ipl-logo

The American Dream In 'I, Too, Sing America'

1320 Words6 Pages

The American Dream has forever been a controversial topic in which it is either achievable or not and it all matters on the perspective it is looked at, to the upper-class it is very well achievable as they might already be there but to the lower class it is not. The novel The Great Gatsby, by F. Scott Fitzgerald, is the portrayal of the American Dream and how it appears to represent liberty and the capability to make people wealthy through determination and hard work, but exposes the truth behind the dangers of greed and egocentric quest of contentment. While Langston Hughes’ portrayal of the poem “I Too, Sing America” is his imagination that one day, white and colored individuals will eat "at the table" with each other, and colored citizens …show more content…

Gatsby's original name was James Gatz and he was from a farm in North Dakota, … One day, he spotted a yacht possessed by a wealthy copper mogul, Gatz rowed out to notify him about an close by storm. The thankful man, Dan Cody, gave Gatz his name which is Jay Gatsby. Gatsby loves the luxury life and when Cody passed away, he left Gatsby some money, but Cody’s mistress didn’t allow him to claim that money, so Gatsby then devoted himself to becoming a rich person (Fitzgerald 6.--). Fitzgerald is speaking from a perspective of a rich white man who doesn’t face racial inequality and was not shunned by the people around him, although Gatsby did have a proper, healthy, rich, lifestyle and he was treated with respect, but he wasn’t content with his life. Gatsby constantly wanted more; he wanted love, he wanted wealth, he wanted to be regarded as “old money” and proves that even if a person pursues their crazy desires, they will always want more. Hughes is expressing how he is “the darker brother” and how “they send me to the kitchen. When company comes” as his views are oppressed (2-4). In contrast to Fitzgerald’s rich portrayal of the American Dream, Hughes tells the story from an African American perspective which shows the humbleness and little that they want yet they couldn’t do much to change …show more content…

Fitzgerald believes the American is misleading in the way it is usually advertised, as a wealthy- happy life of a rich white man, and views the American Dream as not realistic compared to Hughes. Hughes believe that the American Dream is very well obtainable with the condition of patience and drudgery, he also sees it possible for any American, no matter the race or gender, Hughes also looks at the American Dream as a beacon for hope and a purpose in

Show More
Related
558 Words | 3 Pages

It is the matter of common knowledge that the American Dream is a conception referring to a desire of having a social regulation in which every male and female individual is capable of reaching the fullest importance that is normally unattainable, and be distinguished by the community for their true substance, despite the fortunate conditions of the status. Moreover, this idea denies any limits or boundaries and provides equal opportunities for people of any age, gender, or race. “The Great Gatsby” and “Bodega Dreams” feature characters that most clearly represent a desire or indifference to join such a society. After all, the American dream is not different for a person of color in “Bodega Dreams” and “The Great Gatsby” because both characters view it as money, love, having a knowing name as well as being successful. There is no reason for the dream to be divergent for a person of another race.

Read More
504 Words | 3 Pages

“The American Dream” is an idea integral to the work ethic and overall ideals of the United States; simply put: the idea is that through hard work, the opportunity for prosperity and success is possible for anybody in America. F. Scott Fitzgerald wrote the 1925 novel The Great Gatsby as a critique of the rampant materialism and declining moral values he witnessed post-World War I. The novel tells the story of a man named Nick Carraway, who gets a glimpse of the frivolous, lavish lifestyles of New York’s elite, including that of the hopelessly hopeful Jay Gatsby; Gatsby is willing to do anything to win over the heart of the woman he loves, the unattainable Daisy Buchanan. Langston Hughes’ poem “I, Too, Sing America” was published in pre-Civil Rights United States (a hotbed of racism) and serves as his patriotic declaration that African-Americans will one day achieve equality in the United States and also be able to live the American Dream.

Read More
881 Words | 4 Pages

The American dream is a dream of land in which life should be better and richer for everyone. It’s a land where people succeed to accomplish their ambition of a better life. Most of the people have a different way of defining this American Dream. Unfortunately, for some, it could mean wealth,status,or power whereas for others it could mean companionship, good morals,love,and amity. According to our Declaration of Independence, it entitles every man and woman the right to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.

Read More
1352 Words | 6 Pages

The American Dream suggests that every American citizen should have an equal opportunity to achieve success and prosperity through hard work. One of the major ways that Fitzgerald portrays this is by alluding to outside events or works of literature specifically from that time period. Another major relationship that develops in The Great Gatsby is between Tom and Daisy. F. Scott Fitzgerald alludes to things such as the World’s Fair and “The Love Nest” to display the eventual dismantling of Tom and Daisy’s relationship. Both of these separate plots consolidate under the idea of Gatsby trying to become the epitome of the American Dream, as seen through his strive for a “perfect life.”

Read More
847 Words | 4 Pages

The Great Gatsby is a wonderful novel that explains the drive and want to have the American Dream. F. Scott Fitzgerald and his life really show the true meaning of the American Dream and how hard and difficult it is to achieve it. He went through many hardships during his life and yet he still was able to come close to achieving the American Dream. The Idea behind the American Dream is that anyone can go from being poor to rich and live a healthy lifestyle and get the most out of life without being financially unstable.

Read More
785 Words | 4 Pages

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.

