Optimism In The American Dream

2052 Words5 Pages

The American Dream is an integral part of the American Mythos. Politicians have debated for centuries its status. Is it alive? Dead? They cannot tell because since the birth of America in 1776 it has been a futile. New York in the 1920’s is the greatest example of this false sense of optimism. Everyone was successful. Everyone had money. This phony sense of wealth and success was the product of large swaths of people buying stock on credit. They used fake money to buy more intangible capital. It was all artificial and bound to come crashing down. There was no chance for real social mobility. One had success for a fleeting second and then it was gone. Myrtle Wilson grasps for this false sense of hope. She is stuck in a broken marriage, dire …show more content…

She wants to imitate the women who achieve it. In her mind, life will be better with him. No more poverty or pain. Just luxury. Her search deludes her into truly thinking she can achieve it. What she does not understand is that “The American Dream is not to be a reality, in that it no longer exists, except in the minds of men… whom it destroys” (Pearson 645). People are born into “The American Dream”. They do not enter it. Myrtle cannot break the barrier because wealth is not the only criteria to join the upper echelons of American society. Tom provides her with capital. But he cannot provide her with beauty or poise, the innate features that the upper class require for entry. One can never be truly accepted into the American upper crust unless they were born there. People like Myrtle become obsessed. They want to achieve the American Dream but they cannot. Their search for success is ultimately fruitless. It will “destroy” their “minds”. She wants the dream but she cannot find it. In her futile attempts to find it she risks harm. The longer she searches and longs for the dream the more likely her destruction becomes. The American Dream will destroy Myrtle. In America people like Myrtle believe they will be successful. However, no matter how hard they work they will never achieve the dream that only those like Tom and Daisy are born into. It is not a dream but a privilege. Attempts to gain this privilege only lead to extreme

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