| The prerequisites for the idea of the American
dream were moulding back in the 19th century, yet the very concept
was first stated by a revered historian James Truslow Adams in the
late 1920s and documented in his book ‘The Epic of the American.’
From that time on, the idea of the Dream was ever afloat and is
still apt nowadays.
In actual fact, the concept of the American Dream is firmly believed
to underpin the whole of the American life, serving as a stronghold
for all of the values the Americans cling to. To my way of thinking,
such grand ideas are almost always subject to if not tumultuous
argument then a publicity-backed burble for certain. That of the
American Dream acts no exception. It has prompted heated debates
from its very birth and has by now become a household matter of
any goes at the United States.
At the end of the 19th century as well as in the first decades
of the 20th century most of the American settlers did believe that
America provides equal opportunities for all, and it is highly probable
that you escalate socially provided you are plodding on, are determined
to accomplish your goal, trust in yourself, and etc. There is a
bright metaphor that in my view best epitomizes the American way
of life which reads, “Living is like riding a bicycle uphill.”
It means if you carry on pedaling you are guaranteed to move up.
The opportunities of transitioning from “rags to riches”
therefore are quite evident.
Yet the reverse side of the said idea is that when you settle down
somewhere in this society, dwell upon what you have achieved, cease
rushing forward you are supposed to be inevitably relegated. And
there is the rub. This intrinsic part of the mechanism does not
function. Those who have already made their fortunes just step aside
and live in comfy conditions. Thus they throng the way to the pinnacle
to those who are ascending from the very bottom. The invalidity
of this operation makes me ask myself: Is the American Dream that
real nowadays? And since the matter is quite two-pronged, I am making
bones about the answer.
On the other hand, the critics of the idea in consideration dub
it as ‘cynical and immoral,’ for it is confined to the
quest of loot, social rank, beastly competitive edge and so on and
eradicates the human qualities of an individual sharpening his egoism
and boosting the desire to outdo the others.
Francis Scott Fitzgerald in his novel “The Great Gatsby”
discredits the concept of the American Dream as a doctrine of an
unhealthy nation. He portrays this society driven by mercenary creeds
and motivations. And when they start penetrating in every aspect
and facet of life they do maim the very nature of Man. It could
in no way be something that will mae people happy.
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