. Most of Miller's plays are directly or indirectly about the American Dream, because ultimately this dream wasn't going to succeed as lots of people wished. Death of a Salesman written in 1949, is a moving destruction of the whole myth. To be hard working, honest and have ambition were the ways of the American Dream. This lead to success, wealth and in due time - power. But this dream for everyone developed, and encouraged greed, selfish behavior, pride and rivalry between one another...
Words: 2052 - Pages: 9
...What Is the American Dream? America is a nation that was established by groups of people who sought liberty, equality and opportunity to start their new life. These people were known for their “the American dreams”. The Oxford Dictionary defines the American dream as “the ideal by which “equality of opportunity is available to any American, allowing the highest aspirations and goals to be achieved”. As the definition states, it is an ideal for American, but it has much more meaning than just an ideal. The American dream is the most significant base of American ideology, and it is the driving force that made America today. The American dream was originated by those who sought for freedom. The Puritans were a group of people who had left their...
Words: 438 - Pages: 2
...American Dreams To many, America is the land of opportunity. In the early nineteen hundreds immigrants from all over boarded ships to come to America. These people had big dreams of making new lives for themselves in America. They knew they were going to have to work hard and most were willing to do whatever it took to become successful. If you are willing to put forth hard work and effort the American dream is possible for anyone to achieve. The American dream defined by many is the idea that anyone can succeed through hard work which potentially leads to a happy, successful life. Others also believe that freedom, relationships, and fulfillment play a role in the American dream. Critics often suggest that not everyone has the same opportunities of being able to “live the dream” because of class, race, religion, and ethnicity. In the story, The Great Gatsby, Fitzgerald symbolizes the hope and opportunity that can be found in the new land, what comes to be known as the American Dream in the quote, “a fresh, green breast of the new world(Chapter 9).” The color green symbolizes the hope and opportunity that can be found in the new land, what comes to be known as the American Dream. An example of a metaphor in the story is Gatsby’s house. This image serves as a key symbol of aspiration, reflecting on both Gatsby's success as an American self-made man and the mirage of an identity he has created to win Daisy's love. Gatsby follows his American Dream as he buys the house to be across...
Words: 492 - Pages: 2
...Professor Stephen Clifford English 233 18 February 2014 Challenging the American Dream Does the American Dream still exist? Did it ever? There is evidence of doubt in this concept that dates even as far back as when James T. Adams coined the idea in 1931. The 1930’s faced a new wave of violence and sexuality in America, and the American ideals that founded this country were being questioned in the eyes of its residents. James M. Cain’s novel, The Postman Always Rings Twice, shows the lack of hope that most Americans had in a society where hard work and good intentions were no longer bringing opportunity. His main characters Frank and Cora, a wanderer and a femme fatale, reflect the suffering that surrounded the Great Depression and the feminist movement. Cain reveals the American Dream to be flawed and easily corrupted by desperation and hardship. What exactly is the American Dream? The reason this is so hard to define is because “the American dream” is an intangible concept like “love” or “peace.” This dream is usually different to every individual, but one thing is for sure, it starts in America; so as far as definitions go we can think back to the Declaration of Independence in 1771. It states that all men in the United States are given certain “inalienable rights” that consist of “life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.” This means that men and women had the right to be recognized by their knowledge, talent, and hard work instead of their race, class, religion...
Words: 1506 - Pages: 7
...Granting Homeowners Their Dreams Part of the American Dream that someday one can own a house, live with their family, farm, and “live off the fatta the lan'”(Steinbeck, pg. 15) as Lennie believed in Of Mice and Men or simply have a house to live with your family. What makes this dream so popular is the idea that all people, no matter who you are, have the opportunity to achieve that dream in America. It is the life that many dream of and search for like Antonia in Willa Cather’s My Antonia. Antonia was an immigrant woman living in the Nebraska prairie. However, an American Dream doesn’t stop at the acquisition of a house, it is one’s own dreams and progress with success. In that sense, everyone is the same and works towards that one goal. The struggle is inevitable, but help is available to bring people one step closer to their dreams by becoming homeowners. Through the help of lending agencies who help anyone despite their credit and are even willing to turn a blind eye to important factors. Not only were lending agencies blind to see important things, but homeowners as well. Many of them were given the opportunity to buy their dream homes, but through bad mortgage deals with tricks that eventually led them to defaults. To prevent another housing crisis like it occurred in 2008, lending agencies must only offer homeowners mortgages that have fixed interest rates so that homeowners know what their interest rates always are to prevent defaulting while having a just system. ...
Words: 1207 - Pages: 5
...The American Dream something that is easy because it is generally what everyone strives to live throughout their life. The Dream is that everyone should have an equal opportunity to achieve the best. I don’t agree with this “Dream”. I think it is actually impossible. No one will ever be equal in this society. Whites and men will always be “better” and even though that isn’t right it happens. With the luck of the draw you could live the American Dream, but without luck you aren’t going to be very lucky. Inequality is a major setback for everyone trying to achieve the American Dream. Source 1 states, “All americans should be equal.” but why won’t our society to allow them to be? Whites and males tend to be “superior” over everyone else. Men...
