American Dream Literature

Book Review # 97577

English > Analysis
Literature > American
Sociology

This paper reviews F. S. Fitzgerald's "The Great Gatsby" and A. Miller's "Death of a Salesman" to better understand the concept of the American Dream.

2,175 words () | 0 sources | 2007 France

Paper Summary:

This paper explains that F. S. Fitzgerald's "The Great Gatsby" and A. Miller's "Death of a Salesman" establish a very similar critique of society in their presentation of the theme of American Dream and in reaching the same conclusions; however, both authors chose different ways of approaching the subject. The author points out that, whereas Miller explains the difficulty of a lower class to succeed, Fitzgerald describes how even in achievement, an individual can't be that successful. The paper concludes, from analyzing these books, that the American Dream (1) is not a reality for everyone, (2) made society too materialistic, (3) some things can't be achieved even with talent and motivation and (4) competition made society ruthless.

From the Paper:

"The second thing that Fitzgerald critiques in society is that the American Dream, when it happens to work, might not always be honest. Indeed, some are so obsessed with success that they are capable of using corrupt means to prosper. Wolfshiem is gambler who "fixed the World Series" in 1919 (p.71). The reference to this character is a way for the author to point out the Mafia's activities. His point of view on the subject can be seen p.71 when Nick says : "The idea staggered me [...] It never occurred to me that one man could start to play with the faith of fifty million people ..."