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Crowd American Dream

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Although the United States of America was considered a relatively new country, as it has only been independent for a mere 176 years during the release of the film The Crowd, the economy was booming with an abundant of job opportunities; yet if you look closer it is extremely difficult to move forward in life, as The Crowd depicts the common man as a replaceable, faceless worker that is forced to suffer while the world moves on to an uncertain future. One of the earliest forms of big businesses in the United States of America were trusts, a separate legal entity. From railroads to Carnegie Steel to Standard Oil, these large corporations have complete control on a specific entity and can charge any price they want. The United States was …show more content…

John Sims, the protagonist, proclaims as a child, “My Dad says I'm goin' to be somebody big!” This is a reference to the American Dream, where people think they are special and are going to have many opportunities on their path to become successful. As John grows older, he becomes worker 137, a single worker in a crowd of identical and faceless businessman. John was just one of the seven million people who believe they can make it in New York. This scene showcases how there was no individualism and no social mobility. Everyone was doing the same thing, in identical desks with identical sheets of paper, making it hard to differentiate one from another. In another scene, it shows Mary Sims, John’s wife, making a list of what to with the money John received for winning a contest. The first of which was “Back Bills” at $220, showing the audience that this family was in debt. Mary also occasionally tells John to make more money as she is unsatisfied with this current paycheck. This scene represents how many families will never have enough to survive in this economy or be satisfied with what they have as the people of the United States believe you can always have more money. The film ends with a scene of men in identical suits rocking back and forth, with John and Mary getting lost in the crowd, which represents how the people are such a small part of the society and can be easily

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