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The American Dream In James Truslow Adams's The Red Badge Of Courage '

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Stephen Crane’s American Dream The American Dream was first written In 1931 by James Truslow Adams. He described the dream by writing, “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,” in his book entitled Epic of America. He continues by saying, “that it is not a dream of motor cars and high wages merely, but a dream of social order in which each man and each woman shall be able to attain to the fullest stature of which they are innately capable, and be recognized by others for what they are, regardless of the fortuitous circumstances of birth or position.” Despite being written nearly forty years before Adams novel Stephen Crane’s The Red Badge of Courage closely relates to the american dream. Henry is the perfect candidate to achieve his american dream, he’s young, he’s ambitious, and he has the perfect opportunity, a civil war. Henry’s american dream is to be famous and to courageous, but Crane represents his idea of the american dream through Henry's internal struggles. Crane proves that the american dream of individual success and pride is not as straightforward as most would hope rather henry must move far away from his dream and first move towards becoming a man, and more importantly become apart of a team before he can move towards achieving his dream.
Henry, more commonly referred to as the youth, heads off to war not to defend his country

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