The House of Sand and Fog exemplifies the American Dream from different angles, based on the characters portrayed in the novel. The three main characters have individual concepts of what is meant by the American Dream. Mr. Behrani is an ex-Iranian Colonel with a strong connection to his culture and family values. He wants the best for his family. Kathy is a newly separated women. She has a distant relationship with her family, but is connected by the home left in her possession by her deceased father. Lester has a much diluted sense of values, family and the American Dream. He has a sense of self fulfillment, disregarding the needs of most other people. The characters all want the American Dream, but their definition and method of obtaining the American Dream differ from one another. Mr. Behrani believes the American Dream means providing a good life for his family. In the novel he often speaks of making his wife happy by having a beautiful home, nice car, being able to send his son to the best school and having the appearance of wealth. He works two jobs to ensure he is able to pay for …show more content…
the life he and his family are accustomed to living. The jobs are not the kind of jobs he would have chosen under different circumstances, but the jobs pay the bills. He does not want any of his family, friends or acquaintances to know the truth regarding his financial situation. He and his family are preoccupied with appearances. He and his family look at the American Dream as materialistic. Kathy has a different view of the American Dream.
She believes the American Dream means having family and a home. Her beliefs are not negative, but her attitude regarding obtaining these possessions is negative. She tries to obtain a family or a loving relationship and preserve a home by any means necessary. In the novel, she is portrayed as a separated young woman whom is irresponsible and selfish. She willingly pursues a married man in an effort to have someone she can love and someone to love her back. She does not want to be alone or feel lonely. She disregards the wife and children Lester has at home. After Kathy loses her home, she makes poor choices to retrieve her home. She takes the law into her own hands and disregards the feeling and lives of the new owners of the home. Kathy’s actions are unacceptable, but her view of the American Dream is simplistic and
understandable. Lester has a warped view of the American Dream. The novel portrays Lester as morally lost and selfish. He pursues Kathy because he is not happy with the life he shares with his wife and children. He is thinking only of himself. He believes the American Dream means having what you want and being happy. His views are understandable, but his disregard for morals and the feelings of others is deplorable. Lester’s selfish behavior causes a great deal of pain to his family. He says he loves Kathy, but appears to be using her for his own selfish needs. Lester loves only himself because he wants to ensure he is satisfied, but does not consider the wants or needs of anyone involved in his life. He tries to help Kathy, but his efforts are overshadowed by selfishness and a tarnished past. All three characters in the novel have strong views regarding the American Dream. Wanting to obtain the American Dream is not problematic, but the method used can lead to disastrous consequences. The novel provides the reader with detailed information about each individual’s character and beliefs. The characteristic traits provide insight into the lives of the characters and rationale for his or her actions. The American Dream can have positive and negative connotations. The difference between a positive and negative connotation lies in the method used to achieve the American Dream.
The theme of the book as it relates to the American Dream is those who take advantage by becoming covetous and acquisitive. The Clutters in this book are described as the ideal American Dream family. Herb Clutter is the head man of the house who makes sure that his family and financial situations are in order. Herb started off with a struggle but eventually worked hard to become the man he became. Even though they were viewed as a rich family toward the community they did have underlying issues that weren’t visible to the outside world. Dick and Perry on the other hand are those who were unable to achieve the American Dream so they were willing to do anything to become successful the easy way even if that means stealing from others. They
Lester’s commitment to help Kathy at all costs undeniably alters the outcome of the novel. By providing her with money for a motel, and later with shelter at a friend’s cabin, he allows her to continue avoiding the reality of the situation. If Lester had never met Kathy, she would have been forced to be upfront with her lawyer. Instead, Kathy tells herself “there a limit to how much [her lawyer] wants to help,” and continues to tell Connie Walsh that she is staying with friends (88). Knowing the severity of Kathy’s plight could have prompted Connie Walsh to more ardently pursue the county on Kathy’s behalf. Because of Lester, however, the truth is kept from the lawyer.
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
In the beginning of the novel, the Clutter family accurately portrays the American Dream. Herbert Clutter
faith within the pursuit of the American Dream. The first two scenes that introduce the Behrani
...ing the farm, comfort, independence, more or less Lennie’s half of the dream. This all changes when George kills Lennie, at this point all hope of their dream is crumbled. Since they live in the time of the Great Depression, everyone lives in poverty. Accomplishing the American dream is nearly impossible as Steinbeck suggests, the author wants the reader to infer that the dream is unattainable, due to the time setting of the story, and the main character’s decisions throughout the novella. This American dream is envisioned into millions of peoples of minds, where they believe that anyone can accomplish a better life through hard labor, and ultimately finding happiness when the dream is fulfilled. Each human-being strives to accomplish and fulfill this American dream of theirs. A dream cannot be achieved by wishful thinking, but with hard work and absolute dedication.
