Isabelle Dolcino

Brown/Knowles
American Studies Period
11/3/16

A persons experiences affect their interpretation of the American Dream because of the expectations based on ones
circumstances and the state of society.

James Truslow Adams describes the American Dream, as that dream of a land in which life should be better and richer
and fuller for everyone, with opportunity for each according to ability or achievement. What Adams is saying is that in America,
regardless of background, anyone who is willing to work hard will attain success. The American Dream gives everyone the
opportunity to become the person that they want to be.
Scott F. Fitzgeralds book, The Great Gatsby illustrates the idea of the American Dream. The book takes place in the
summer of 1922 with Nick Carraway, serving as the narrator throughout the story. Nick lives West Egg, Long Island and becomes
immersed in the lives of the rich people who live there. This includes Nicks cousin Daisy and her husband, Tom. Nick is invited
to one of his neighbor Jay Gatsbys famous parties where we are introduced to Gatsby, a mysterious man who seems out of place.
Gatsby confides in Nick that in his past he was in love with Daisy and has loved her ever since. Meanwhile Daisys husband Tom
is having an affair with Myrtle Wilson. Gatsby and Daisy reconnect, and Daisy confesses to her husband that she loves Gatsby
now. The tension between Tom and Gatsby is high and to make matters worse Daisy and Gatsby accidentally run over Myrtle
and kill her. Myrtle's husband George Wilson puts two and two together and realizes that Myrtle has been cheating on him and is
convinced that her lover has intentionally killed her. George traces Gatsbys car and murders Gatsby before committing suicide.
The book ends with Gatsbys funeral which few people attend. Nick decides to move away from the craziness that he got himself
into.
Fitzgerald used characters in the book to show his interpretation of the American Dream. Gatsbys view of the
American Dream was that with hard work and determination you could be successful. In fact, for him the American Dream was
being able to reinvent the person you were. For example, Gatsby changed his name from Gatz to Gatsby to separate himself
from the background he came from. His parents were shiftless and unsuccessful farm people (Fitzgerald 104), and Gatsby
didnt want that to define him. Daisys American Dream was focused on success based on money and social status. Daisy
believed that success was not necessarily measured by the work and effort that went into obtaining the success, but by the amount
of money one had. Daisy came from a family of money and cared most about her reputation and social status. When she married
Tom, she married him for his money. Even though she was in love with Gatsby and he had big ambitions, she never married him
because he was poor at the time. Gatsby and Daisy are alike because they both wanted to be successful, but Daisy cared more
about the money and Gatsby cared more about becoming the person his parents never were.

From analyzing these characters you learn about Scott Fitzgerald's interpretation of the American Dream. Fitzgerald
believed that anyone could be successful if they put their mind to it. Gatsbys success can be used to prove this. Fitzgerald
believed the dream was attainable because his characters all seemed to be living the dream with their fancy lives. But I also think
Fitzgerald believes that the Dream may be empty and may not result in happiness. Fitzgerald also shows multiple characters who
have had incredible success in life but who are unhappy in their marriages, cheating on each other, and shows other characters
who are lonely. In The Great Gatsby, Fitzgerald shows that an American Dream defined by wealth and status was unsatisfactory.
Each person has different experiences that will impact how they see the American Dream. Bessie Smiths, experience
is a typical rags to riches story. She began singing from a young age on street corners to feed her family. In 1923 her talent was
recognized and she signed a contract with Columbia Records (riverwalkjazz.stanford.edu). Her American Dream was to use the
talent that she was given to work hard and become a successful singer. She was not only successful and considered the greatest
blues singer of the 1920s, but she was also one of the highest paid black performers of her time, known for her talent and not her
race. Seymour Rechtzeit had a similar experience to Smith. After being called a wonder child because of his amazing singing,
Seymours family decided that he should move from Poland to America because there would be more opportunities for him.
Seymours American Dream was to follow his passion for singing, and since Poland was facing hard times following the war, US
was the place where he would have that opportunity. (Rechtzeit). Like Bessie Smith, he sought to make the best use of his talent.
Julia Marshall was another immigrant who came to America seeking the American Dream. Julia was born in the village of
Szekely Derzs in northeastern Hungary. At the turn of the century the peasant population increased and jobs were scarce. Political
and economic pressures forced many people like Julias family to look for different opportunities like America. Julia and her
family decided America was their best hope for a stable future(Marshall). Her American dream was to escape from the hardship
that her and her family faced in Hungary and to start a new life in America. Langston Hughes is another person that helps to
illustrate the concept of the American Dream. Hughes was an influential writer and poet. He was a modernist thinker and social
activist and was against injustice and racism. He used his writing to protest racial injustice and initiate change. Langston
Hughess American dream was to change the traditional way of thinking of African Americans and to be able to promote equality
to make a difference. Another important historical figure was Billie Holiday. Billie Holiday was famous jazz singer. Like Bessie
Smith, she was African American and she was the first African American woman who grew up in poverty. Her initial American
dream was to succeed as a singer, but after she became famous, her American Dream was to be an advocate for African American
rights like Langston Hughes through her music. One of her songs, Strange Fruit addresses the lynchings that were happening to
African Americans during that time.
A persons experiences affect their interpretation of the American Dream. Immigrants like Seymour Rechtzeit and Julia
Marshall saw America as paradise compared to their recovering countries and as an escape from all their troubles at home. They
saw the American Dream as something that would solve all of their problems. African Americans like Bessie Smith, Langston

