Highly sought after, the American dream has captured our society’s attention since the Founding Fathers declared our independence in 1776. Our country has been inspired by the thought that if you work hard enough, you will find success, regardless of who you are. The media has glamorized it with the book “The Great Gatsby” by F. Scott Fitzgerald. However, “The Street” by Ann Petry criticizes its false promises. Petry blends techniques of symbolism and comparison, using the character Lutie Johnson, to send the message that the American dream is wildly unattainable for marginalized groups. The author utilizes the symbol of the street that Lutie lives on to depict the social limitations of achieving the American dream. Over multiple times during …show more content…
These living conditions that Petry describes are clearly not suitable for success. The fact that there is a prominent smell of chemicals infiltrating the street indicates that the infrastructure is very poor and can cause major health problems, especially to the young children, like Bub. These health problems can lead to extensive healthcare, which costs money. This and the street in general symbolizes redlining, a systemic and discriminatory practice of denying access to vital financial services to neighborhoods, typically African American ones. In turn, these communities do not have access to credit and healthcare, which puts them at a disadvantage against privileged, white groups. This is a limitation to achieving the American dream because Lutie’s housing and location puts her at a disadvantage because she cannot afford the same benefits, like healthcare and credit, that white people do. Instead, she has to work extra hard to get onto the same level as them. This makes it more difficult to attain the American dream because it requires significantly more effort to be put in than your
Throughout the history of literature, a great deal of authors has tried to reveal a clear understanding of the American Dream. Whether it is possible to achieve lies all in the character the author portrays. The Great Gatsby and The Catcher in the Rye stand as prime examples of this. F. Scott Fitzgerald and J.D. Salinger, the authors of these titles, respectively, fashion flawed characters, Jay Gatsby and Holden Caulfield, with one vital desire: the longing to gain what they can’t have; acceptance and the feeling of belonging. Each retaining characteristics that shows their differences and similarities in opinion of the world around them.
The Street by Ann Petry was first published in 1948, and it gives an account of the lives of black women in the World War II era. Being a black woman herself, Petra gives a firsthand commentary about the social injustices that face the main character in the novel, Lutie Johnson. Lutie is a black single mother who faces social challenges such as sexism, racism, and classism in her chase for the American dream. In her chronicles of raising her son, Bub, she believes that if she works hard, and saves wisely she will realize her dream of gaining financial independence and in 116th street, Harlem, where she lives. The novel gives the streets a personality as if it were a humans being. This personification and other literal styles including naturalism
The American Dream offers opportunity, equality, liberty, and social mobility to those who have lost their place, such as immigrants, African Americans, and white males with little wealth. This national ethos can supposedly be achieved through hard work, and determination with few social barriers. The Great Gatsby, written by F. Scott Fitzgerald, illustrates the unreachable American Dream that so many have stopped fighting for. While the American dream may theoretically promise equality for all, social status will either hinder or improve an individual 's chances of success. Through rhetorical strategies such as imagery, symbolism, and diction, Fitzgerald’s interpretation of the American Dream is developed.
...on materialism and social class. While novel is widely considered a zeitgeist of the time period, it is also a warning for the American Dream. Although the Dream is not Marxist materialism, it is certainly not traditional individualism and freedom. F. Scott Fitzgerald’s The Great Gatsby poses a question: what is the American Dream?
The idea and definition of the American dream has been continually changing based on culture and time period. Many people classify it as the big house, with the white picket fence, the kids playing in the yard and a happy spouse. With this perception many believe this dream comes without struggle but in the novel The Great Gatsby, the characters emphasize that the hard ships don’t always make the American dream as dreamlike as others recognize. In a quote said by Craig L. Thomas, he states “You stuff somebody into the American dream and it becomes a prison.” For many characters the lifestyle they lead others to believe was so perfect was actually a nightmare that they could not wake up from.
Through the use of symbolism and critique, F. Scott Fitzgerald is able to elucidate the lifestyles and dreams of variously natured people of the 1920s in his novel, The Great Gatsby. He uses specific characters to signify diverse groups of people, each with their own version of the “American Dream.” Mostly all of the poor dream of transforming from “rags to riches”, while some members of the upper class use other people as their motivators. In any case, no matter how obsessed someone may be about their “American Dream”, Fitzgerald reasons that they are all implausible to attain.
The American Dream has long been thought the pinnacle idea of American society. The idea that anyone, regardless of race, ethnicity, or financial status, could rise from the depths and become anything they wanted to be with no more than hard work and determination has attracted people from all around the world. Two writers from America’s past, however, have a different opinion on the once-great American Dream. F. Scott Fitzgerald and John Steinbeck have given the public their beliefs on the modern Dream through the novels they have written, The Great Gatsby, and Of Mice and Men, respectively. One novel placed during the Great Depression and the other during the Roaring Twenties both illustrate how their author feels about the Dream itself through the use of many literary devices. While both novels have main characters with hopes for something better, all the characters seem to fall into the same plagued pit. Through depravity and decadence, the American Dream seems to have become exactly what its name implies: A dream, not a reality.
