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The American Dream In The Great Gatsby And My Antonia

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What Is The American Dream? To achieve any dream or aspiration, a goal must be set, and steps must be taken towards that goal. To what goal are we collectively striving towards? Rather, are we climbing up the same mountain by different means and with different results in expectancy? “The American Dream” has been referenced as a common ethos for any and all American citizens. However, it has become a widespread connotation that either the same path can be taken or the same goal is present for most people. This is not entirely true; “The American Dream” doesn’t exist; rather “American Dreams.” Literature is a great platform to express and display strong, compelling, and direct messages. Both The Great Gatsby and My Ántonia demonstrate a theme …show more content…

He illustrates that Gatsby’s aspiration does come out of the goodness of his heart, but means he uses to achieve his goal majorly differ. In The Great Gatsby, Gatsby’s Dream is the one showcased. In My Ántonia, nearly every character has their American Dream presented. Whether they’re the main character or one that is mentioned in 2 sentences, they contribute to the idea of various Dreams. Even though each of these characters has different intended paths of travel, they all know where they’re going."Antonia came in and stood before me; a stalwart, brown woman, flat-chested, her curly brown hair a little grizzled. It was a shock, of course. It always is, to meet people after long years, especially if they have lived as much and as hard as this woman had… She was there, in the full vigor of her personality, battered but not diminished, looking at me, speaking to me in the husky, breathy voice I remembered so well." (Cather 238) This quote describes at least 2 characters Dream. Putting the obvious last, Jim’s Dream isn’t directly stated here. In fact, it isn’t his whole dream that is expressed. Just like all Americans can’t forget their Dream, he never forgets his love for her. He gets to close proximity in reaching his goal, he never grabs …show more content…

"The biggest danger is not failing to achieve the American Dream, the biggest danger is achieving a dream that you don't actually believe in." (Martin, Courtney. “The New American Dream.” TED Talks. February 2016. TED2016.) The new Dream is creating a rebuilt community of hope that isn’t solely focused on individual success; rather bringing everyone up to that same mountain and sending them on the way of their own

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My Antonia and The Great Gatsby are both stories of self actualization through the pursuit of each character's American dream. Nonetheless, the examples of achieving the American dream contradict each other. In The Great Gatsby, F. Scott Fitzgerald suggests that the American dream is unachievable, that it is an ideal that Americans strive for but are never able to fully achieve. In Contrast, My Antonia argues that achieving the American dream is relative and not linear to just one dream and that if one is happy then they have achieved it. Gatsby is the example we’re given to the Great Gatsby of someone trying to achieve the American dream, after he dies, Nick reflects on who Gatsby was and what he stood for in regards to this dream stating that “Gatsby [had] believed in the green light, the orgastic future that year by year recedes before us.

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