The American Dream is closely related to the novel "The Great Gatsby". Social mobility is a reoccurring theme that appears in this novel, and many characters strive to change their life for the better. How was "the American Dream" defined in the 20's and how is it defined today? Is the dream to be rich or to just have a decent life? In the Great Gatsby, each character has their own goals and some characters like Nick are satisfied with a decent home and job. Others have mansions, like Gatsby and Tom, but with different intentions. Gatsby feels like his mansion seems incomplete without Daisy, who he wants to marry. Does the American Dream include more than just consumerism and materialism? Is a suburban house and a nice family enough, or do Americans strive for more, a mansion like Gatsby's? This website is an attempt to answer these questions and figure out how people define the American Dream, and whether this dream is achievable still.
Quick History of the American Dream
The author of The American Dream: A Short History of an Idea that Shaped a Nation wrote:
The Pilgrims may not have actually talked about the American dream, but they would have understood the idea: after all, they lived it as people who imagined a destiny for themselves. So did the Founding Fathers. So did illiterate immigrants who could not speak English but who intuitively expressed rhythms of the Dream with their hands and their hearts. What Alexis de Tocqueville called 'the charm of anticipated success' in his classic Democracy in America seemed palpable to him not only in the 1830s, but in his understanding of American history for two hundred years before that.
During the Great Depression, James Truslow Adams made the phrase "American Dream". He wrote a book called The Epic of America where he states: "[It] is a land in which life should be better and richer and fuller for everyone, with opportunity for each according to ability or achievement"
Since the 20s, the American Dream has grown to include social class, financial status, consumerism and materialism, and much more. Money has become much more prevalent in the American Dream, and the spiritual aspect has slightly faded. This website is an attempt to find various opinions from many people, and see how they define the American Dream. Is the American Dream defined by each person trying to achieve it? You decide.