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The American Dream is a straightforward but difficult concept to attain because of the high hopes that people have for it. The dream during the Modernism period had Americans wishing to achieve wealth, success, and happiness in life. However, after experiencing the realities of the American Dream, people soon became disillusioned and often discontent because they were never able to achieve their goal. The Great Gatsby, “Richard Cory”, and “A Soldier’s Home” are all literary works during the Modernist Literary period, that describe an American citizen who has gone through ups and downs in attempt to obtain the American Dream, but were not able to fully achieve it in the end. Although the American Dream promised happiness in this “land of opportunities,” …show more content…
many Modernist literary characters never reached the state of being content, despite having success in life. The Great Gatsby, by F.
Scott Fitzgerald, primarily focuses on Jay Gatsby, the protagonist, attempting to reach the American Dream. However, many other characters too in The Great Gatsby wanted to fully achieve the American Dream, but somehow in the midst of doing so, were not able to reach the “happiness” portion of the dream, despite being successful with wealth. Jay Gatsby, for example, worked hard to get to the top of the social class and status. He was able to become wealthy, and he successfully transformed himself into a new person, yet he still wasn't happy because he didn't have Daisy. Gatsby was too obsessed with the idea of getting Daisy back into his life. Daisy has been a burden to Gatsby who has been pulling him back for so long, for “he was consumed with wonder at her presence. He had been full of the idea so long, dreamed it right through to the end” (Fitzgerald 97). Jay Gatsby was mesmerized in the idea of getting Daisy back that when he saw her for the first time in five years it is hard for him to put together that it was reality. Gatsby has purposefully changed his image completely, from poor to rich, and from a soldier to a new rich man, just to impress Daisy. When Gatsby sees that his American Dream, Daisy, has …show more content…
loved another man while he was gone at war, it makes Gatsby feel that there was something in the way of achieving his American Dream. In addition, Gatsby is not entirely pleased to see that Daisy and Tom have a daughter as he revealed when “he kept looking at the child with surprise” (Fitzgerald 123). It is difficult for Gatsby to comprehend that Daisy must have had to love Tom enough to have a daughter with him. Gatsby is dissatisfied because he thought that he was the only person Daisy has ever truly loved. Jay Gatsby went through so much to impress Daisy Buchanan, but in the end Gatsby could not reach his happiness with Daisy, not only because of his unfortunate ending to his life but because Daisy was unsure if she should run away with Gatsby. Daisy does not deserve a kind man like Gatsby because she doesn’t appreciate Gatsby like the way he appreciates her. Because of Daisy, Gatsby does not reach happiness even with the success he had in rising to high class status and gaining wealth. This also goes to show that Jay Gatsby does not fulfill his dream despite his best efforts to do so. Similar to Gatsby’s American Dream situation, in Edwin Arlington Robinson’s poem, “Richard Cory”, Richard Cory suffered mentally in his life, while his town believed that his American Dream was fully reached. Although it seemed that Richard Cory was content with the way his life was going, his suicide was completely unexpected. Richard Cory, by the looks of it was handsome, well mannered, and rich; He was someone who seemed to be content with his life. Nobody knew however, what was actually going on inside his head. Was he really content with his life? Richard Cory was assumed to have reached the American Dream because ‘he was rich—yes, richer than a king— / And admirably schooled in every grace,” (Robinson 645) but what is missing is that we will never know what he was actually going through, if he was actually happy with the way his life is going. It is easy to say that Richard Cory had the American Dream, but “Richard Cory, one calm summer night / Went home and put a bullet through his head” (Robinson 645). Richard Cory committing suicide was a shock because so many people thought that he must have been happy with all this wealth and success, but his actions say otherwise. Richard Cory had reached the success, wealth and overall goals of the American Dream, except the component of happiness since he committed suicide. This represents that money does not always buy happiness, thus further proving that the American Dream cannot fully be attained. Lastly, a Modernist character that demonstrates the flaws of the American Dream is in Ernest Hemingway’s story, “A Soldier’s Home”, where Harold Krebs has a difficult time seeing through his success because of his experience in war.
