From great to good to bad In this essay I will analyse and interpret the short story “The Decline of the West” by Hanif Kureishi. Part of the analysis will focus on the story’s point of view and on the title “The Decline of the West.” This short story deals with the capitalistic society and it’s affection on families. The story is told by a limited third person narrator which is bound to the main character Mike. This influences the story because; the reader is only able to see the thoughts and actions from Mike’s point of view. Sometimes Mike’s actions and thoughts are relayed directly: “he switched on the garden lights and, looking out at the new deck where last summer they’d held barbecues.” And sometimes his actions and thoughts are flashbacks: …show more content…
Actions, thoughts and dialog are very elaborate. “Mike wandered across to the dishwasher, dropped in the lump of detergent, shut the door, tapped the start button and the world went black. The clock on the cooker stopped, its bright digits stuck on four round zeros; the microwave halted in mid-turn. All sound was suddenly suspended, apart from a dog barking in a nearby garden. Out of that moment’s nothing the little boy’s voice called, “Dad, Dad, Dad – do something!” It gives the reader a better perspective of the story. Not only does it give us a better perspective of the story, it also makes the reader identify themselves as Mike. The author has done this because he wants the reader to get himself to think about the situation the family is put in. This story could have been about every other family in The United States, so the reason of this point of view, is to display the situation in America and the consequences it can cause on families in a different …show more content…
Spengler believed that the “western man” is a proud but tragic and sad figure because; while the “western man” will strive for success he secretly knows that the actual goal will never be reached. This means that the “American Dream” is everybody’s final goal but anyone who is chasing and striving for that exact dream, also knows that they will never succeed and reach the “American
America still to this day holds on to the idea of the “American Dream”. This is rather surprising in today’s society and the ups and downs that the nation is facing. The dream in the past was more about freedom and equality. Moving through the decades, this dream has morphed into something quite different. Instead of what America means for all of its inhabitants, the nation has become more individualized. Society has moved to interpret the dream of what America can do for the one. Instead of the unified nation, America has been known for in the past, a shift has started creating an inconsistency in who can realize the dream. The myth of the “American Dream” has been hugely affected by increased materialism, the gap in economic status, and the fantasy of “rags to riches” idea.
With that, came the American dream. The dream that each person should achieve prosperity through strenuous work and dedication. There has been several works of literature that denounced the American dream as a false prophecy, as only coming true for a undoubted narrow majority of the nation. That is true that the American dream does not come by often. Although when it does, people cherish this nation and call it “ The land of the free and the home of the brave”. American history showed that in this nation, nothing is impossible, resembling what Einstein said “ Everyone is a genius. But if you judge a fish by its ability to climb a tree, it will live its whole life believing that it is
The term “American Dream” is one of the triggers that lead to the shores of the USA many thousands of immigrants, it had a deep meaning for them, and it was first introduced to us by an American writer and historian James Truslow Adams in his 1931 book called “The Epic of America”, where he gives the definition of the term how he said “The American Dream”, by saying
What is the American dream " life should be better and richer and fuller for everyone, with opportunity for each according to ability or achievement" regardless of social class or circumstances of birth” ( James Truslow Adams 1931). To break that down let's take it step by step. “ l ife should be better and richer and fuller for everyone” Meaning that every man woman and child regardless of race, regardless of religion, should be able to have a life full of happiness and fulfilling joy. “with opportunity for each according to ability or achievement regardless of social class or circumstances of birth” This statement gets me because it puts forward that everyone should be given the same opportunities from birth and choose to do with them what they want, but even as baby some of us are already ahead of others because of the current circumstances that our parents or care takers are in. The American dream that this man talks about sounds great but it doesn't go past just that a dream, For America to work you need to give people a reason to “Strive” for greatness or to better themselves, if I give the man who becomes a doctor the same pay as the man who works at a retail store why would anyone want the debt and stress of a job as a physician. If people who don't work
Dear reader, in this article I argue that the American Dream is the freedom to work hard to achieve success and prosperity. I use several quotes from famous people and from a few excerpts that I read. I explain clearly that people who want to work hard and achieve great thing will achieve great things and the people who do not work hard will not have success and will be left in the dust. I also explain that it is rough when you work for things, there will be bumps along the way.
