THE AMERICAN DREAM
Money, Power, and Corruption
In James Truslow Adams' 1931 book "The Great Epic of America", he defines the American dream as such:
"There has also been the American Dream, 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...a dream of social order in which each man and each woman shall be able to attain the fullest stature of which they are innately capable...regardless of the fortuitous circumstances of birth or position."
Truslow's interpretation is similar to Haratio Alger Jr's who
believed that by living an exemplary life filled with good faith and
good deeds, one could achieve the American Dream as eluded
by Adams. Yet, no matter how exemplary one can be, there are
barriers and limits to success. Money, Power, and Corruption
have altered the American Dream and turned it into a fabeled
story achievable by few. Film and literature have expressed this
notion of a corrupted American Dream.
In John Steinbeck's The Grapes of Wrath families, like the Joads,
migrate to California in search of their American Dream. However,
corruption and greed on the part of landowners and corporations
make this dream unattainable.
On one hand there are the brokers in the film, Wall Street who seek wealth
to no end. Their success is defined by their hunt for fortune no matter how
unethical it may be. As a result, money has come define the American
dream.
Likewise, there are characters like Willy Loman who in Death of
a Salesman seek the same fortune that the character's in Wall
Sreet seek, yet this is unattainable for Willy. In the mind of Willy
the American dream is solely defined by wealth.
Lastly, in The Great Gatsby, Jay Gatsby's acquisiton of the American Dream is ultimately unfulfilling because of how money
has become the defining characteristic of that dream.
