The American Dream: Realistic or Not?
Many American writers have written about the theory of the American Dream. It is a concept that has been debated about and discussed throughout American history since the early 19th century. Whether or not it is possible to attain a life that embodies the dream is still in question and many writers continue to debate about this concept and its evolution. F. Scott Fitzgerald and Arthur Miller are two American authors who have written about the American Dream. Both in Fitzgerald’s novel The Great Gatsby and Miller’s play The Death of a Salesman the authors address the theory behind the ideal. Fitzgerald and Miller describe the dream as both desirable and elusive yet flawed. Fitzgerald utilized The Great Gatsby to show the flawed nature of human beings in their attempt to reach the American Dream while Miller uses The Death of a Salesman to show the flawed nature of the dream in its totality. In each written piece there are several commonalities; however, there are also stark differences between the ways each author viewed the dream. In truth, the American Dream is an ambiguous concept that cannot be easily defined or attained. It is ever-changing based upon who is dreaming and what their individual idea of success is. Both Fitzgerald and Miller address this …show more content…
In The Death of a Salesman, Willy commits suicide in the final act of the play and in The Great Gatsby Gatsby is killed at the end of the novel. The death of both of these characters is highly symbolic in each novel. The deaths were the authors way of symbolizing the final step towards the American Dream—death. Fitzgerald and Miller had already conceded that attaining the American Dream was impossible so the final step for each character was to die. By killing the main characters the authors are the saying that the pursuit of success will ultimately kill you because of its
Many American writers have written about the theory of the American Dream. It is a concept that has been debated about and discussed throughout American history since the early 19th century. Whether or not it is possible to attain a life that embodies the dream is still in question and many writers continue to debate about this concept and its evolution. F. Scott Fitzgerald and Arthur Miller are two American authors who have written about the American Dream. Both in Fitzgerald’s novel The Great Gatsby and Miller’s play The Death of a Salesman the authors address the theory behind the ideal. Fitzgerald and Miller describe the dream as both desirable and elusive yet flawed. Fitzgerald utilized The Great Gatsby to show the flawed nature of human beings in their attempt to reach the American Dream while Miller uses The Death of a Salesman to show the flawed nature of the dream in its totality. In each written piece there are several commonalities; however, there are also stark differences between the ways each author viewed the dream. In truth, the American Dream is an ambiguous concept that cannot be easily defined or attained. It is ever-changing based upon who is dreaming and what their individual idea of success is. Both Fitzgerald and Miller address this …show more content…
In The Death of a Salesman, Willy commits suicide in the final act of the play and in The Great Gatsby Gatsby is killed at the end of the novel. The death of both of these characters is highly symbolic in each novel. The deaths were the authors way of symbolizing the final step towards the American Dream—death. Fitzgerald and Miller had already conceded that attaining the American Dream was impossible so the final step for each character was to die. By killing the main characters the authors are the saying that the pursuit of success will ultimately kill you because of its