Words: 409 - Pages: 2
...Some people refer to the phrase “all men are created equal” as an immortal declaration. The phrase, thought to be everlasting, refers to our rights of life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness as provided by the Declaration of Independence. Although these five potent words represent our basic rights as mankind, the entire purpose of the Declaration is equality. The rights of equality and equal opportunity represent the foundation of our country; however, the history of America has contained no such liberties. Based on this statement, have we fallen victim to hypocrisy? In modern America, equal opportunities represent perfection; both are impossible thus demonstrating that the American dream never has and never will be attainable. An NPR...
Words: 635 - Pages: 3
...entitlement to the American Dream, with hope being the inspiration for materialism, and it only takes time to define whether someone is living the American Dream or not. It is comprehended simply by the book’s cover that the story ahead will entail a loss or great sadness, as seen through the light blue anomaly directly under the teary eyes, as if supposed to be a tear and not just a stain on a photograph. The American Dream is quite a known part of the United States, so much that even people not from or in the US know what the dream is, which is a main reason many people to immigrate to the United States, a place of hope and opportunity. Although the American Dream is defined by the...
Words: 726 - Pages: 3
...The American Dream of today is all about being given everything without working for it. However, during the 1900’s it was all about working hard. People packed up everything and moved for a chance at a better life. This was a great risk and negatively impacted many people. There wasn’t enough jobs so people became poor. Also, the living conditions were terrible because of how many people had moved to find a better life. In the story Of Mice and Men the author, John Steinbeck, shows the reader that everyone works hard for the American Dream of the 1930’s but it is rarely attainable. One way the American Dream is unattainable is how it is just a dream. For example, the dream that George and Lennie had of them owning their own land seemed like a possibility, but it was crushed when Lennie killed Curley’s wife. This shows how anything that a person does can ruin their chances of attaining their perfect life, or the American Dream. Another example is: “More than a dream of land or property or riches or even a house of one's own, George's vision encompasses a broader range of values—freedom, abundance, fairness, nature, and companionship—that are universally desired by the novel's characters, even if they too often remain tragically unfulfilled” (Zeitler). This shows that no matter how much someone...
Words: 588 - Pages: 3
...The Deterioration Of The American Dream The Great Gatsby, a novel by Scott Fitzgerald, is about the American Dream, and the downfall of those who try to reach its goals. The attempt to capture the American Dream is used in many novels. This dream is different for different people, in The Great Gatsby, for Jay, the dream is that through wealth and power anyone can acquire happiness. To get this happiness Jay must reach into the past and relive an old dream. In order to do this, he must have wealth and power. The dream also brought about the idea of being a self-reliant man, a hard worker, and making a successful living for yourself. The Great Gatsby is about what happened to the American Dream in the 1920s, a time period when a lot people with tons of wealth and the need to show it off had corrupted the dream. When the American Dream is combined with excessive wealth it becomes nothing more than selfishness. Jay Gatsby, the main character of the story, is one character that longs for the past. Surprisingly, he spends most of his adult life trying to recapture it and, finally, dies while trying. In the past, Gatsby in love with the attractive young Daisy. Knowing he could not marry her because of the difference in their social status, he leaves so that he can reach her standards and later hopefully rekindle what they once had. Once he becomes rich, he moves near Daisy, "Gatsby bought that house so that Daisy would be just across the bay (83)," and throws extravagant parties...
Words: 759 - Pages: 4
...undoubtedly heard of the American Dream. The idea that no matter who you are or where you have come from, you can do whatever it is you desire in America. What was once one the main driving forces for immigrants to flock to the new world, has slowly changed over the years, but still holds its value in the eyes of those who are looking for a promising new place to live. The American dream might not hold the same awe inspiring sound that it once did, but for many generations before ours, it was a beacon of hope that helped build the foundation that the United States was built on. And still today the American dream might not be as achievable as it once was, but it is still an important symbol to the American ideology....
Words: 1061 - Pages: 5
...a car drove by Daisy. Tom has suspects about the secret meetings between Gatsby and Daisy and talks to Myrtle Wilson’s husband, which shoots Gatsby as revenge, as he thinks, Mr. Gatsby was the driver of the car which hit his wife. The American Dream: The movie “The Great Gatsby” is about the American Dream and its influence at the people back in the 1920’s. The purpose about the American Dream is based on that everyone may participate equally no matter of the racy, history or society. American Dream’s plays a big role in the movie The Great Gatsby. Ideals in which freedom includes the opportunity for success, and the success, which comes from one’s own efforts. Mr. Gatsby is a living example, when he has saved his money to become even richer than his past generations. In that way, Mr. Gatsby deals with the human aspiration, to start a new life without thinking back at his past. “I wish we could just run away”, he is saying to Daisy. Jay Gatsby is constantly holding big parties at his place, to get Daisy to come so they could be reunite. The parties at Mr. Gatsby’s is a good example of the American Dream, as the appreciation of the money was taking higher than the American Dream’s true values. What happened with the American Dream during the 1920’s is clearly to see in the movie “The Great Gatsby”. Instead of participating equally, people wants to be as rich as they can get, to...
Words: 510 - Pages: 3
