Analysis Of The American Dream

From the very beginning, America has been a symbol of freedom. Many Europeans went there trying to achieve it. That is the case of the Pilgrim Fathers, who crossed the Atlantic Ocean escaping from religious oppression in the 17th century. They firmly believed that in this continent they would be able to start a new life. Besides, the United States of America was the first country in the world who became independent from the European power. Still today, it is seen as the place where you can improve your economic situation, escape from any kind of oppression or even become famous. However, it can be observable that plenty of artists, such as musicians, singers and writers have challenged “the American Dream”. Is this dream likely to achieve

For instance, in the verse “This could be Heaven or this could be Hell” (Felder, Frey & Henley, 1976) we are able to see this opposition and how the driver is struggling with the decision of enter to the hotel or not. From this point of view, we could infer that going into the hotel symbolises to succumb to the temptation that the city offers. “Welcome to the Hotel California, such a lovely place” are the words of welcome to a place, where once you enter there, you are caught in it, as the song says “And she said "We are all just prisoners here, of our own device" ”( Felder, Frey & Henley, 1976). Therefore, when the driver realised that he is trapped in this style of living, he tried to escape from that, but he could not become free from his anguish. According to “Hotel California”, “You can check-out any time you like, but you can never leave!”(Felder, Frey & Henley, 1976), this line is a way of illustrating how men are enslaved to a hedonistic life. For this reason, we can deduce that the song is about the gloominess of the American dream, an evident failure of a life based on materialism. Under these circumstances, we can assert this failing is due to the fact that people get involved in a lifestyle, in which they cannot get complete satisfaction. The need for wanting more give people a sense of feeling incomplete and unfulfilled and this feeling can lead to slavery, spiritual as well as physical