In the year 1835, America was quickly developing as a prosperous nation. This prosperity was beheld by many worldwide, including critical French journalist Alexis de Tocqueville. de Tocqueville found that though Americans themselves inhabited one of richest lands of the time, their happiness was rather scarce. Perhaps, thought de Tocqueville, Americans’ happiness went extinct as a result of their fear of death before accomplishment. de Tocqueville believed Americans did in fact aspire to greatness; however, they also wished to take the shortest route, a habit that inevitably leads to self-destruction. His question to Americans remained: how can one attain what he does not finish? Flash forward ninety years, and America was still going strong
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During this Roaring time, Francis Scott Fitzgerald wrote what some would call the greatest American novel, The Great Gatsby. Fitzgerald invited American readers into a world of illicit affairs, dirty money, and nonstop movement. These topics correspond to de Tocqueville's philosophy of the correlation between prosperity and happiness, as discussed in Democracy in America almost a century. de Tocqueville found Americans to be perpetually dissatisfied with their lives though he could see they were “the freest...most
During this Roaring time, Francis Scott Fitzgerald wrote what some would call the greatest American novel, The Great Gatsby. Fitzgerald invited American readers into a world of illicit affairs, dirty money, and nonstop movement. These topics correspond to de Tocqueville's philosophy of the correlation between prosperity and happiness, as discussed in Democracy in America almost a century. de Tocqueville found Americans to be perpetually dissatisfied with their lives though he could see they were “the freest...most