...During the 1920s the America’s stock market was rising, and so it caused America to change. A lot of people became wealthy. Also, lots of newly wealthy people were spending at unprecedented levels. Because of the rising stock market Fitzgerald believed people had grown cynical, greedy, and obsessed with the pursuit of pleasure. When the stock market rose it affected Fitzgerald belief about the American Dream because it gave criminals a way to make a lot of money off illegal alcohol. The prohibition opened up ways for criminals to make good money fast. Fitzgerald’s attitude about the American Dream is represented in “ The Great Gatsby ” because Gatsby projects his hopes and dreams upon Daisy; however, Gatsby’s dream is ruined by the unworthiness of its object which was Daisy. In The Great Gatsby, F.Scott’s Fitzgerald cynicism about the American Dream in the 1920’s is represented by the Characters Daisy, Gatsby, and George....
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...In the Great Gatsby, F. Scott’s Fitzgerald’s cynicism about the American Dream in the 1920’s is represented by the characters Nick, Gatsby, and Daisy. In the 1920s America was changing in many ways, one of the ways it was changed is all people wanted to do is drink and party. Prohibition, which was the band of alcohol started in 1919 and had people selling and drinking alcohol illegally. In the 1920s crime grew like raids, speakeasies and bootlegging which was well organized groups selling alcohol. Population grew, soldiers were coming home from world war one. Women also started getting into the population, women were dressing different showing more skin wearing make up and dancing. Theses changes affected Fitzgerald’s about the American...
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...In the Great Gatsby, F. Scott’s Fitzgerald’s cynicism about the American Dream in the 1920’s is represented by the characters Gatsby, Daisy, and Tom. The first character whose experiences in the novel reflect the authors attitude is Gatsby. Gatsby is the main character in “The Great Gatsby.” Gatsby represents the American dream by being prosperous and happy. “His parents were shiftless and unsuccessful farm people.” (98) Gatsby made a name for himself despite of his past, and where he came from. Gatsby succeeds in gaining great wealth but he becomes a dishonest person in the act. Gatsby represents the American dream because he had nothing, and wanted to make his life sucessful. Gatsby put so much work into the dream. He didn't make it in the...
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...there are many aspects of this story that makes it uniquely American. The American dream, importance of education and religion and the fact that nature always win are some of the qualities that makes a novel American. All these American qualities are introduced and presented in this tale of Charlotte Temple. Many immigrants risk their lives by crossing the treacherous ocean to come to America in hopes to pursue the American dream for themselves and their future generations. To obtain the American dream of success, fame, status and fortune, some are even willing to achieve it at any cost. In the novel of Charlotte Temple, there are many examples where the characters are willing to pursue this dream even if it means to do evil. Montraville is a prime example of someone who came to America in hopes of achieving the American dream. He was a soldier from England that came to America in hopes to further advance his career as a soldier. Not long after Montraville arrives to New York with Charlotte, he meets a Miss Julia Franklin. Though Montraville himself comes from a wealthy family, he was told by his father that unless he has succeeded in his career and was able to provide for his wife and children, never to think of marrying. And that “If, indeed, a woman, whose fortune is sufficient to preserve you in that state of independence I would teach you to prize, should generously bestow herself on a young soldier, whose chief hope of future prosperity depended on his success in the...
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...the American Dream Ronald Reagan once said “The American dream is not that every man must be level with every other man. The American dream is that every man must be free to become whatever God intends him to be.” F. Scott Fitzgerald claims that the American dream is withering and that the real dream is being lost in the 1920s during the time of the booming America. In the Great Gatsby Fitzgerald uses symbols as a way to show something to the reader. He uses the Green light, the Valley of Ashes, and the eyes of Dr. T.J. Eckleburg as symbols. Gatsby himself starts from the bottom and then hits the top through his writings. The American dream in Fitzgerald’s eyes is that anyone regardless of who they are can achieve their ultimate goal in America. Scott Fitzgerald uses the Valley of Ashes a symbol of the American dream. It symbolizes America's possessive personality with wealth and how everyone during the 1920s were so blinded by greed that they did not focus on the true goal which is the American dream. Gatsby throws parties every Saturday night at his place. In that it ultimately corrupted the American dream as desire for pleasure and money tainted the more worthy goals. The valley of ashes...
