Essay On Martin Dressler

760 Words2 Pages

Martin Dressler: The Tale of an American Dreamer Steven Millhauser’s novel Martin Dressler depicts a rags to riches story about a man named Martin. Son of a cigar shop owner, Martin learned everything about cigars from his father, helping improve business any way he could. Martin Dressler explores the American Dream in all its manifestations: as aim, vision, intention, nightmare, and hallucination. The achievement of the American dream almost always comes down to your determination and willingness to work as hard as you can towards your goals. If you work hard and have enough perseverance, you may be lucky enough to achieve the success that you seek. Even from a young age we are taught to want success. Despite what we are taught success leads to failure and without we wouldn’t learn from our mistakes. Martin fails because his dreams become too elaborate as he strives for continuous success. After Martin becomes a bellboy at a hotel called the Vanderlyn we learn Martin is never satisfied. He will not accept things how they are believing things can always be improved. When he is complimented on his work ethic he thinks he is ’t working hard enough. He begins a habit of always searching for opportunities wanting to improve in order make successful. “As he walked, looking about, taking it all in, feeling a pleasant tension in his calves and thighs, he felt a surge of energy a kind of serene restlessness, a desire to do something, to test himself, to become, in some way, larger than he was” (Millhauser 60). Starting with the small cigar stand in the Vanderlyn, Ma... ... middle of paper ... ...ues to walk noticing the nature around him. “For the time being he would just walk along, keeping a little out of the way of things, admiring the view. It was a warm day. He was in no hurry” (Millhauser 293). Martin Dressler is obsessed with the same vision. He pursues an elusive idea of a hotel that is not a hotel, of a building that makes the city around it superfluous.Martin fails to convey his vision of what he is trying to achieve because he didn’t take into account what anyone else wanted. He was out of touch with the world. The American Dream clouded his thoughts . Being successful does not mean you must pursue and make the big and better thing. The themes of Martin Dressler resonant in life today as all of us deem to be successful one day. Success is connected to action and those who are successful keep moving, accepting their mistakes, but not quitting.

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