Read More
842 Words | 4 Pages

Scott Fitzgerald would say that the American dream is a concept that you can achieve greatness or better circumstances by any means that you can. Also, the real dream is not riches because then people would become reckless, but the real goal is to reach ultimate happiness. He would say this because when people desire for something they are not, they go to measures the affect others and the outcomes are not often positive. The novel and Gatsby’s story show that the failure of achieving his dreams proves the the foolishness of short-cutting the dream by corruption without hard work, integrity, or real love. Fitzgerald’s version of the American dream would say that all have the ability to gain more success with hard work and being true to yourself.

Read More
1837 Words | 8 Pages

The deception of the characters in Fitzgerald’s novel signifies the emptiness and artificial lifestyle of people in the 1920s. From a young age, Gatsby has never accepted the life he was born into, always seeking a way to participate in the abstract customs of the rich, resulting in his lies to convince Daisy as well of others of his rich background. Gatsby is presented as a character that has not been able to transition his life to the present day time period, keeping his eyes shut from the realities of his dreams, "Can't repeat the past? Why of course you can!"(Fitzgerald 116). In Gatsby’s attempt to change all the features he was born with, including his name, James Gatz, he fails to realize that his dreams are not worthy of him and he will never be able to achieve them.

Read More
601 Words | 3 Pages

The view of the American Dream is different for everyone. The Epic Journey, by James Truslow Adams, views the American Dream as a dream of attaining one’s fullest stature regardless of one’s social status. Similarly, in F. Scott Fitzgerald’s book, The Great Gatsby, Gatsby’s American Dream relates to Adam’s dream but limited to materialistic wealth- a dream that seeks for motor cars, higher wages, and to impress the people of high status. Both Adams and Gatsby believe that everyone has an equal chance of achieving their dream. Adams says “The dream is that dream of land in which life should be better and richer and fuller for everyone, with opportunity for each according to ability or achievement”.

Read More
783 Words | 4 Pages

"The negative side of the American Dream comes when people pursue success at any cost, which in turn destroys the vision and the dream." In this quote, by Azar Nafisi, it explains how dreaming can be tainted by reality, and it that if you don 't compromise you may suffer. In the book The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald, the American Dream is one the many themes in this book. The American Dream that most people in this book obtains to have is wealth, statist, a fun social life, and someone to lust. It is the life we all strive to have until we obtain it and see it 's meaningless composure.

Read More
871 Words | 4 Pages

I. In F. Scott Fitzgerald’s novel, The Great Gatsby, the American Dream is depicted as a mirage due to its ultimate lack of fulfillment, outsider’s inability to obtain it, and the corruption it causes. A. Those who have achieved their idea of the American Dream are ultimately unfulfilled emotionally even though they possess tremendous wealth. B. The American Dream is a mirage, and thus unattainable as it limits success of an individual by their class and ethnic origin. C. Not only is the American Dream exclusive and unfulfilling, but it also causes corruption as those who strive for the American Dream corrupt themselves in doing so and the old rich hide behind their wealth in order to conceal their immoralities.

Read More
578 Words | 3 Pages

The American Dream is the ideal that every US citizen should have an equal opportunity to achieve success, prosperity, and social mobility through hard work, determination, and initiative. In F. Scott Fitzgerald’s novel The Great Gatsby, Jay Gatsby attempts to achieve social mobility but ultimately fails due to the constructs of old vs new money. An argument is shown that the American Dream is just that, a dream, and that happiness cannot be achieved through wealth. In the novel, the super poor are stuck in their social class, unable to move because they live in the valley of ashes, which represents poverty and the corruption and social decay that came with the lavish and careless lifestyles of the rich.

Read More
1034 Words | 5 Pages

The Facade of the American Dream The American Dream is the opportunity for all Americans to live a life of personal happiness and material comfort, but is it actually achievable? F. Scott Fitzgerald’s novel, The Great Gatsby, is a story of characters working hard to achieve the American Dream, but ultimately they are unable to ever realize their perfect life. The novel makes a strong naturalism argument about the rigid class system in society and the disillusionment of the American Dream.

Read More
908 Words | 4 Pages

Dan Cody taught him many things about being rich. “His parents were shiftless and unsuccessful farm people…the truth was that Jay Gatsby, of West Egg, Long Island, sprang from his platonic conception of himself…so he invented the sort of Jay Gatsby that a seventeen-year-old boy would be likely to invent...” (Fitzgerald 104). What this quote is mainly talking about is that Gatsby didn’t come from the most well off family, nor did he think he was going to go anywhere as James Gatz so, he reinvented his whole being. He changed his image, his backstory, and even his name.

Read More
1133 Words | 5 Pages

Fitzgerald focused on the shift in the American Dream - from being the idea of self-fulfillment, dignity and comfort that is achieved through hard work, to being equated with the pursuit of wealth and power, and identifying happiness with having money. The novel depicts the rise and fall of the concept and describes the causes of its decay. The downfall of the American Dream is most accurately shown through the main protagonist of the story – Jay Gatsby. To reiterate, the American Dream is the concept that anyone can achieve a better life and become self-fulfilled, if they put enough effort to it and make the most of their abilities.

Read More

More about The American Dream In 'I, Too, Sing America'

Related Topics

Open Document