The American Nightmare - 2241 Words

The American Nightmare â€Å"It was an extraordinary gift for hope, a romantic readiness such as I have never found in any other person and which it is not likely I shall ever find again† (Fitzgerald 6). In The Great Gatsby, the narrator, Nick Carraway, was describing his neighbor’s goal of marrying a woman named Daisy. Gatsby, however, did not realize the futility of his dream which ended up costing him his life. The Great Gatsby was written by Fitzgerald in 1925 and takes place in the summer of 1922. The belief that anyone could get rich through hard work was still alive at the time and is evident in the novel as both Gatsby and Carraway are â€Å"newly rich† characters. Fitzgerald himself grew up in a well-off family, similar to Carraway. Later on, Fitzgerald joined the Army during World War I, as did Gatsby and Carraway. Gatsby was a successful officer in the Army when he met a woman named Daisy who would then be the only concern in his life. Carraway was a s omewhat successful bond salesman who lived next door to Gatsby and liked to believe he was a fair and honest man. Daisy was a woman who, in simple terms, was a gold digger. Daisy’s only concern was to stay in the upper class, so she married a rich man instead of Gatsby, which crushed his dream. If The Great Gatsby centered around Gatsby’s failed dream, the quick gain of money, and selfishness, then the novel may be a criticism of the American Dream. The Great Gatsby takes place in the summer of 1922 around Long Island, NewShow MoreRelatedThe Nightmare Of The American Dream1538 Words   |  7 PagesThe Nightmare of the American Dream. Introduction The future of work is a topic that many people don’t take the time to actually analyze and question as to what it will be like when the future actually comes. The films Wage Crisis by Michael Maher; Park Avenue: Money, Power and the American Dream: Why Poverty? by Alex Gibney; and The Secret of Oz by Ben Still, are some of the films that highlight the future of work and the how the wages and the economy are really affecting those who are looking forRead More My American Nightmare Essay1242 Words   |  5 PagesMy American Nightmare Many people today talk of their American Dreams†¦how much they want to fulfill a fantasy of houses, wives, cars, and jobs that pay well. To me, becoming the same as everyone else†¦fulfilling the dream of a life that I don’t want is in truth not a dream, but a horrible nightmare which my education has tried to direct me towards, and that I have fought at every turn. Anyone can live the life of another person. It’s quite simple to just copy others desires and dreamsRead MoreThe Great Gatsby : An American Nightmare1226 Words   |  5 PagesAlex Joo Mr. Shaffer ENG4U1 January 8th, 2015 The Great Gatsby: an American Nightmare At the end of the day everyone ends up in the same place—six feet under. By then, many end up having lived fulfilling lives and die with no regrets. Far too many do not. The Great Gatsby, by F. Scott Fitzgerald, presents the issue in pursuing the impossible: the American Dream. A dream in which all are â€Å"able to attain to the fullest stature of which they are innately capable† (Adams 215). Unfortunately, the latterRead MoreIs The American Dream Creating An American Nightmare?1381 Words   |  6 PagesIs The American Dream Creating an American Nightmare? Children are told from an early age that they can become anything they want to be, and people flock in droves to the United States, â€Å"The Land of Opportunities† to achieve this American Dream. Author, James T. Adams, coined the term American Dream in his book â€Å"The Epic of America† as, That dream of a land in which life should be better and richer and fuller for everyone, with opportunity for each according to ability or achievement.† (Adams pRead MoreThe American Dream : An Unfortunate Nightmare1235 Words   |  5 Pages The American Dream: An unfortunate Nightmare Institutionalized racism: the big elephant in the room. By definition, institutionalized racism is â€Å"Any action, intentional or unintentional, that is based on race or skin color and that subordinates an individual or group based on skin color or race is racism† says professor Vernellia R. Randall( cite). Institutionalized racism exist in ever facet of our society. They’re many cases where a decision was made based on someones race. For example: discriminationRead MoreEssay on The American Dream to the American Nightmare1455 Words   |  6 Pagesfinancial range. Bigger homes meant higher mortgages, property taxes, and home utilities. All of this combined with loans that started to mature and raise interest rates, paved the way homeowners to default. As the housing noose tightened and Americans found themselves looking for some type of relief or assistance from the banks, little to nothing could be found. Some were fortunate enough to find relief in the Truth in Lending Act (Bagats 2008). This statute provided assistance to the borrowersRead More Essay on African-American American Nightmare in Song of Solomon798 Words   |  4 PagesAmerican Dream or African-American American Nightmare       The Declaration of Independence was written so Americans could achieve this dream, but the African slave was never intended to be a part of this American Dream. To the African-American, there were and still are many restrictions that go along with the American Dream.    In Toni Morrisons novel, Song of Solomon, Macon Dead craved for the American Dream. He was in denial and believed that he could be just as successful as theRead MoreCollege : An American Dream Or A Financial Nightmare? Essay1238 Words   |  5 PagesCollege: An American dream or a financial nightmare? The increases in tuition affecting today s generation of college students remains a subject worth discussing. If you are a college student or plan on pursuing higher education in the years to come, inflation rates directly influence your tuition. It s important to understand why tuition rates continue to exceed inflation. A majority of contributing factors are discussed in this paper. In 2008 the real estate market took a turn forRead More OBriens Things They Carried Essay: An American Nightmare1474 Words   |  6 PagesHistory has shaped every country and their people, in particular negative experiences like the Holocaust in Nazi-Germany or the Vietnam war, involving the United States in a grueling controversy from 1964 until 1975. The author Tim OBrian confronts an American audience in his short stories The Things They Carried with the inhumane consequences of political and military power decisions by rewriting history from a subjective,individual point of view. Thus he forces the audience to take a stand, to askRead MoreThe American Dream, the Global Nightmare Essay1415 Words   |  6 PagesThere is no escape. It encompasses every factor of the modern American lifestyle. It all begins with The American Dream, in which everyone strives to become part of the ideal, the obsession, that supposedly defines how happiness can be obtained. But happiness is not, contrary to the beliefs of the American Dreamers, measured on a checklist including 2.5 kids, 1 dog, 1 cat, quaint house in suburbs, white picket fence, 2 car garage, freshly mowed lawn, etc. That image is a facade over the ever-crumbling