American Dreams Lit. Analysis The American dream exists within the minds of individuals, who live in communities.
We can interpret the ideas of that dream based on the communities themselves. In The Wordy Shipmates, we follow John Winthrop, Roger Williams and Anne Hutchinson and learn their idea of, and path to the American Dream. In Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl we get to know Harriet’s struggles and how she ultimately achieves her American Dream. In both books, we find out that achieving the American Dream is much more difficult without the help of family, friends and the community. I think that both books highlight that sometimes to achieve your dreams you must be willing to take risks and leave behind what’s holding you back. Winthrop and the Puritans left everything they knew to start the life they wanted to have. Harriet left behind her family and friends to leave a bad situation and find freedom. The Puritans in Wordy Shipmates have a very important place in American History.
Winthrop’s ideas of Christianity and sticking together as a community helped shape how
America is today. The Puritans even went as far as having their seal from England depicting an Indian with a message coming from his mouth. The message read “come over and help us”, the same message could describe the American foreign policy over the past century or more. From Europe in both world wars to South Korea and Vietnam to Iraq,
The American dream is an example of a national spirit that represents different ideologies. The set of ideas may be of democracy, equality matters, liberty, rights, and opportunities. The American dream believes in freedom for prosperity and success for its citizens. The idea suggests that upward social mobility for individuals can be achieved only through hard work. In a story done by George Saunders, the American dream is exemplified in several instances. The author, George, tells the story of contemporary America through a diary. The main character in the story is a father to three daughters. The family’s struggles are examples of how individuals will go extra miles just to provide for their families and also
The American Dream expresses the idea that every citizen should have an equal opportunity to achieve success through hard work, determination, and initiative. Gatsby conveys courage, determination, and perseverance in his attempt to achieve his dreams to be with Daisy, to attain wealth, and uphold a high status in the community. “Her voice is full of money” (page 120), this quote ties to the desire of wealth and a high social status. People are proud of their success and like to showcase it off as much as possible. The message about the American Dream expresses that there will always be an infinite green light to strive for in life. After accomplishing one dream there is always a new one following shortly.
The American Dream started off as propaganda in order to make the American people of the early twentieth century work harder to build a successful economy. The idea of the American Dream is that every American citizen has an equal opportunity of making money along with owning a large house, some land, and having a family with kids. In Of Mice and Men, John Steinbeck illustrates that the American Dream, no matter how simple is impossible to achieve. As everyone has their own interpretation of the American Dream, Steinbeck uses George and Lennie, Crooks, and Curley’s Wife to demonstrate how the American Dream is impossible to achieve and how important the dream was for people so they could carry on with their lives.
When people think of the American Dream, they think of individuals who climb up from the bottom of society to the top through hard work and determination. This way they could gain possession of the materialist things they always wanted and live a joyful life as well as provide for their families. One also thinks of a society free of prejudice and discrimination where everyone is considered to have an equal status. Yet, when Mark Twain wrote his book, The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, he intended to reveal the darker side of humanity and how things actually occurred after the Civil War.
The American Dream is a concept that one may use as a crutch: a reason to hold on to hope. The American Dream is a goal one sets for themselves, a destination point for their journey through life. The novel Of Mice & Men by John Steinbeck is filled with the idea of the American Dream. However, Steinbeck has a controversial and differing message about dreams than one would normally think. John Steinbeck’s comment on the American Dream is that most dreams are unachievable. People aren’t meant to live out their dreams.
A major influence in the formation of their society was a Puritan named John Winthrop. A member of the first group of Puritans to sail to the Americas, Winthrop’s goal was to be something of a beacon of purity for the rest of colonial America. He believed that if they worked in unity, they
John Winthrop’s “Model of Christian Charity” was delivered to the colonists bound for Massachusetts Bay Colony to unite them and help them become a model community for England. Through his use of metaphors and biblical allusions, Winthrop is able to thoroughly convey the importance of remaining unified to his very religious Puritan audience. Previous attempts of colonization in America, such as Roanoke, the lost colony, had created a negative view of colonization. Previous colonists were also only focused on profit and did not build a stable community, which led to their downfalls. Therefore, Winthrop tells his audience that they must work together “as one man”. This metaphor compares the group of colonists to a single person who has one mind
If there was a favorable circumstance under which one could endeavour all their hopes and visions, wouldn’t one pursue it? The American Dream was introduced as an interpretation to cause the people of America in the early twentieth century to work tougher. The American Dream is the opportunity to reach the goals one sets for themselves. It is about having your dream job and life one has always fantasized about. The dream is also about having freedom and equality. In the novel, “Of Mice & Men”, John Steinbeck uses symbols and motifs such as the vicious slaughtering of virtuous animals, Crooks’ rubbish bunkhouse and Lennie and George’s deception of an ideal farm to exhibit the perception that materialistic success results in happiness is a major flaw in our thinking about the American dream, and it is this thinking which makes the dream unattainable for many.
