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"

The Road Not Taken

Robert Frost is a well known author who wrote the poem "The Road Not Taken." It's a well-known poem that has been taken to mean extreme things rather than the context it was written in. He explains that he comes to a fork in the road and had to choose which one he would travel. He looked to see as far as he could to see where they led. He decided to take the other one, the "better claim, Because it was grassy and wanted wear." He goes on to explain that he thought maybe one day he could come back and take the other road but that he doubted that he would ever come back. He says that he "took the one less traveled by, and that has made all the difference."

When we think about the context of this poem, our daily lives can be thought of in these same terms. We are brought to many forks in the road throughout our lives, sometimes even daily, where we must choose which way to go. We look as far ahead as we can to see what the outcome will be, but we must choose which way to go.

There are many interpretations on Robert Frost's poem. Some say that we are strictly to take the path less traveled. In my opinion, it depends on the circumstance. Sometimes we take the path that our hearts desire. Sometimes we take the path that would please our family. Sometimes we take the path just because someone said not to. All of us make our decisions based on different things. Each decision leads us where we chose to go, whether it was a conscientious decision or a choice we made not knowing that there were consequences.

I believe that at the end when Frost says, "I shall be telling this with a sigh somewhere ages and ages hence," that he will be regretting his decision. I believe this is true of every decision we make. We look back and think about the "what if's" and how things might have been different and we regret the choices we made and wonder what it would have been like if we had taken the other road. I don't think that this is something that will ever go away because it is human nature to all ways be wanting more and wanting something better.

In conclusion from reading this poem, I learned that every decision is important, yet minute at the same time. We must live day to day and not over analyze each decision yet make them and go on with our lives.

Gilded Age

Bret Harte wrote "The Luck of Roaring Camp." This story was based in a camp of men who had one woman who was like a prostitute. She became pregnant and while giving birth to her child she died. The camp decided that they wanted to keep the child and the child brought a whole new outlook on all of the residence of the camp. The child later dies, but the point I would like to make is that these men were living in a camp to try and go out and better themselves. They saw something shiny and new and were willing to risk everything to get it. These men were living in the gilded age.

The Gilded Age was the time period after the Civil War. This era was the time where many things were changing. The actual meaning of gilded means that something looks good on the outside, but it can easily go wrong. During this time there were many people who were looking to get rich, buy things, move, expand -- while all these things were possible, it was also a possibility that things could go awry.

There were many people that set out west once they heard of the gold rush. There were countless people who left everything they had or sold it all to go out in search for gold hoping that they would hit it rich. The number of people that lost everything they had and never gained anything was remarkable. It was devastating the number of men who lost their families and left them behind and brought back nothing.

The gilded age was also a time where there were people who actually ended up on the wealthy side. The thing was, the people loved to spend their money on lavish, unnecessary things. Sometimes they would even spend all of their money on material things only to become so infatuated with having "things" that they were constantly trying to keep up with their peers.

One place that comes to mind when I think of extravagant and luxurious things is the time that I visited the Biltmore Estate in Ashville, NC. I can't even begin to explain the awe factor of this place. It is America's largest home with 250 rooms, 34 bedrooms, 43 bathrooms and 65 fireplaces. It has it's own swimming pool, bowling alley and basically anything else you can imagine. The goal of George Vanderbilt, who built the home in 1889, was for the home to be self-sustaining. Everything that could be needed or wanted was readily available on the 8,000 acre estate.

Although the Vanderbilt's did not loose their wealth and it was not a riches to rags story, it occurred during that gilded age time period where everyone wanted their things to be luxurious and extravagant. To see some of the beauty and the wealth of this home, check out this link to a video on their website. 

On a side note -- I found it interesting that there is a Roaring Camp Railroads in California. What I found even more interesting is that they have a civil war reenactment, which they claim to be the longest running civil war reenactment in the west.

Introduction

The purpose of this blog is to post of my emotions, ideas, daily experiences and how the readings of my American Literature II class are interpreted by me. This should be fun and interesting!