How has the American Dream changed from the 1920’s to now and how has the theme of the American Dream been supported by works of American Literature. We will see how the American Dream though time did not follow what the founding fathers set out for us in the declaration of independence and when they said, “The authors of the United States’ Declaration of Independence held certain truths to be self-evident: that all Men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are life, Liberty and the Pursuit of Happiness". We will see how the American Dream suffers, what an American Dream is centered on, and how, for some, the American Dream is unattainable. In "The Great Gatsby" by F. Scott Fitzgerald, "I Hear America Singing" by Walt Whitman and in "Harlem" by Langston Hughes we see the American dream depicted, as the loss and utter death of a distracted corrupt American Dream, as the love of the American dream, and as the American Dream for Blacks in a time of segregation and discrimination.
In "The Great Gatsby" by F. Scott Fitzgerald, we see the
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For example, Langston Hughes says, “What happens to a dream deferred?” (Hughes). This means, what happens when a dream is ignored? This poem was written in a time with feelings of segregation and discrimination toward blacks in America. In addition, Hughes says, "Does it dry up" (Hughes). Is the dream over? Can the American dream of the black man in America live? Furthermore, Hughes says, "Or does it explode?". Is the American dream dead for blacks and is it even possible? At this time the American Dream for blacks was near impossible but today for anyone if your dream “dries up” you fall behind. In “I hear America singing” by Langston Hughes we see the American dream depicted as the American Dream for Blacks in a time of segregation and