THE AMERICAN DREAM
An Introduction to the Idea and its Development
WHAT IS THE AMERICAN DREAM?
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Phrase first coined in 1931, by James Truslow
Adams: citizens of every rank feel that they can
achieve a "better, richer, and happier life.“
Democratic ideas mean that the American people
can achieve prosperity through hard work.
An idea that has made the United States an
attractive destination for many immigrants.
WHAT MAKES AMERICA (THEORETICALLY)
DIFFERENT?
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Many European “caste systems” do not allow
much movement up through the social classes – if
you’re born poor, chances are that you will
remain poor.
Westward expansion started from Europe to the
U.S., then from the East Coast to the Midwest to
the West Coast. The frontier seemed endless.
HORATIO ALGER
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Alger was a 19th Century American novelist who
wrote stories about young, poor boys who would
move to the west and create a successful life for
themselves through hard work.
Most famous example of combining the ideas of
Westward Expansion, the “Self-Made Man,” and
“Pulling Yourself Up From Your Bootstraps.”
F. SCOTT FITZGERALD
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The wave of wealth
and prosperity in the
American 1920s led to
a widespread criticism
of materialism and
consumption by many
Modern authors,
notably by Fitzgerald
in his novel The Great
Gatsby.
F. SCOTT FITZGERALD
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The Great Gatsby
questions the American
obsession with wealth,
pointing out many of the
flaws inherent in an
idea of “success” built
around wealth.
Implies that the
American Dream might
be dying – the positive
aspects of the Dream
might be being forgotten
in favor of material
wealth.
JOHN STEINBECK
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The U.S. economy fell
into a deep depression
in 1929, which changed
many people’s thoughts
about the American
Dream.
10 years or so after
Gatsby, Steinbeck
critiqued the idea of
westward expansion,
and the idea that a man
could be a success
through hard work
alone, in his novels Of
Mice and Men and The
Grapes of Wrath.
HUNTER S. THOMPSON
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Inspired largely by
Fitzgerald, journalist
and novelist Hunter S.
Thompson felt that Las
Vegas represented how
the American Dream
had failed.
His Fear and Loathing
in Las Vegas (1973)
discusses how the idea
of the American Dream
has been replaced by
people seeking easy and
instant gratification.
THE AMERICAN DREAM IN THE 1950S
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Between the 1920s/30s point of view of
Fitzgerald/Steinbeck and the 1970s point of view
of H.S.T., plays like Death of a Salesman (written
in 1948) and Fences (written in 1983, but set in
the 1950s) explored the topic of the American
Dream in different ways…
THE AMERICAN DREAM IN THE 1950S:
QUESTIONS FOR REFLECTION
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1) What do you think the American Dream meant
to Willy Loman?
2) Based on your reading of Death of a Salesman,
how do you think Arthur Miller felt about the
American Dream? Was his point-of-view closer to
Alger’s, Fitzgerald’s, Steinbeck’s,
or H.S.T.’s?