The American Dream is this hope that many people have since in America you have the opportunity to become anything no matter your background but this notion was not equally available to many. Hansbery displayed the action of many White Americans took in order to keep many African Americans scared and oppress. An example of this is when Ms. Johnson talks about how Walter’s family is going to be in the
People living during the great depression had dreams but on seemed to be the most popular but with their own twist to their dream. The American dream is in the Declaration of Independence stating “Life, Liberty, and the Pursuit of Happiness”. This dream is called the American Dream. The American dream is a set of standards in which freedom includes the opportunity for prosperity and success that can be achieved through hard work and determination. Steinbeck uses the American dream to give each character a goal to work toward to. Each character had their own American Dream. Owning some land so you could live independently, to tend the rabbits or to be playing cards with the other guys.
In 1630, Puritan leader John Winthrop led the great migration to the New World. On board the ship Arbella, John Winthrop delivered a sermon titled "A Model of Christian Charity." His speech outlined the objectives he hoped to achieve in the New World. His ideals slightly influenced the Puritans judgments and philosophy however not as much as he had initially hoped for. It seems the judgments of the Suffolk County Court were not influenced by the Arbella sermon. Similarly, it doesn't appear that Winthrop's sermon influenced the testimony against Bridget Bishop either. However, the Suffolk County Court cases do differ from the case against Bridget Bishop. The paradox between the two illustrates both Puritan successes and failures.
Everyone has a dream that they want to achieve. The goal in life is to find something valuable to achieve. Many people immigrated to America for a second chance in life. The American dream is a goal someone wants to achieve in America. F. Scott Fitzgerald’s The Great Gatsby and John Steinbeck Of Mice and Men are two books that are prime examples of the American dream. The Great Gatsby is a story about a guy named Nick from the Midwest moving to New York for a job in the stock market. He finds many friends along the way, including Gatsby. Nick lived next door to Gatsby’s mansion. Gatsby used this mansion to try to marry a girl he loved named Daisy. In the end, Gatsby did not get married to Daisy. Of Mice and Men takes place during the great depression, which makes it hard for people to get work and earn money. The story is about two men in California who have a dream of having their own ranch. George and Lennie get a job at a ranch where they buck barley. They made friends with an old man named Candy, who wanted to help them buy a ranch house. Lennie had a mental disorder, which makes it hard for him to understand. He accidentally killed a lady because of mental disorder. In the end, Lennie was shot by George and he was not able to live on his own ranch. These two books are similar because characters from both books want to achieve their American dream. Although they did have their American dream, it was difficult for them to achieve it. F. Scott Fitzgerald and John Steinbeck
The American Dream is the belief that anyone, regardless of race, class, gender, or nationality, can be successful in America if they just work hard enough. The American Dream gave hope to all Americans that they have a chance to be successful despite their backgrounds. Although the American Dream inspired many, several people took a more negative view on it. Both F. Scott Fitzgerald and John Steinbeck criticize the American Dream in their novels: The Great Gatsby and Of Mice and Men. In these two novels, Gatsby and Lennie both have dreams they so desperately want to achieve. The green light on the end of Daisy’s dock is symbolic of Gatsby’s dream to repeat the past and be reunited with Daisy. On the other hand, Lennie has the dream to buy a patch of land with George where he can tend the rabbits. Although these dreams may seem harmless, Gatsby and Lennie made some big mistakes that led things to take a bad turn. By analyzing both Gatsby’s and Lennie's dreams, it will become obvious how the American Dream ultimately fails them.
The American dream begins in Early American Literature it is presented in Olaudah Equiano’s narrative. Equiano wanted to be a free man after being taken into slavery, although it wasn’t all kicks and giggles. "Hitherto I had thought only slavery dreadful; but the state of a free negro appeared to me know equally so at least, and in some respects even worse, for they live in constant alarm for their liberty, which is but nominal." (122 Equiano). He says that the trials of
The American Dream is a dream in which life is fuller, better, happier and free. In the two books Adventures of Huckleberry Finn by Mark Twain, and The Grapes of Wrath by John Steinbeck, each book shows the American Dream in a different way. In The Grapes of Wrath, the American Dream is shown as in illusion. That being because America is going through the Great Depression and it’s very difficult to make a living or even have food on a plate. However, in Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, the American Dream is shown as both an illusion and a reality. This is because Jim and Huckleberry end up escaping their old lives to find one that is better and new, but along the way they run into frauds cheating people of their own money, and other people