Two Decades of Dreams

Two Decades of Dreams A Textual Analysis of the American Dream in Opposing Settings Lynsey Schroeder Language A1 Individual Oral Presentation November 2009 • Main Points • Complexity • Attainability • Presence

The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald • 1920’s American East • “The Roaring Twenties” • Economic Prosperity • Wealthy Society • Main Characters: • Nick Carraway • Jay Gatsby • Represents Abnormality • Tom Buchanan • Daisy Buchanan

Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck • 1930’s American West • “The Great Depression” • Economic Devastation • Society of Farmhands • Main Characters: • George Milton & Lennie Small • Represent Abnormality • Slim • Candy • Curley • Curley’s Wife • Crooks

What is the American Dream? • The American Dream noun. An American ideal of a happy and successful life to which all may aspire. • Suc⋅cess [suhk-ses] noun. The favorable or prosperous termination of attempts or endeavors. • The American Dream is generally defined as owning a home, being self-sufficient, etc. • Success: • Achievement • Happiness • Prosperity

Complexity of the Dream An extravagant dream versus a modest dream, due to the setting of each text.

Of Mice and Men • George]: ‘O.K. Someday –we’re gonna get the jack together and we’re gonna have a little house and a couple of acres an’ a cow and some pigs and—’ Lennie shouted. ‘An’ have rabbits!’” (Steinbeck, 13) Low Standard of Living Low Expectations

The Great Gatsby • “‘The only crazy I was was when I married him. I knew right away I made a mistake. He borrowed somebody’s best suit to get married in, and never even told me about it, and the man came after it one day when he was out.’ She looked around to see who was listening. ‘Oh, is that your suit?’ I said. ‘This is the first I ever heard about it.’ But I gave it to him and then I lay down and cried to beat the band all afternoon’” (Fitzgerald, 35) High Standard of Living High Expectations

Gatsby’s Abnormal Goal • Same goal, but for a different reason. • Wants to be wealthy to please Daisy. • “‘She only married you because I was poor and she was tired of waiting for me’” (130). • Daisy is Gatsby’s dream. • “I thought of Gatsby’s wonder when he first picked out the green light at the end of Daisy’s dock. He had come a long way to this blue lawn, and his dream must have seemed so close that he could hardly fail to grasp it” (180). • The Green Light is the symbol of Gatsby’s dream. • Main dream = humble, means of getting there = extravagant • Both supports and contradicts the trend. • Does not fit into normal society, so his contradiction supports the trend.

Attainability of the Dream The difficulty of attaining one’s Dream, due to the setting of each text.

Of Mice and Men • “George said softly, ‘-I think I knowed from the very first, I think I knowed we’d never do her. He usta like to hear about it so much I got to thinking maybe we would’” (Steinbeck, 90) Low Standard of Living Inability to Reach Goals

Lennie’s Death • Lennie imagines the dream right before he is killed. • Carries it with him into death. • “‘…Lennie. Look down there acrost the river, like you can almost see the place.’ Lennie obeyed him. George looked down at the gun…” (101)

The Great Gatsby • Tom, Nick, and Daisy are all wealthy. • Their dreams were easily achieved. High Standard of Living Goals are Easily Accomplished

Gatsby’s Death • Unlike the others, Gatsby does not achieve his dream. • “Gatsby believed in the green light, the orgastic future that year by year recedes before us. It eluded us then, but that’s no matter—tomorrow we will run faster, stretch out our arms farther. . . . And then one fine morning— So we beat on, boats against the current, borne back ceaselessly into the past” (Fitzgerald, 180) • Gatsby continues to work forward, yet always moves backward. • Takes his dream to the grave, like Lennie.

Presence of the Dream The existence of the American Dream in normal society, due to the setting of each text.

Of Mice and Men • “[Crooks]: ‘I seen hundreds of men come by on the road an’ on the ranches, with their bindles on their back an’ that same damn thing in their heads. Hundreds of them. They come, an’ they quit an’ go on; an’ every damn one of ‘em’s got a little piece of land in his head’” (Steinbeck, 70) • “‘George, how long’s it gonna be till we get that little place an’ live on the fatta the lan’?’” (53)

The Great Gatsby • “[Daisy] went on in a convinced way. ‘Everybody thinks so —the most advanced people. And I know. I’ve been everywhere and seen everything and done everything.’” (Fitzgerald, 17)

Gatsby As the Outcast • Unlike the other characters, Gatsby has an American Dream. • He is, in some ways, above the others in society because he is not as shallow and materialistic. • “‘They’re a rotten crowd,’ [Nick] shouted across the lawn. ‘You’re worth the whole damn bunch put together’” (154) • Wanted wealth because he wants Daisy.

The Great Gatsby • Economic Prosperity • Decline of the Dream • People have everything, thus have nothing more to hope for. • Extravagant, Materialistic Dreams • High standard of living leads to high expectations. • Dreams are Easily Attained • Economic Downfall • Increase of the Dream • Americans need motivation to get them through the tough times. • Simple, Modest Dreams • Low standard of living leads to low expectations. • Dreams are Near Impossible to Attain Of Mice and Men

End Fitzgerald, Francis S. The Great Gatsby. New York, NY: Scribner, 2004. Print. Steinbeck, John. Of Mice and Men. New York, NY: Penguin Books Ltd., 2002. Print.

Two Decades of Dreams