...allowed to reach her American Dream without being frowned upon by others. Materialism, and the fears of judgment, are restrictions for these characters that keep them from reaching their true happiness and American Dreams.
The concept of the American Dream has been present in the lives of many since the beginning of American literature’s arrival
This family of five lives in a small apartment on the south side of Chicago. In the story, its described as “a comfortable and well-ordered room… furnishings are typical and undistinguished and their primary feature now is that they have clearly had to accommodate the living of too many people for too many years... and they are tired.” The apartment consists of two rooms. The first room, “shared by mama and her daughter Beneatha. The second room serving as a bedroom for Walter and his wife Ruth… leaving Travis to sleep on the sofa” In this story, the family dreamed to live what is known as the American dream. But yet there is one thing that is preventing them from obtaining that dream. That one things are choices. Due to choices that some of the main characters have made, causing the family less of a chance at living the American
The American Dream is often thought of as the key to happiness, usually defined as the thing that one wants to achieve in their lifetime. However, it does not always end the way one may wish. When one attempts to achieve it, he risks the possibility of failure. In many fictional novels, this theme is displayed. In novels and in real life, there are continuous interruptions with one’s dreams. Although the American Dream, however one may define it, promises hope for people and characters from all backgrounds, it is impossible to achieve.
The American dream is initially yearned for by Lennie and George, the protagonists. As Lennie shouts at the very beginning of the novel, “An’ live off the fatta the lan’” (14), the infatuation of successfully being able to purchase a piece of land and live out the American dream is showcased. Originally, the desire to live off the land was merely a want, but once Ca...
In the United States there is an idea many pursue called the American dream, which differs from person to person. The American dream according to americanradioworks.publicradio.org is “a revolutionary notion: each person has the right to pursue happiness, and the freedom to strive for a better life through hard work and fair ambition”. Yet it has been said there is no real definition of American dream, instead it merely proves that it has an unconscious influence in American mentality (Ştiuliuc 1). The American dream is different for each person because everyone yearns for things that will they hope will in return make them happy. Whatever that may be, each person goes through different struggles to obtain what they want. According to Frederic Carpenter, the American dream “has never been defined exactly, and probably never can be. It is both too various and too vague” (3). The Madonnas of Echo Park by Brando Skyhorse depicts the different interpretations on what the American dream actually is through the opinions and actions of Hector Esperanza, Efren Mendoza and Mrs. Calhoun.
The American Dream seems almost non-existent to those who haven’t already achieved it. Every character in the novel has moments of feeling happy and endures a moment where they believe that they are about to achieve their dreams. Naturally everyone dreams of being a better person, having better things and in 1920’s America, the scheme of getting rich is quick. However, each character had their dreams crushed in the novel mainly because of social and economic situations and their dream of happiness becomes a ‘dead dream’ leading them back to their ‘shallow lives’ or no life at all.
What does the American Dream mean to you? If fancy cars, mountains of cash, and grand villas come to mind, then it is not hard to see the materialistic contamination embodied in the New American Dream, founded in the 1920s. F. Scott Fitzgerald subtly illustrates this contamination in his exemplary novel, “The Great Gatsby.” “The Great Gatsby” is about Jay Gatsby, a man of great wealth who is determined to recapture the love of Daisy Buchanan. Chaos envelops Long Island as Gatsby becomes more open about his goal. As the events unfold, the collapse of the American Dream becomes ever more apparent as wealth and pleasure take hold of the entire 1920s generation.
When people think of the American Dream, they usually picture a wealthy family who lives in a big house with a white picket fence. They see the husband being the breadwinner for the wife and kids, by supporting and providing the best way that he can. They also picture the wife catering to her husband 's every need. The protagonist Janie Crawford lives this American Dream but soon comes to a realization that this life isn’t her destiny. Crawford learns that love does not involve money but rather being joyful. In Their Eyes Were Watching God by Zora Neale Hurston, Janie breaks the American Dream myth by living a non-traditional life through belief, happiness, and freedom.