Hughes, and Billie Holidays American Dream was focused on building a life for themselves not based off of race and to spread
the message of the cruelty of racism. Because they were racially discriminated against, this made their interpretation of the
American Dream focused on getting past the racial barrier to in order to succeed.
Multiple values contributed to ones interpretation of the American Dream during the early 1900s. In The Great Gatsby,
values that were significant were financial success and status. Fitzgerald shows Daisy as someone who didnt necessarily marry
Tom for love, but because of his old money which shows the value at the time of money and social status. Gatsbys desire to
become successful and rich to win Daisy over also proves how valued money and status were at the time. Another value that was
important during this time was duty towards ones country. When the US joined The War, the government needed to create a
strong sense of patriotism. They needed young men to enlist so they used strategies like propaganda to get Americans excited
about fighting in the war. They used slogans like Wake Up America to get Americans on the bandwagon and make them feel
obligated to serve the country. Another value in American society that was just starting to gain attention in American society was
equality. Specifically during this time, women were beginning to demand equal rights like the right to vote. People realized that
the views of the roles of women in society were outdated and needed to be changed. Women were being oppressed by the men in
society. Charlotte Perkins Gilman demonstrates this in The Yellow Wallpaper where a husband is constantly controlling his wife,
driving her into insanity. Another value during this time was safety and security specifically in the workplace. People were
starting to become aware of the unsafe working conditions in factories and reform was needed to make them safer. The Jungle by
Upton Sinclair illustrates the horrors of working in a meat packing plant. It talks about the unsanitary conditions, the diseases
people got, how people would lose fingers and hands, be burned by acid, and the workers that fell into vats. Writers like Sinclair
made people aware of the value of safety by telling the terrible working conditions. Lastly, a value in American society was
success. During the 1920s, our country faced problems like domestic violence, rape, gang violence, and crime. People believed
that alcohol and saloons were causing these ills in society because people often did bad things when they were intoxicated.
Americans valued success, and they believed that they could achieve it by taking away the things the would stunt it, like alcohol.
Alcohol was not only reducing ones ability for success, but was also reducing our success as a country. Parties like the Anti
Saloon league thought that by by banning alcohol they could solve these problems which would allow for a successful nation.
(Burns)
These values of the American society from 1900-1920 are still relevant today. For instance, money and status are still
relevant values today. Just as in the time of The Great Gatsby, those who have lots of money, like celebrities are seen as more
important in society and are more influential. Wealth and status are something people still strive for, and they use it as a measure
of success. Duty toward your country is another example of a value that is relevant in America today, and like in World War I
when the government used propaganda to get boys into the war, the military still has ways of getting people to enlist. Today the
American military is able to recruit enough troops by offering a large range of benefits to those who enlist like free tuition. The