Although his American Dream is not obvious, Harold Krebs was unable to realize how much of a hero he was from serving the country. It is easy to say that Harold Krebs is an imperfect hero, and the parts of the American Dream that he was able to grasp on to were successful, but again, a modernist character is not happy about the way their life is playing out. After returning back from serving time in the war, Krebs has lost faith in his religion where he believes that he is “not in His Kingdom" (Hemingway 657) anymore. To Krebs he does not feel successful at all because he can not see any positive thing from coming back from a war where he had just killed so many people. Krebs has reached success because he helped serve his country, but mentally, he does not feel the same way. Adjusting back to his normal life is also difficult for Harold Krebs because, "...the world they were in was not the world he was in," (Hemingway 655) now that he is home. Krebs is disillusioned with the fact that he thought coming back to normal life was better, but it is not because he has nobody with him that had experienced the same events that he had. Krebs's American Dream is far from his reach not only because it was hard for him to adjust and be glad that he is
home, but also because he can not see his inner hero in himself; he can not see how successful and lucky he has been that he was able to return back home alive. Harold Krebs’s American Dream is very hard for him to reach because he mainly lack happiness in America, and despite him being successful in the war, Krebs has a hard time translating that success into a new setting. These three literary works clearly explained that the American Dream is impossible to reach. A person can be very close to reaching it, but there will always be something in the way of fully reaching the dream. Although the American Dream is an impractical concept, working hard, pushing away all the negative vibes and having dreams that are worth striving for will help the most to get to satisfaction. Even though there will be obstacles in the way that will try to push people down, they will have to find ways to overcome them. From the way that these characters approached reaching their dream, it was unsuccessful, so putting that into consideration when someone is going to attempt to reach a dream is necessary. Patience is essential when a person has a dream. Approaching a dream in a way that these character had done, will not make a person successful. What is needed is patience and pushing away all the negative factors that interfere with a dream, going against the world as it tries to push someone back down, having intelligence, and pushing beyond ordinary expectation is what will led to fulfill the American Dream.
The almighty American dream, commonly misconceived as the property of those who reap great materialistic wealth, has been analyzed and sought after through generations. However, this dream, “could come from anywhere and be anything you want in this country” (Goldberg), and the numerous success stories of impoverished beings proves this. This subjectiveness stems from the great diversity within human nature and the variation of goals and pleasures. The characters in novels such as The Glass Castle, To Kill a Mockingbird and the play, The Crucible, act to portray several attempts towards achieving this dream. Ultimately, the almighty American Dream manifests itself through the novels as the desire to accomplish stability and content within one’s
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.
Gatsby’s explanation of this dream focused on money and social status. He has always yearned for this, even when he was a child. Fitzgerald frequently emphasises Gatsby’s desire, throughout the entirety of this novel. Though, Fitzgerald accentuates this desire when Nick discovers the truth of Gatsby’s past. During this elucidation, Nick explains that “his [Gatsby’s] parents were shiftless and unsuccessful farm people-his imagination had never really accepted them as his parents at all.” (Fitzgerald, 98) This shows the reader Gatsby’s lifelong determination for wealth and power. Even in his adult life, he strives for more than what he has. In John Steinbeck’s essay, he explains that “we [Americans] go mad with dissatisfaction in the face of success” (Steinbeck, 1) This is exactly how Gatsby feels, he is not content with his success, the amount of money he has, or the height of his social status and is constantly wishing for more than he has. Though, once he meets Daisy he no longer strives for wealth, but rather for her. As shown in this novel, even though Gatsby has achieved all he had wanted when he was growing up, he will not be content until he is able to call Daisy his
Scott Fitzgerald’s The Great Gatsby tells the story of wealthy Jay Gatsby and the love of his life Daisy Buchanan. Gatsby dream was to secure Daisy just as things were before he left to the war. His impression was that Daisy will come to him if he appears to be rich and famous. Gatsby quest was to have fortune just so he could appeal more to Daisy and her social class.But Gatsby's character isn't true to the wealth it is a front because the money isn't real. F. Scott Fitzgerald uses the rumors surrounding Jay Gatsby to develop the real character he is. Jay Gatsby was a poor child in his youth but he soon became extremely wealthy after he dropped out of college and became a successful man and create a new life for himself through the organized crime of Meyer
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.
The American Dream remains viewed as the success which one obtains. The American Dream has had a great impact on literature as well as an impact on the changing of time periods. The 19th century Transcendentalists’ idea of the American Dream focuses on reaching one’s goals by honest, hard work. On the other hand, Gatsby’s idea of the American Dream in the 20th century centers on becoming successful by way of illegal money that was not acquired through working. Ultimately, the Transcendental and Gatsby’s beliefs reveal a great deal of contrast.
People from all around the world have dreamed of coming to America and building a successful life for themselves. The "American Dream" is the idea that, through hard work and perseverance, the sky is the limit in terms of financial success and a reliable future. 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.
