The American Dream In James Truslow's The Truman Show

Decent Essays
While some say that the American dream is nothing more than a materialistic pursuit of fortune, James Truslow Adams believes the dream contains much more depth. In his “Epilogue” to Epic of America, Truslow defines the American dream as “a land in which life should be better and richer and fuller for every man… [a] social order in which each man and each woman shall be able to attain to the fullest stature of which they are innately capable” (Adams 404). While Truslow admits that material success is an aspect of the dream, he points out that the most significant elements of the dream lie in self-improvement and social responsibility. The dream, according to Adams, is having the ability to reach full potential without the obstacles of socioeconomic …show more content…
He places the responsibility of defining a “rich” or “full” life on American society. In order to do this, American citizens must have agreed upon set of values as a country. If citizens leave government or big business in control of this responsibility, it may persuade individuals that they should strive for material improvement, rather than self-actualization. ***TRANSITION***In the movie The Truman Show, Christof creates his conceptualization of the American dream through the TV show “The Truman Show”. However, Christof’s synthetic stereotype of suburban America relies heavily on striving for material well being, basically marketing the American dream as a product that people can purchase. Truman Burbank’s growing dissatisfaction with his life and inability to reach his potential in Seahaven, demonstrates that Christof’s concept of the dream is insufficient and that “a richer and fuller life” based merely on material well-being can have crippling effects on the individual and …show more content…
Truman Burbank grew up in a world where individuals place an emphasis on monetary improvement, rather than self-improvement, therefore Truman’s psychological state is significantly underdeveloped. If individuals simply strive for luxury and comfort, then they will never have the opportunity to venture out side of their comfort zone, gain experience, and mature as people. The movie portrays Truman’s immaturity most clearly through his rebellious attitude. The rebellion for autonomy and independence from authority, which most people have experience as teenagers towards their parents, Truman is undergoing as a thirty-year-old man. When Truman informs his wife, Meryl, about his plans to move to Fiji, she acknowledges that he is “talking like a teenager,” to which he responds, “Well, maybe I feel like a teenager” (The Truman Show). Truman’s juvenile mentality is a direct result of his focus on material securities instead of expanding his intelligence and developing independence. Similarly, individuals who view the accumulation of wealth as the sole measurement of success will have difficulty developing maturity and sense of

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