The American Dream is a common, mostly unspoken goal of the people living in America. The two stories, Raisin in the Sun, by Lorraine Hansberry, and The Great Gatsby, by F. Scott Fitzgerald, both illustrate their own ideas and images of the American Dream. The different people in the books have similar and sometimes opposing views on parts of it.
Firstly, both Walter Younger and Gatsby want to seem very successful. Walter does whatever it takes to get lots of money in as little amount of time as possible. For example, when he gives all his money, including his sister’s college fund, to his friend to invest in a liquor store. He doesn’t realize that this would be a bad idea, which then results in the family losing a great amount of their finances. Gatsby is similar to Walter in the sense that he wants to show off his riches. He is constantly throwing parties that he himself doesn’t even attend, just for the sake of people knowing who he is and how much money he has to spend. In addition to this, he also tore himself away from his poor family, which included changing his name so he wouldn’t have to be embarrassed of them. Walter and Gatsby portray part of the American Dream that includes forgetting regular morals in pursuit of their goals.
In contrast to the disintegrating morals of Walter and Gatsby, the American Dream is shown in Daisy Buchanan and Ruth Younger in an opposite way. Both Daisy and Ruth want a perfect family life. Neither of them has luck with their significant others; Daisy’s husband is cheating on her, and Ruth and Walter disagree on many topics. For example, Daisy knew about Tom having an affair with Myrtle, but she doesn’t want to do anything about it because she’s afraid it might tear apart their family, more than it already is. Ruth does the same thing in the sense that she tries not to fight with Walter, such as in the opening scene of the story, and her main purpose in the household is to be the glue that keeps it together. Both Daisy and Ruth show the aspects of the perfect family life on their road to the American Dream.
Although these aspects of the American Dream are used throughout the novels and shown by many different characters, there is no morality happening in the stories. One of the only people in either book that has some sense of right or wrong is Lena Younger, the mother of Walter and Beneatha. Mama truly cares about all of the people in her life, no matter what faults they have. In The Great Gatsby, more than one character is shown doing terrible things without a second thought. For example, Tom beating Myrtle, Gatsby running over Myrtle without even stopping, and Wilson shooting Gatsby. There are no ethics when it comes to the people in the story, and this is also similar to the people in Raisin in the Sun. Mama is the only one who knows her priorities and will focus on positive things rather than the material values of the American Dream.
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