Comparing The American Dream In Truman Capote's In Cold Blood

860 Words2 Pages

In a well developed essay, evaluate the extent to which ambitions for the future play in influencing an individual’s actions.

Whether hoping for drastic, life-altering changes, or minimal day-to-day changes, the means of planning and obtaining a better future have frequently been aspirations of humans in order to achieve a better lifestyle for themselves or for their loved ones. While some dreams can be achieved through simple steps and changes, many dreams often come with great risks. As people aspire to achieve and follow their dreams, their reality often becomes distorted. This can lead people to take lengthy measures in order to achieve the dream, causing the dreams to greatly impact an individual’s actions through disillusionment and …show more content…

The Clutter family is the perfect example of the Nuclear Family at the time, and Herb Clutter, the patriarch of the family, encompasses the example and desire to be a self-made man. On the contrary, the two murderers of the Clutter family, Perry Smith and Dick Hickock, both come from a life of poverty and both feel incapable of achieving the American Dream, ultimately leading them to a life of crime and poverty. In a letter to Perry from his sister, she writes, “are you willing to work and make an honest effort to attain whatever it is you choose to do?” (Capote). As disillusionment of the American Dream begins to take over Dick and Perry’s dreams, jealousy and greed begin to influence their actions towards those they perceive to be wealthy and live a simple life, leading them to murder the Clutter family. The attempt to satisfy their desires of achieving a relatively simple and wealthy life led to disillusionment and jealousy among Perry and Dick, leading them to take the impulsive action to murder the Clutter family, who they perceived as living the life they …show more content…

In his book The Great Gatsby, F. Scott Fitzgerald highlights the extreme measures the main character, Jay Gatsby, took to achieve the American dream of prosperity and wealth, only to see it disintegrate as greed and affairs begin to take over. The narrator of the story, Nick, describes Gatsby’s means of achieving his dream through highlighting his fraud and grand parties he held in order to make himself appear desirable in society. As both Gatsby and his dream rapidly decline throughout the story, the hope and optimism for the future and still remain. Nick describes that, “Gatsby believed in the green light, the orgastic future that year by year recedes before us. It eluded us then, but that’s no matter—tomorrow we will run faster, stretch out our arms farther..” (Fitzgerald). Gatsby achieved his wealth through very questionable methods, such as organized crime and illegal activities, illustrating his obsession with achieving the American Dream and winning over his love. This ultimately stripped him of his wealth and destroyed his dream in the end, but despite the ruined dreams, the characters in the book continue to hope for a better future and aspire to create a better life for

Open Document