Both the authors agree that the west is most certainly the main superpower in the world today. There were arguments worldwide, that the cause for the poverty in communist and/or third-world countries was the result of the rise in Western prosperity and the West was therefore able to dictate the rules of the game. These factors, both in Totalitarian and Authoritarian states, began to bring China and Latin America down one by one. It could be seen that there was only one successful factor left on the world stage, Liberal Democracies.
By article I read by Griffin and McFarland, I think, to America today, the main thrust and the heart of America has dependably been the "American Dream." The "American Dream" is an objective for a large number of individuals who live in the domains of the Americanized world. I trust that the "American Dream" is controlling my own particular predetermination, getting to be effective, and living free. Cases of this fantasy are things like TV, cars, markets, shopping centers, Internet, planes, trains, and so on. The "American Dream" is achievement, flexibility, and having the capacity to control your own particular fate. Getting to be fruitful has been the fantasies of numerous individuals of the over a wide span of time and I surmise that it is one the most vital things that a man must finish. Anybody and everybody can form into an effective individual, allowing that the individual conviction.
People can constantly smell the fear of the American Dream’s failure; and such fear does not come from no where. Instead, moral crisis could be captured back into the 1920s when people started to interrogate the criteria of achieving the American Dream in various ways, including filming about it. The American Dream The phrase, the American Dream, was first popularized by Truslow Adams who described it as, “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, The Epic of American (Kiger).
As with every turning point in any society, changes occur because of multiple dynamics that were occurring during a point in history. Through a chain reaction to many dynamics the Roman Empire divided and eventually the Western Empire collapsed. The collapse of the Western Empire allowed for one type of governing to developed in that region. And different form of authority, had been developing since Constantine had moved the Eastern empire capital into Byzantine. These two halves of the once Roman Empire held very different ideals on how authority should be viewed and how a government should be formed. These difference lead an increasing sharp tension between the East and West that to some regards can be seen in today’s society still.
The narrator, a boy named Mikey, tells of his father. He remembers many things about his father, how he made sandwiches, the smell of his breakfast, and his disappointment with life. He recounts of a time when his father lives in the basement for three weeks, not seeing him, but hearing him vomit and cry. One night Mikey hears his parents have a colossal fight and the next morning his father is back at the breakfast table with them and goes back to work. He describes a time where his father disappears for days on end and when the police search for him, they find him hitchhiking down I-74.(Some Memories)
Courteney E. Martin had showed an interesting lecture exposing how achieve “American Dream”. Regrettably, Americans focus your energy “working and working”, without interaction with other folks, and mainly executing labor don’t exciting. And this has ensued in wholly world. Thus, subject waste the most part of their life performing task that in fact isn’t their dream. And now we ask for ourselves “Why”? Why general societies follow such a life line? And quickly this question is answer by simple fact: the human want to be better and have much money. Then, the speaker wants, by this lecture, open eye of listeners, since the happiness and dreams not always it is found in wealth or status. Therefore, it is common notice depressed individuals
If people work their entire lives to achieve something that they can enjoy at the end of their life, they will miss the entire journey in between. "The American Dream" is the basis of American culture although some ideals at the heart of it seem incorrect.
The purpose of the book is to discuss the decline of Western culture by analyzing history from his perspective from Rome to his present day (the 1970’s). Schaeffer (2005) presents the idea that to redeem society Christians must live as God desires and completely live by the Bible’s teachings of morals and values. The intended audience would be Christians, because the entire tone of the book comes from a Christian worldview. Although, non-believers may read the book, they may not glean insights from it like believers.
The novel is based on a group of flashbacks which are organized chronologically and told by a number of narrators. Each participates in the part which conveys the theme most efficiently. So, the type of narration used throughout the novel is first person point of view. However, the writer does not
The very purpose of the book thus inevitably leads him to make a detailed study of the West, its values, its successes and failures, its chosen directions, its ruling passions and self-destructive interests and impulses. His thorough study of the West, which involves understanding, mastering and value-judging with high and rigorous standards, makes him question its very foundations – science and reason, the so-called solid foundations.