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Gaylord's View Of The American Dream In The Great Gatsby

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Alex Ben-Gera 6/12/23 English Dr. Gaylord Prior to this class I had heard the term The American Dream before and didn’t really know what it truly was. I had once heard that it was the idea that every generation gets better and becomes more successful than the prior. When I heard this, I believed it was my job to become more successful than my parents in terms of wealth, having a bigger house and having more luxuries. The American Dream was the key to escaping the world that everyone else is trapped in and creating …show more content…

Gaylord was in our reading of the Great Gatsby. The whole logic of Jay Gatsby’s success was that he would eventually be so successful that he could be with the woman that he wanted, Daisy. As a class, we were able to realize that he didn’t want Daisy, he wanted the idea of her. Specifically, she would be a symbol of how much power he had gained through his rise in wealth. Furthermore, he may have had a substantial amount of money, but it hadn’t helped him gain the respect of others and those from East Egg and those who had old money. This is the first representation of one of Dr. Gaylord’s point out that money can buy emotional happiness and doesn’t help someone gain the respect of others. In addition, the American Dream was also thought of as a way to make friends and build relationships, but really only caused division between social classes and groups within each …show more content…

Unlike In America, Death of Salesman represents the logic behind those who are trying to achieve success. Specifically, Willy Loman believes that there is one key step to success or a specific path one must follow. That secret ingredient is knowing the right people, making connections and being likable. Yet, he is living proof that those aren’t the only things needed to reach financial stability. Additionally, he fails to see the point that hard work is the most important thing in order to reach a goal that so many others are attempting as well. In class we talked about this and compared Biff’s life to Bernard and the reason why Bernard ended up wealthy is because he worked hard, rather than winging it like Biff. This was the most important concept I learned this entire year because if you want to be successful, you can’t put in the work that is expected of you. Much more is required in order to reach the almost impossible American

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