The American Dream: Jon Krakauer, And Ralph Waldo Emerson

Georgia Moran

Mrs. Hinds

English III Period 1

29 March 2017

Chasing a Fantasy

If the American Dream was to have one single perception amongst people, how would it be conveyed? Today, this ideal would most commonly possess a traditional family plentiful in extra curriculars and evening dinners. However, the topic itself is entirely subjective. The American Dream promises the hope that one will achieve financial success, power, and eternal happiness through hard work and dedication. It is essentially a facade that ignores issues like systematic racism and socioeconomic inequality. Authors such as Frederick Douglas, Dick Gregory, F. Scott Fitzgerald, Jon Krakauer, and Ralph Waldo Emerson illustrate and acknowledge the differences in one’s

pursuit of happiness. People strive for an impossible perfection that results in them living in an illusion that is not authentic nor fulfilling. Generally speaking, this portends that the American Dream is a complex fantasy. People who spend the entirety of their lives trying to achieve this phenomenon end up neglecting the impact that companionship has on one’s happiness. Therefore, it is simply not the man with everything, nor is it the man with nothing, but rather the one who has constructed his own perception of happiness that ultimately achieves the American Dream.

Racism is a controversial issue that shapes how some people envision their American Dream. While great efforts have been made to reduce prejudice and discrimination over the last century, these issues remain prevalent in our society today. In the past, race defined an individual’s identity and restricted the aspirations of certain races and religions. Pekarofski recognized this phenomenon, called Americanization, which “illustrates how such a process would, of course, necessitate a kind of linguistic transformation of surnames in order to conceal one’s religious and/or ethnic ‘otherness’” (Pekarofski 59). Pekarofski suggests that this ‘otherness’ segregates people by preserving their names In a similar way, Fitzgerald segregates races based upon their presumed images, such as Jewish Wolfsheim as being a man of wealth. Historically, black people are commonly objectified and labeled as poor, like in Gregory’s “Shame” when the teacher humiliates Richard by telling him, “We are collecting this money for you and your kind, Richard Gregory… [Helene Tucker] felt sorry for me. Then I couldn’t see her too well because I was crying, too.” (Gregory ##). This passage illustrates how someone in power, like a teacher or the school system, can alter a person’s destiny or dream and how oppression can very easily shatter the innocence of a child. Similarly, Frederick Douglas’s dream is owned through slavery as “[he] could not [comprehend] why [he] ought to be deprived of the same privileges” as white (F. Douglas 32). People of color have been forced to overcome how racism has owned their dreams for decades. They live in a nation that claims to provide equality and religious tolerance yet it enslaves them; so, faith in their ability to achieve the American Dream wavers. Only in the last few decades have people of color truly had the opportunity to attain great wealth. Owing to to the progress that immigrants have made, “levels of optimism in the American Dream may continue to grow” (Mark-Stout 829). The oppression from racism’s effect on people’s perception of the American Dream is similar to how one’s socioeconomic status may lead a man to betray his morals.

Socioeconomic status commonly illustrates one’s prestige or position in society.

The pursuit of success oftentimes forces one to compromise one’s morals. Jay Gatsby is a prime example of someone who alters their identity entirely to achieve what they perceive as happiness. Roger Pearson understood the complexity of this era as he states that, “To Fitzgerald, the long prophesied American Dream had its fulfillment in the “orgiastic’ part of the WWI period known as the ‘Roaring Twenties’” (Pearson ##). Fitzgerald created Gatsby as a man who grew up poor, but successfully achieves the American Dream of wealth, status, and power, only to be left with nothing in the end. Gatsby’s change of identity began when he decided to recreate himself to be the “son of God… at the age of seventeen… [when] he witnessed the beginning of his career” (Fitzgerald 188-189). His fascination to live out his alter ego disguises his lonely demise. It is apparent here because, “Fitzgerald’s unique expression of the American Dream lacks the optimism and the sense of fulfillment” that most people would hope to come out of wealth and power. To reach his success, Gatsby had to abandon his past, ultimately destroying his old self. Barbara Will suggests that his, “rejection of family and original name [was] a necessary precondition to his later ‘glory’ as a wealthy, upwardly-mobile adult” (Will ##). Severing ties to family to achieve wealth is a debatable topic since wealth does not always lead to happiness.

Gatsby believes that if he achieves substantial wealth, he will ultimately gain Daisy’s love, which will bring him happiness. Unfortunately, Gatsby succumbs to the influence of money and status, which causes him to objectify Daisy, believing, “her voice is full of money” (Fitzgerald 230). As was the case for Gatsby, the endless hunt for money and power can ultimately lead to your demise. Perhaps then it may be a man of solitude and conformity who will attain the most happiness.

The fight for independence through solidarity and nonconformity requires reverence and patience.

Transcendentalist, Christopher McCandless fought for his freedom from society through nonconformity and solidarity. Krakauer’s interpretation of McCandless is similar to Gatsby in they way they both detach themselves from their past lives to strive for the achievement of their dream. Chris believes in the idea that there has to be more to life than what society has presented to him. Emerson embraces a similar idea when he stresses how that which is directly in front of us is not the defining element to being in the world. Chris became weary of simply coexisting amongst his peers and following a routine; so, he took initiative in his beliefs and started a search for the 'truth.' He became a nonconformist paralleling Emerson's beliefs as, "whoso would be a man, must be a nonconformist" (Emerson 538). Unlike Gatsby, Chris did not look to other people for answers, but believed he could find it through the world and himself. People generally resort to the norm of things and "remain heirs to that early modern society sense of antagonism between self and society" (Zuckerman ##). The fight against conformity is a path people occasionally choose to take if they seek authenticity and a bigger meaning to life. Though most people simply conform because it appears an easier route to the fulfillment of their perceived dream. At the end of Chris's quest, now lonely and afraid, he realizes

that, "happiness [is] only real when shared" (Krakauer 189). Like Gatsby, Chris's array of choices made through arrogance and stubbornness led to his unlikely ending - dead and alone. Emerson acknowledges how essentially solitude is much simpler than companionship because of the lack of confrontation and disagreement, "but the great man is he who in the midst of crowd keeps with perfect sweetness the independence of solitude" (Emerson ##). Ultimately, the man who is able to be a contributing member of society while preserving his own set of morals and standards independently is the truly successful man.

The American Dream is centered around the question of whether or not success is based upon perception or a general concept. It is a broad term open to interpretation, as it possesses the word 'dream' in it. A dream is something created by individuals, for individuals. At times, one's belief may be the popular belief of wealth and status. Jordan Belfort from The Wolf of Wall Street represents the type of person whose ultimate dream is power. He surrounds himself with money and people, living his life to the fullest as, "[he has] got the guts to die. What I want to know is, have you got the guts to live?" (Belfort ##). Belfort acknowledges the challenge behind living a fulfilled life. The influence on society and the the general idea of power can have detrimental effects. Its concept ignores issues like systematic racism and socioeconomic inequality, creating this bubbly facade that is almost unattainable. People typically end up reinventing themselves for the wrong reasons to achieve this impossible perfection. Those who overcome oppression, conformity, and live out their own dream, are the ones that fulfill their pursuit of happiness instead of just chasing a fantasy.