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...known as James Gatz, finds himself in a struggle between a fantasy like dream and power comes to inevitably stand for America itself. Gatsby becomes a mythic figure whose career and fate stand for America, our idealism in the face of materialism has destroyed America's green freshness and left only a valley of ashes. Gatsby personifies the “extraordinary gift for hope, a romantic readiness” says Nick. Both of these descriptions can be transferred to characterize America. These two things are what America was built on. America is the land of the hopeful. America in the 1920s was wanting to be successful in an American city with a beautiful wife and home. However, Gatsby believed that this all could be bought, including the American dream. His ostentatious parties exemplifies the decline of the American dream. On the last page of the novel, Nick Carraway says “And as the moon rose higher the inessential houses began to melt away…the trees that had made way for Gatsby’s house had once pandered in whispers to the last and greatest of all human dreams;…something commensurate to his capacity for wonder”. Carraway is creating a picture of the American Dream, saying that versions of it could never be realized through America’s corrupt materialism. The “inessential houses” spoken of, are an example of the corrupt materialism on the once “fresh, green breast of the new world”. The only people who could have their dream realized were the first settlers, because those today who try to become...
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...The traditional definition of "The American Dream" is the idea that every US citizen should have an equal opportunity to achieve success and prosperity through hard work, determination, and initiative. Certainly, nowadays, the American Dream has more than one definition. For some of those who have come into the United States legally and illegally from third world countries, it means different things, one of which is a haven from poverty and starvation where they can be cared for freely. While some work and become independent, some people do not perceive "the American Dream" as being defined by working; instead, "the American Dream" is one of a benevolent government which takes care of the person his/her entire life through various federal programs. However, this latter idea has not yet become part of the canon of American literature. In the 1920's, the American Dream became materialized and one's character had less to do with success and the achievement of the dream. As a satire against this elevation of material success as the defining term of the American Dream, F. Scott Fitzgerald wrote his seminal novel, The Great Gatsby in which he portrays a morally corrupt wealthy class in the Eastern United States. They are "careless people" (as the narrator Nick Carraway remarks) in a restless and driving society that have tainted values--Daisy marries Tom Buchanan because he gives her a $350,000 pearl necklace--taking what they can get unscrupulously and discarding anyone who does...
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...I Have a Dream speech compare and contrast? Any half-sensible American should at least be able to tell you that they are all crucial pieces of America’s development as a nation, and that they all had different authors and intents. To compare and contrast them effectively, each piece’s purpose, the effect of the document/speech, and the author’s writing style must be analyzed. Each document was written under vastly differing circumstances. In 1776, the Declaration of Independence was constructed by our Founding Fathers to combat the oppressive power of King George and separate ties with Britain. In 1863 the Gettysburg Address was given by President...
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...it can lead to national destruction and depression.” (Shirley Isakovan) The 1920s is perceived as an era of unprecedented economic prosperity, material excess, and renowned for the birth of the social and societal upheaval that spreads throughout modern America. This period in time brings about tremendous amount of technological progress, the automobile being among the greatest, and presents an opportunity to transform a person via wealth. As a result, the American Dream is recreated and seen to be the ideal lifestyle desired by the residents of the nation. Although a paradox, this golden dream of commodities, individualism and hard work to gain abundant money becomes a nightmare of materialism and carelessness. F. Scott Fitzgerald’s novel, The Great Gatsby is a highly symbolic arbitration of the disintegration and underside of the American dream and portrays the consequences of those in pursuit it. Although ironic, Fitzgerald uses cars as a motif to represent the wealthy class living the corrupted American dream, whose careless actions drive the destruction of the 1920’s decade. He demonstrates this by using the car accident after one of Gatsby’s parties to foreshadow disastrous events, by emphasising Jordan Baker’s carelessness towards cars and her driving skills as a further insight to the recklessness of the wealthy, and by referring to Gatsby’s car as the “death car” after the incident of Myrtle’s death, applying a deeper meaning to the title. Fitzgerald applies...
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...The Clutter family lives a prosperous, although rather quiet life in Holcomb, the Clutter family lives the American Dream they were not born into wealth, but they worked hard and managed a comfortable life, until their murder. Dick and Perry on the other hand, are criminals they squandered their first chance at the American Dream before they ever met each other, but they take any measures to make sure it does no slip through their fingers. In Truman Capotes true crime novel In Cold Blood the idea of the American Dream is interviewed throughout the story of a brutal murder. The American Dream is the idea that people who live in America have the chance, opportunity and right to prosperity. The American dream attracts people rich and poor, rural...