Since its publication in 1925, The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald has indisputably been one of the most influential and insightful pieces on the corruption and idealism of the American Dream. The American Dream, defined as ‘The belief that anyone, regardless of where they were born or what class they were born into, can attain their own version of success in a society where upward mobility is possible for everyone,’ was a dominant ideal in American society, stemming from an opportunist pioneer mentality. In his book ‘The American Tradition in Literature’, Bradley Sculley praised The Great Gatsby for being ‘perhaps the most striking fictional analysis of the age of gang barons and the social conditions that produced them.’ Over the years, greed and selfishness changed the basic essence of the American Dream, forming firmly integrated social classes and the uncontainable thirst for money and status. The ‘Roaring Twenties’ was a time of ‘sustained increase in national wealth’ , which consequently led to an increase in materialism and a decrease in morality. Moreover, the
The American Dream was the ideal goal for most common people across 1920’s America. These citizens, regardless of their social status and family history, strived to become accomplished first-class socialites. Even though they struggled to grasp this materialistic dream, high class citizens- specifically those born into wealth- already reached this heavenly goal. Truly, this makes the wealthy ultimately the American Dream themselves because of their granted status that the common people desired. This concept is incorporated in Fitzgerald’s American Classic The Great Gatsby : a fiction work that describes a poor young man named Gatsby and his relationship with the rich and beautiful Daisy Fay Buchanan. Although at first glance, the plot is mainly a love story, it describes what the American Dream is. The storyline frequently mentions Daisy’s status and how she was born into money as well as her carelessness-- similar traits that the American Dream has. Due to this, Daisy’s wealthy background, her mysterious demeanor, and her irresponsible actions ultimately make her the embodiment of what the American Dream is.
The American Dream is an ethos idealized by millions of people. It is an attitude and mindset that can promote success and prosperity throughout life. When it comes to the American dream, a significant part is the quest for money. As shown in classic American Literature such as The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald and A Streetcar Named Desire by Tennessee Williams, the influence of money plays an important role throughout both novels. There are characters in both books that use money as a way of representing what their morals and values are. The decline of the American Dream is evident in both novels considering the negative effects money has on certain characters.
Purpose: is to show the unattainability/deterioration of the American dream. The American Dream is originally about the discovery of happiness, but by the 1920s, this dream has become corrupted by the desire for wealth by whatever means; mistaken that money will bring happiness. F. Scott Fitzgerald does not us the words “American Dream” in the novel, The Great Gatsby, but it is evident that he shows the impossibility of achieving happiness through the American Dream. Fitzgerald demonstrates this through the green light that Gatsby strives but fails to obtain. Gatsby is ruined by the unworthiness of its object, just as the American dream is, by society becoming corrupted by greed and materialism.
The American Dream is a concept that has been wielded in American Literature since its beginnings. The ‘American Dream’ ideal follows the life of an ordinary man wanting to achieve life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. The original goal of the American dream was to pursue freedom and a greater good, but throughout time the goals have shifted to accumulating wealth, high social status, etc. As such, deplorable moral and social values have evolved from a materialistic pursuit of happiness. In “Advertising the American Dream: Making Way for Modernity”, Roland Marchand describes a man that he believed to be the prime example of a 1920’s man. Marchand writes, “Not only did he flourish in the fast-paced, modern urban milieu of skyscrapers, taxicabs, and pleasure- seeking crowds, but he proclaimed himself an expert on the latest crazes in fashion, contemporary lingo, and popular pastimes.” (Marchand) This description shows material success as the model for the American Dream. In his novel The Great Gatsby, Fitzgerald reveals the characterization of his characters through the use of symbols and motifs to emphasize the corruption of the American Dream.
The American dream has an inspiring connotation, often associated with the pursuit of happiness, to compel the average citizen to prosper. In Fitzgerald’s novel, The Great Gatsby, Jay Gatsby’s infatuation for Daisy drives him towards wealth in order to respark his love. Due to Daisy’s rich background, the traditional idea of love became skewed because of the materialistic mindsets of people in the 1920s. In the novel, the wealthy are further stratified into two social classes, creating a barrier between the elite and the “dreamers”. Throughout the novel, the idea of the American dream as a fresh start fails.
With new modernist American literature, Americans lose faith in their traditional beliefs and values, including the American dream. Many novels used the concept of the American dream to make people question whether the dream still existed in the mist of the First World War and the Great Depression. In describing the American dream, one is led to believe that the individual is led to self-triumph, and their life will progressively get better and better in America. In Fitzgerald’s, The Great Gatsby, published in 1925, the American dream is perceived originally by the thought of discovery and the pursuit of happiness. Money, parties, and relaxed social views came with ease to the American people in the 1920s. However, Fitzgerald demonstrates how the American soldiers re...
As people go throughout their life, they strive to make dreams they believe are unachievable, come true. The iconic American Dream is a symbol of success within the United States that many people aim to secure throughout their lifetime at any cost, even compromising their true identity. In Scott Fitzgerald’s The Great Gatsby and Lorraine Hansberry’s A Raisin In The Sun, both authors work to display how Jay Gatsby and Walter Younger work towards obtaining their dream, but fall short due to society and timing. By attempting to reinvent themselves through money, gaining power within their personal life, and their image, Jay Gatsby and Walter Younger aim to complete their American Dream to become successful in their lives.