Glengarry Glen Ross American Dream

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The American Dream is something that the American people know all too well. They strive to be hard workers who wake up to go to work and make money every day so they will be able to support their families. With their hard work and dedication, they hope that it will pay off in the end and they will move higher up in social status, which is one of the same values as the characters in the film. The American dream is the thought that every person should have an opportunity to be successful and happy through hard work and determination. The importance of integrity and equality and the idea that hard work equals success is not evident in the movie. The movie Glengarry Glen Ross takes the idea of the American Dream and twists it into a negative idea …show more content…

Without corruption a person has no chance of moving up in the company or even keeping a job. This is shown in the movie because every one of the salesman is doing everything they can to make sure that they stay on top of the game. Even Mamet himself states that the play is about “how business corrupts” and about how “those in power in the business world…act unethically” (Stafford 185). Without corruption and someone in control there will never be an order to the social hierarchy of a company and there will never be a top dog. It appears when there is money involved because every individual knows that money talks even though sometimes it is not always evident. “Real,” iconic money, which is printed and regulated by a government, has been replaced by a symbolic system in which money signs are written by an individual with a checkbook or credit line (Dorff 196). But in the movie money does not symbolize the true prize, the true prize is symbolized by the Cadillac that all of the men are fighting to win. Shelly who is played by Jack Lemmon want to win the Cadillac and be on top of scoreboard do badly that he makes an irrational decision and decides that the best thing for him to do is to actually steal from the company and that sadly becomes the end of his position in the company. Irrational thinking and money can cause people to make dumb decisions and …show more content…

They know that they will not be able to get the things that they want unless they use manipulation and con to get it. Greenbaum says since the ruthless competiveness of sales requires, cut-throat individualism and therefore to be a success means the subordination of intrapersonal relationships; in this realm all that matters is the “closing deal” (33-34). The competitiveness shows that the men in the movie do not care about the harsh words that they say to each other because all that matters is making sure that he is the one who leaves with the brand new Cadillac and is not being fired later on that day. Daus says salesman will have their triumphs and their failures but this is not the only subject. The other subject is a unique account of manipulation (3). This shows that no matter how true or great a friendship may seem it is not always as true and honest as it may

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