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Post by oliviamccubbins on Jan 29, 2016 3:07:53 GMT
Faulkner and Steinbeck were also known for their explorations of the American Dream but all three of them approached the topic in different ways. Fitzgerald looked at wealth and love and the American Dream. The Great Gatsby in particular is focused on the excess of wealth and marrying for wealth. In the American Dream wealth leads to happiness and while Fitzgerald shows someone who is rich becoming poor he shows someone who worked hard for their wealth. Faulkner approaches the American Dream from the standpoint of old money. These people should have the dream, they are rich, successful, well-liked in the town. However his works show the slow decent from the top into madness. Both Faulkner and Fitzgerald showed the breakdown of the American Dream. Even Steinbeck discussed it specifically in the Pearl. We see the rise and fall there as well. In both these author's works we see the American Dream treated similarly to how Fitzgerald displays it, as an unattainable goal. You reach what you think it is but your are never satisfied. The American Dream is seen as the ultimate symbol of greed and these works are all basically warnings about how anyone can be consumed with greed and the need for the American Dream. A dream that is different for everyone but unattainable by all. |
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Post by margaretpalko on Jan 30, 2016 15:44:19 GMT
Hey Olivia. For my research paper that I completed awhile ago I actually analyzed one of Steinbeck's other novels called Of Mice and Men. This idea of the American Dream was also present in this novel as well. He used the lives of two poor migrant workers and their dream, which happened to be the American Dream. But throughout the whole novel it is hinted that neither one will achieve it. There are a lot of hints in the novel as to why and one of them is social class. I think that most, if not all, of the books we read about the American Dream touch on social class and its impact. What do you think the American Dream should truly encompass if not wealth and being well liked?
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Post by Ms. McGettigan on Jan 30, 2016 20:06:23 GMT
Great points ladies. Social class had a huge impact on achieving the American Dream in the works you mentioned, and also in society today! In society, it does seem like social class is pretty fixed- it's hard to it's hard to get out of the lower class especially. Do you think those authors, or others, would agree? Is that part of what they are trying to point out?
And, as Margaret asked (good question!) what is, or should be, our American Dream now? Is it different than it was in those examples of classic lit you brought up?
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Post by elizaneights on Jan 31, 2016 17:19:57 GMT
I feel like a lot of the authors are trying to show that the American Dream is just a dream and isn't really attainable for most people. Like Margaret said, Steinbeck hinted that people would not achieve the American Dream. I think the American Dream is about working hard to gain wealth, move up in social classes, and pass this wealth and upward social mobility on to their children so that they can continue moving up.
I think that the American Dream is in some ways easier to attain now than was shown in classic lit. Today, everyone in different social classes has the opportunity for education, and the people who don't have the money to pay to go to school can generally still go. This helps to lessen the differences in education between the classes, making it a little easier for the people in lower classes to move upward. In addition, women didn't have as many rights in classic lit, and their job was generally to stay at home and care for children. Now, women also have the opportunity to work and move up social classes independent from a man.
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kchen
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Post by kchen on Feb 8, 2016 0:33:18 GMT
I think that it is also important to note that Modernism was deeply influenced by World War I. At that point in time, a lot of people were achieving the American Dream through industrialization, but that the Great War changed many people's perspectives about industrialization. The poet I studied, Ezra Pound, believed that the way society was advancing because of industrialization would lead to a loss of morals and the rise of materialism.
Although I agree with Eliza that it is much easier for a woman to get a job and become financially independent, it is often difficult for women and minorities advance due to the glass ceiling across all professions. Also, the gender pay gap and little amount of maternity leave in the U.S. may make the American Dream less accessible for women.
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Post by aamornwichet on Feb 10, 2016 2:37:29 GMT
Even Steinbeck discussed it specifically in the Pearl. We see the rise and fall there as well. In both these author's works we see the American Dream treated similarly to how Fitzgerald displays it, as an unattainable goal. You reach what you think it is but your are never satisfied. The American Dream is seen as the ultimate symbol of greed and these works are all basically warnings about how anyone can be consumed with greed and the need for the American Dream. A dream that is different for everyone but unattainable by all. Olivia, it is really interesting that you brought up the Pearl. Because the failure of Kino and Juana to achieve their dream, resembled to me more of a German fairy-tale sort of take. The fairy tales of Germany often depicted fallen princes, kings or princesses being rightly put back into power and were often used as ways of keeping the lower classes down. So I thought of Steinbecks novel(an you are going to hate me for saying this) as almost American imperialistic propaganda. It depicted "savage" foreigners attempting to gain upward mobility but being struck down back to where they ought to be, which in this case is on the bottom. Kino's inability to gain even a small amount of wealth, was simply justification for American expansion (especially their sudden military in Central America and Caribbean at the time). That only those born into power (the Americans) should stay in power. Even in Gatsby, although he wasn't happy with the outcome, Gatsby was able to make something out of nothing. But in a foreign land, the pearl seems to tell us, they aren't civilized enough to have an "American" dream. |
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