The American Dream is something that so many people will strive to have one day. Doing so, a person may want the perfect house, family, and job. For Gatsby, that American Dream is fading away faster than ever. He had the house and the job, but one thing was missing, Daisy. Gatsby’s fighting for Daisy made him lose everything that he had gained for himself. In the end, Gatsby’s optimism and hope for a life with Daisy ends up killing him. F. Scott Fitzgerald delivers in his book, The Great Gatsby, a great description of the setting and his thoughts and emotions to readers in using ideas that people can relate to in this day and age. The development of the characters helps establish why The Great Gatsby is considered “good
The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald is a fictional story of a man, Gatsby, whose idealism personified the American dream. Yet, Gatsby’s world transformed when he lost his god-like power and indifference towards the world to fall in love with Daisy. Gatsby’s poverty and Daisy’s beauty, class, and affluence contrasted their mutual affectionate feelings for one another. As Gatsby had not achieved the American dream of wealth and fame yet, he blended into the crowd and had to lie to his love to earn her affections. This divide was caused by the gap in their class structures. Daisy grew up accustomed to marrying for wealth, status, power, and increased affluence, while Gatsby developed under poverty and only knew love as an intense emotional
Nick describes Gatsby as “one of those rare smiles with a quality of eternal reassurance in it, that you may come across four or five times in life(Ch.3).” Such description unifies the appearance of Gatsby with people’s expectation of a man who accomplished the American dream. The obsession with wealth often blinds people from the potential crisis. The crisis of having everything they worked and struggled for redefined if the reality fails them. Just like strivers who chase the American dream, Gatsby also spent his whole life in pursuit of his American dream, which Daisy was a major component of.
From a young age Jay Gatsby was devoted to self-improvement, he strived to create a better version of himself. As the events of the novel unfold it becomes clearer to the reader that Gatsby is trying in vain to take advantage of the opportunities that America promises in order to rise above the social class in which he was born. Gatsby accumulated great wealth but he realized that the families who had been rich for generations would never accept him as one of their own so he turned his ambition to a girl he once loved named Daisy who would validate him and more importantly his status. Unfortunately, Gatsby’s ambitions were too high and his dreams unrealistic. Fitzgerald makes this abundantly clear when he wrote “I have an idea that Gatsby himself didn’t believe it would come, and perhaps he no longer cared. If that was true he must have felt that he had lost the old warm world, paid a high price for living too long with a single dream” (Fitzgerald who knows where). Eventually, Gatsby himself realized that his version of the American dream was not possible. His dream of rekindling his love with Daisy killed him and along with him any hope of attaining the highly promoted impossible American
Each character in the novel has their own interpretation of the ‘American Dream – the pursuit of happiness’ as they all lack happiness due to the careless nature of American society during the Jazz Age. The American Dreams seems almost non-existent to those whom haven’t already achieved it.
If the American Dream means economic upward mobility, happiness, stability, and general success in a rags-to-riches type of story, Jay Gatsby in F. Scott Fitzgerald's The Great Gatsby should have been the perfect example of it. Most discourse surrounding Fitzgerald's ultimate comment regarding the American Dream deals with whether the author intended the readers to take a away an overall hopeful versus an ironic view when it comes to people actually believing in the American Dream. However, one perspective is that Fitzgerald did not intend the reader have a one-sided stance on the question, but rather the reader is meant to see the duality of how believing in the American dream is hopeful and valid, even though the reality of achieving it is futile because the disillusionment between what someone expected
For hundreds of years, a single idea has been representative of this country - the American Dream. The exact meaning of this dream varies from person to person, but in general the goal is always happiness. Of course, this idea of is not unique to just one country; throughout the world, the idea of fulfillment and success is a driving force in people’s lives. Unfortunately, this ambition can also have devastating results in some cases. As a result, it has become a common idea in literature and other media, since it is such a common aspect of the human experience. For example, in F. Scott Fitzgerald’s classic novel The Great Gatsby, the American Dream is a major theme. However, some interpret his view of the dream as negative,
He starts off as the son of poor farmers in Alabama and ends up as a rich man living in West Egg. His parties also indicate that he is part of an aristocratic community. In actuality, Gatsby obtained his wealth through illegal alcohol sales and bootlegging. Also, the attendees of his parties do not seem to know who he really is. A majority of them show up uninvited and only hear rumors about him. Gatsby’s true American dream is to obtain Daisy. Daisy is Fitzgerald’s personified version of the American dream. Gatsby devotes his life achieving it, even though it is long gone. Fitzgerald moves into the past to show an untainted version of America: “And as the moon rose higher, the inessential houses began to melt away”(189). As the trees vanished and the inessential houses were built, America slowly became something else. This is analogous to Daisy’s change over the 5 years she was apart from Gatsby. Through Gatsby’s experience, Fitzgerald depicts the American dream as hopeless and