US also enforces the value of duty toward your country by making every 18 year old male register for the draft which is instituted
in a major conflict. (HowStuffWorks.com). Womens rights are also very relevant today. The fight for equal pay for women is an
example of the need for reform for womens rights and it relates back to women in the early 1900s who wanted the right to vote.
In 2014, the typical woman working full-time all year in the United States earned only 79% of what the typical man earned
(WhiteHouse.gov). Women today want to have the same treatment as men, just like they did in the 1900s proving the relevancy
of the value of equality. Safety and security in the workplace is something that is still relevant today. While Americans no longer
have to deal with the long working hours, or unsafe conditions of the factories, many have to fear for their financial stability. The
federal minimum wage is $7.25 an hour. (Economic Policy Institute) Living on this small amount of money negatively impacts
the people today because it makes it hard to pay the bills and sends many people into homelessness and poverty like how the
terrible working conditions of the 1900s, killed people and put them into poverty. Lastly, the value of success is still present in
American society. Just like in the 1900s, there were challenges to this success. Today the costs of college education prevent
countless young adults from getting the education they need to achieve success or leaves them in debt. This relates to how
alcohol was seen as the thing keeping people from being successful and living up to their full potential. The fact that high college
tuition is an issue proves that the idea of achieving success is still relevant today. In conclusion, the values of the early 1900s still
exist today and many of the problems they faced in order to obtain those values we still deal with today.
Events from 1900-1929 shape the ability for Americans to accomplish the American Dream. One example of a
historical event that has shaped the ability for Americans to accomplish the American Dream is the suffrage movement. Before
the 19th amendment was passed, women did not have the same rights as men. They did not have the right to vote, which put them
at a disadvantage because they could not be involved in making decisions for our country. A womans ability to accomplish the
American Dream was prevented because they did not have the same opportunities as men. After the 19th amendment was passed,
women were given the same opportunities as men to vote It not only gave women of the 1920s a better ability to accomplish the
American Dream, but for all the women that followed. Another event that shaped the ability for Americans to accomplish the
American Dream was the Harlem Renaissance. After World War I, there became many new opportunities for African Americans
up north in major cities. With this movement, called the Great Migration, African Americans brought their culture to these cities
which began the Harlem Renaissance. African American singers and musicians like Duke Ellington, Louis Armstrong, and Billie
Holiday introduced jazz to these urban areas and became famous playing in the cotton clubs. The Harlem Renaissance allowed
African American performers to be seen not by their race, but for their talent. While there was still a long way to go before
African-Americans were seen as equal, the Harlem Renaissance gave future African Americans a better chance of being accepted
in society and accomplishing the American Dream. The Progressive Movement also shaped the ability to accomplish the
American Dream. As America's cities grew during this time, countless problems emerged including crime, slums, and sanitation.
Americans realized that reform must be done to fix these issues. For example, Thomas Burns changed detective work forever by

introducing the use of photography to identify criminals and starting the first national crime register, Jacob Riis took pictures and
published a book showing the living conditions of the urban slums and forced the country to deal with the problems, and George
Waring introduced waste collection, sewers, and recycling to make the cities cleaner and to reduce the deaths due to unsanitary
conditions. This reform shaped Americans ability to accomplish the American Dream because the advancements that had been
made during the progressive era made life easier and safer for Americans.(America the Stories of Us: Cities).
Historical events have not only changed ones ability to achieve the American Dream, but have changed the American
Dream itself. An example of an event that has changed the idea of the American Dream is World War I. Following The War, lots
of countries owed America money which caused the American economy to prosper. America was selling vast quantities of goods
that gave ordinary people easier and more enjoyable lives (OCallaghan). The Roaring 20s as these times were called, changed
the American Dream by making people more focused on material items, wealth, and living extravagant lives than if they really
had done what they had wanted to do with their life. This is change in the Dream is seen in The Great Gatsby, when Daisy is most
interested in money and status. In times of economic prosperity like the Roaring Twenties, people wanted more and that affected
their American Dream. Contrary to the Roaring Twenties the Great Depression was another historical event that impacted the
American Dream. America was facing hard times, and the economic depression gave people low hopes for the American Dream.
Unlike the Roaring Twenties where people dreamed of becoming rich and famous, during the Great Depression peoples
American Dream was just to get by. The changing tides of the economy and political situation affect the hope people have in the
American Dream.
Although ones ability to achieve the American Dream changes over time, the beauty of the American Dream is that it
is attainable for all Americans. While ones background might put them at a disadvantage to accomplishing the American Dream,
they are still presented with the same opportunities to succeed as anyone else. In America, your ability to achieve the American
Dream is not defined by where you came from, but by your determination and drive to succeed.

Works Cited
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