The American Dream

As we read about F. Scott Fitzgerald in my Literature class, I can’t help but think about what a roller coaster of a life that must have been. He was a man who loved to write and fell in love with a woman, Zelda, who would only marry him once she knew he was successful. After writing his first novel and becoming a celebrity almost overnight, she decided he was worthy of such a woman as herself and decided she would marry him. F. Scott Fitzgerald is famously known for writing the novel “The Great Gatsby,” which is a fictional story that entails his autobiographical ways of revealing just the lifestyle that he lived.

They lived a frivolous life of partying and drinking. They sought after material things and spent enormous amounts on inanimate objects just to show their stature. Fitzgerald was known as an alcoholic and continued drinking until the day he died. He and his wife suffered through health issues that later caused their death including Zelda being in a sanitarium, with Fitzgerald dying of a heart attack at the age of 44.

His writing, especially “The Great Gatsby,” portrayed how life was in the 1920’s. This was a time known as the Jazz Age where everyone was living large and spending their money at a rapid pace, just to be on top in society. They were buying nice homes, expensive cars, flashy wardrobes and any new thing that came up for grabs. They were all in search of the “American Dream,” which to them meant status.

The American Dream can mean different things to each individual but it all comes down to one point: that by our own hard work and motivation we can become successful and live prosperous lives. Where we differ is each person's definition of successful. Even our founding fathers were in search of the American Dream when they wrote the Declaration of Independence. They were in search of becoming more than what they were: Becoming frontier men.  They wanted to provide for their family and allow them to become prosperous people as well. Over the years The American Dream has changed and many have lost sight of what it even means.

To some people it means becoming an average person. Someone who marries, has children, lives in a nice home and provides for their family. Their goal is to stay out of poverty and to provide for their families and keep their head out of water. The extreme of this is those who want wealth. They want stature. They want everyone to see how much money they have and watch them spend it. They want extravagant homes, vehicles that are out of this world, to show off their expensive clothing and jewelry and the latest gadgets. The similarity between these two is that they both want more. They both have pride and expect enough out of themselves to become better people. They share the goal of self-reliance and standing on their own two feet. They have the drive of promotion, whether it is at home or work, they strive to push their selves a little bit further.

Then there are those who have lost sight of it all; those who don’t even know what The American Dream is or have lost all hope. These people are comfortable living in a state of reliance. Whether it be another family member, the government or a non-relative, they are willing to rely on someone else to achieve their goals and let some of it trickle down on them without any initiation to provide that sense of accomplishment for themselves. I have a sense of anger toward these people for not having any sort of ambition to become better people and strive to work for their own means of living. I guess this goes to show the blatant difference in people’s view of The American Dream.

A song that comes to mind is John Cougar Mellancamp’s “Pink Houses.”

The lyrics toward the end go:

"Well, there's people and more people
What do they know, know, know
Go to work in some high rise
And vacation down at the Gulf of Mexico
Ooh, yeah
And there's winners and there's losers
But they ain't no big deal
'Cause the simple man, baby
Pays for thrills The bills the pills that kill
Oh, but ain't that America"