Post by jordynz2 on Apr 4, 2008 23:38:31 GMT -5
Jordyn Zucker
Period 2
In the play Fences, Troy Maxson pressures his children to achieve more success than he was able to but believes they cannot because they are African American. His skewed vision of success based on his view of the American dream diminished his relationship with his family. As a young man Troy’s dream was to play baseball but white society prevented him from doing so. Now as a father, his views of society are stuck in the past. Troy believes it is his job to protect his son from the society that prevented him from achieving his own dream. Troy is hostile toward Corey because of Corey’s immense potential in football. Because of Troy’s past experiences in baseball he is reluctant to allow Corey to pursue his own dream as an athlete. White society had knocked him down in the past. Troy was unable to play ball. He now he believes that same thing will happen to Corey even though times had changed. African Americans were being accepted in the professional sports world. Troy believes that it is in Corey’s best interest to work at the A&P instead of going to college. In reality, his views are false; if not for Troy’s overbearing actions Corey could have gone to school with a football scholarship and far exceeded Troy’s expectations. Unfortunately, Troy’s word is final and he prevents Corey from going to school. After being threatened my Troy with a baseball bat, he leaves for the Marines because he believes that is the best opportunity if he cannot go to college. Neither man’s dream was followed. Troy’s pressure on Corey created a hostile environment in his home, where dreams of others were second to the expectations and dreams of Troy himself.
Death of a Salesman shows the struggles between Willy Lowman, a salesman whose distorted idea of the American dream leads to his son Biffs’ estrangement from the family and eventually to Willy committing suicide. Willy’s idea of the American dream is that if a person is well liked then that person will succeed, this idea leads him to allow Biff to steal, cheat and forget his studies as a child. As Biff gets older he loses sight of himself, and although he was popular and “well liked” in high school he does not succeed in life. Willy’s family constantly feeds him lies that support his idea of the dream. Although he is unsuccessful as a salesman he is led to believe that he in fact is living the dream. These lies spill over to Biff, Willy puts constant pressure on him to be something he is not. Biff is not a suit and tie, he would rather be outdoors with his shirt off doing manly labor, unlike Willy, Biff understands that he is meant to be a blue collar worker. Willy pushes him to be a business man until the end, when Biff exposes all the truths that Willy had concealed, and this dream that Willy had is shattered from reality. In Willy’s psychotic state he aims to prove his obscure dream is a reality and kills himself hoping that many people will attend his funeral. Again this is a false belief and he has left his family confused, and shattered. They had been built up by lies and dreams for many years and have now fallen to the real world. Willy’s desperate attempt to have is son achieve the American dream caused his family to become estranged from one another, and after his death a family with little success or family pride to show.
The Great Gatsby exposes a dream that is unrealistic and illustrates the decaying moral values in family life as seen in the marriage between Daisy and Tom. In contrast to Death of a Salesman and Fences, this novel exposes Americans who have achieved the success that Troy and Willy were striving for, but remain unhappy with their lives. Tom and Daisy live a very comfortable life and have old money but now are looking for happiness. With all the money they have, the Buchanan’s never have anything to do besides drink away their woes. Each has a hidden agenda, Jordan Baker tells Nick that “Tom’s got some women in New York” and Daisy is really in love with Gatsby (Fitzgerald 23). Although Daisy is aware of Tom’s affair they will not get a divorce because they have old money and are already “living” societies perception of the American dream; appearance, reputation and comfort are in the forefront of acceptance. Society’s depiction of the American dream in The Great Gatsby is unreal because those who have achieved it are trapped and unhappy. This perception of the dream shows the unattractive side of achieving false American dreams, Willy and Troy worked to achieve what Tom and Daisy had, but in reality similar to the times it was gilded, gold and beautiful on the outside but empty, hollow and worthless on the inside.
Death of a Salesman, Fences and The Great Gatsby show a false and distorted perception of the American dream which led to problems within the nature of classic American families. Today, in the twenty first century, the American dream is harder to achieve than ever, because of the widening gap between the poor and the wealthy and the loss of the middle class. More stress is placed upon the modern family to work hard to make money; it is common to find a parent who works from dawn to dusk in middle class neighborhoods to keep the family afloat. The American dream for a child to achieve greater success than their parent’s puts added stress upon the child. Colleges become more competitive each year, as teenagers struggle to keep up their grades and balance enough outside activities as possible to show they are well rounded individuals. This social divide makes social mobility more difficult and therefore children must worker harder and strive further to meet their parent’s expectations. The unemployment rate is also climbing, casting away the poor society. The perceptions of the American dream in the twenty first century are just as distorted as in the twentieth century. Now society works hard to make more money to buy material objects that are supposed to make us happier, but in reality all of the new technology pulls us apart. Cell phones, email and text messages make communication faster and easier but take away the personal touch of a letter or a talk face to face. Just like in the twentieth century family life in the twenty first century is disintegrating.
