Interpertive Essay On "Paradox and Dream"

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Everyone sets their own goals in life, but in the process of reaching what they think is most important, they lose the people who were closest to them. This is basically what John Steinbeck’s essay, “Paradox and Dream” is about. It talks about the American dream and the American people. He shows how the american dream that everyone is looking for is not what it used to be. Nowadays no one can really grasp their dreams because they are constantly changing their minds. This causes the dream to modify countless number of times. It shows how americans are always looking for something more and are never satisfied with the decisions they make. Steinbeck also talks about the paradoxes he finds throughout our society. In his essay, he portrays americans in a negative way by saying they are dissatisfied, in a state of turmoil all the time, and how the people cannot determine what is important and what is not. First, Steinbeck shows how Americans are restless, dissatisfied, and searching people throughout their entire life. People rarely stay in the same place for more than five years. The reason for this is because some of jobs force them to move to a new place. This could be from either the company moving themselves or the company feels the employee has more use at another location. Another reason they do not stick around in one area could be that they are despondent with the size and location of the house. Americans tend to want the next new thing, and that includes wanting a enormous, exceptional house. Also, they could not care for the neighborhood in which they live, due to the people or look of all the other houses. People are restless because they feel the need to move around constantly from house to house. They are also searching because they can never really find a house or in general anything in life that satisfies. Americans are not only restless and searching

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