The American Dream inspires people to challenge themselves to attain success. Benjamin Franklin’s The Autobiography maps Franklin’s road to success and includes commentary on how to replicate said success. Ralph Waldo Emerson’s Self-Reliance emphasizes the role of independent thought in achieving prosperity. F. Scott Fitzgerald’s The Great Gatsby explores the distorted American Dream in the Modern Era. Although Franklin and Emerson suggest that all people can achieve the opportunities America provides, Fitzgerald suggests that a subtle class system that challenges this egalitarian ideal. …show more content…
He lists several virtues related to perfection such as temperance, order, and humility. In addition Franklin emphasizes the importance of every task having an “allotted Time” and tracks all that he does throughout his day (300). In The Great Gatsby before Gatsby’s funeral, Gatsby’s father shows Nick a list of Gatsby’s general resolves and schedule from when Gatsby lived with his father: “Jimmy was bound to get ahead. He always had some resolves like this or something” (Fitzgerald 173). Although Gatsby adopted Franklin’s structure of self-improvement, the American Dream slips between his fingers. Franklin’s path to perfection does not apply to the Modern Era because an equal opportunity to achieve success does not exist. Regardless of how hard Gatsby attempts to reinvent himself to impress his former love Daisy, a line exists between those of old wealth and those of new money that he cannot cross. His failure to grasp this concept ultimately leads to his