Period 2
The False Dream: The Distorted Views of the American Dream in the 20th century
In the plays Fences by August Wilson, and Arthur Miller’s Death of a Salesman as well as F Scott Fitzgerald’s novel, The Great Gatsby, the authors expose the distorted view of the American Dream during the twentieth century. This unrealistic view placed a strain upon American families and impaired family dynamics. Art mirrors the society from which it springs and these works portray the struggle to achieve or maintain a dream that deviated from the original version, the dream that with hard work and strong family values Americans can raise their socio-economic status. These works expose the desperate attempts to pursue a false sense of the American dream, leading to the disintegration of the classic American family. In the play Fences, Troy Maxson pressures his children to achieve more success than he was able to but believes they cannot because they are African American. His skewed vision of success based on his view of the American dream diminished his relationship with his family. As a young man Troy’s dream was to play baseball but white society prevented him from doing so. Now as a father, his views of society are stuck in the past. Troy believes it is his job to protect his son from the society that prevented him from achieving his own dream. Troy is hostile toward Corey because of Corey’s immense potential in football. Because of Troy’s past experiences in baseball he is reluctant to allow Corey to pursue his own dream as an athlete. White society had knocked him down in the past. Troy was unable to play ball. He now he believes that same thing will happen to Corey even though times had changed. African Americans were being accepted in the professional sports world. Troy believes that it is in Corey’s best interest to work at the A&P instead of going to college. In reality, his views are false; if not for Troy’s overbearing actions Corey could have gone to school with a football scholarship and far exceeded Troy’s expectations. Unfortunately, Troy’s word is final and he prevents Corey from going to school. After being threatened my Troy with a baseball bat, he leaves for the Marines because he believes that is the best opportunity if he cannot go to college. Neither man’s dream was followed. Troy’s pressure on Corey created a hostile environment in his home, where dreams of others were second to the expectations and dreams of Troy himself.
Death of a Salesman shows the struggles between Willy Lowman, a salesman whose distorted idea of the American dream leads to his son Biffs’ estrangement from the family and eventually to Willy committing suicide. Willy’s idea of the American dream is that if a person is well liked then that person will succeed, this idea leads him to allow Biff to steal, cheat and forget his studies as a child. As Biff gets older he loses sight of himself, and although he was popular and “well liked” in high school he does not succeed in life. Willy’s family constantly feeds him lies that support his idea of the dream. Although he is unsuccessful as a salesman he is led to believe that he in fact is living the dream. These lies spill over to Biff, Willy puts constant pressure on him to be something he is not. Biff is not a suit and tie, he would rather be outdoors with his shirt off doing manly labor, unlike Willy, Biff understands that he is meant to be a blue collar worker. Willy pushes him to be a business man until the end, when Biff exposes all the truths that Willy had concealed, and this dream that Willy had is shattered from reality. In Willy’s psychotic state he aims to prove his obscure dream is a reality and kills himself hoping that many people will attend his funeral. Again this is a false belief and he has left his family confused, and shattered. They had been built up by lies and dreams for many years and have now fallen to the real world. Willy’s desperate attempt to have is son achieve the American dream caused his family to become estranged from one another, and after his death a family with little success or family pride to show.
The Great Gatsby exposes a dream that is unrealistic and illustrates the decaying moral values in family life as seen in the marriage between Daisy and Tom. In contrast to Death of a Salesman and Fences, this novel exposes Americans who have achieved the success that Troy and Willy were striving for, but remain unhappy with their lives. Tom and Daisy live a very comfortable life and have old money but now are looking for happiness. With all the money they have, the Buchanan’s never have anything to do besides drink away their woes. Each has a hidden agenda, Jordan Baker tells Nick that “Tom’s got some women in New York” and Daisy is really in love with Gatsby (Fitzgerald 23). Although Daisy is aware of Tom’s affair they will not get a divorce because they have old money and are already “living” societies perception of the American dream; appearance, reputation and comfort are in the forefront of acceptance. Society’s depiction of the American dream in The Great Gatsby is unreal because those who have achieved it are trapped and unhappy. This perception of the dream shows the unattractive side of achieving false American dreams, Willy and Troy worked to achieve what Tom and Daisy had, but in reality similar to the times it was gilded, gold and beautiful on the outside but empty, hollow and worthless on the inside.
Death of a Salesman, Fences and The Great Gatsby show a false and distorted perception of the American dream which led to problems within the nature of classic American families. Today, in the twenty first century, the American dream is harder to achieve than ever, because of the widening gap between the poor and the wealthy and the loss of the middle class. More stress is placed upon the modern family to work hard to make money; it is common to find a parent who works from dawn to dusk in middle class neighborhoods to keep the family afloat. The American dream for a child to achieve greater success than their parent’s puts added stress upon the child. Colleges become more competitive each year, as teenagers struggle to keep up their grades and balance enough outside activities as possible to show they are well rounded individuals. This social divide makes social mobility more difficult and therefore children must worker harder and strive further to meet their parent’s expectations. The unemployment rate is also climbing, casting away the poor society. The perceptions of the American dream in the twenty first century are just as distorted as in the twentieth century. Now society works hard to make more money to buy material objects that are supposed to make us happier, but in reality all of the new technology pulls us apart. Cell phones, email and text messages make communication faster and easier but take away the personal touch of a letter or a talk face to face. Just like in the twentieth century family life in the twenty first century is disintegrating.