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...American Dream The United States of America is the land of freedom, justice, and opportunities. All your dreams will come true if you come to this country. Sadly This is not true , Many of the people who came here have wanted a better life for themselves and for their children ,but they really do not know what is going to happen to them. They decide to move away from their places from the place which they born at and come here. They thought America is like a money fountain, they though that they can find work easily and we will be rich in small amount of time. Sadly that’s never happens. The American dream never can true expect to those who are rich already .You come to this country, you work, you receive a lot of money, you buy a very big and beautiful house, you have perfect kids, and you then decide to buy an expensive car so it can match your social status. The idea of moving up the social ladder is attractive, yet it is literally nothing but a dream , not a lot of people can go up this ladder some of them just stay at the same level and some of them should thanks god that they are not going down this imaginary ladder. The American Dream is that dream of a nation in which life should be better and richer and fuller for everyone, no different between black man or white man, Christian girl or muslim girl with hjab and also Jews men and woman should be the Same ,no different between no one. I belief that every person has the chance to achieve success....
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...“America! From the other end of the earth where I came, America was a land of living hope, woven of dreams, aflame with longing and desire” (Yezierska 16). This quote centers on America’s promise to provide everyone with access to the American Dream. The American Dream is the thoughts, aspirations, visions and hopes associated with one’s future in America, specifically one’s goals, ambitions, and intents. In recent times, the dynamics of the American Dream has changed, and this shift has raised questions as to whether America is keeping its promise pertaining to the American Dream. While many Americans assert that because they have been able to achieve their goals America still provides access to the American Dream, others insist they have no way to achieve their American Dream because the...
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...1. Give an outline of how the American Dream is interpreted in texts 2, 3 and 4 Arnold Schwarzenegger recalls lessons from 25 years as a U.S. citizen – learn English, Participate in Politics and Give Back. Arnold Schwarzenegger’s text focuses on immigrants that came to America, to achieve ”The American Dream”. The American Dream from Arnold’s view is not about what you can acquire from America, as an immigrant, but what you can do to give something back. His suggestions for giving something back is to first learn the English language, then contribute to the political course and at last help the community by donating, volunteering, mentoring a child, participating in a program, helping the less fortunate, doing community service, etc. He rounds up by saying: “There is no second-tier citizenship. You are an American, period. With hard work, learning English and getting involved, there is no limit on what you can achieve” Whose American Dream is it, anyway? Anya Kamenetz’s article primarily emphasizes the economic side of the American Dream. The main problem she proposes is that the Americans are a lot more unenthusiastic about their lives now, then at any time in the past 50 years, probably because of the deteriorating economy and the high expenses for supply of essential resources. One question that was raised in the article is if there’s a link between wealth and happiness. Anya refers to researcher Daniel Gilbert who discovered that once an average person earns more than...
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...The American Dream Give an outline of how the American Dream is interpreted in texts 2, 3 and 4. Text 2: The text is about how foreigners look at the American Dream and their expectations to it. The whole text is built on how Arnold Schwarzenegger experienced the move from Austria to USA and fulfilling the American Dream. How like many other foreigners he came from nothing and moved to the states and then fighting to get his American Dream fulfilled. In the text Schwarzenegger puts the emphasis on foreigners to work hard to fulfill their American Dream. They should not just accept the handouts but work hard to be greater and help the American society to be greater. Text 3: This text tells us a different version of the American Dream. It emphasizes more on the social side of things. The writer describes how more and more people are getting demoralized and more pessimistic than ever seen in the last half-century. People cannot afford family life if they also think about money. The young people in society have completed some surveys, in which one found out that they want more time with their families. The writer predicts that “even more young people are going to choose - or be pushed into - a smaller-scale, downshifted lifestyle where they make do with less stuff and trade more money for more time”. Then the writer comments on how the American Dream is changing from being materialistic to being more focused on social life. The writer also says “but it’s more sustainable...
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...Gatsby’s Ruined Future Gatsby’s Lost Dream "The American Dream is that dream of a land in which life should be better and richer and fuller for everyone, with opportunity for each according to ability or achievement."(Adams 1931). In F. Scott Fitzgerald’s novel The Great Gatsby, Fitzgerald criticizes the American Dream. In The Great Gatsby, a lonely man named Gatsby started out with no money, but he did a series of illegal acts in order to achieve his success. Despite his success, he was still unhappy because he had no one to love. In the end, Gatsby’s ultimate dream was to marry a beautiful and rich women, and acquire the American dream, which is to be rich and have power or importance. However the American dream forced Gatsby to seek materialistic...
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