The American Dream or a False Promise?
Countless generations have been dreaming of an equitable America… but, as Rehnuma Tarannum writes, it’s time to wake up.
The American dream apparently captures our faith in progression, opportunity, and prosperity. It represents hopes for a large and stable middle class. Every single person, would go to college, and become a homeowner and children would always live better than their parents. Who could oppose this supposedly utopian ideal?
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Writer F. Scott Fitzgerald and director Jamie Johnson did. ‘The Great Gatsby ‘(1923) and ‘Born Rich’ (2003) are reflections of their opinions, with the intention of showing the reality of the American dream to their audience.
The American Dream is nothing but a false promise that leaves its believers empty and unfulfilled; even those who are considered “successful” by the Dream’s standards live wealthy yet empty lifestyles.
My views have been shared by Fitzgerald and Johnson. Who through their work, provided evidence that the dream is in fact not attainable! So, to all those people who are working day and night with the hope that they will be a part of the 1 percent one day, stop dreaming!
One of those dreamers includes the protagonist of The Great Gatsby; Jay Gatsby. He has worked a lot for wealth. However, the reason wasn’t the actual wealth itself, instead he wanted wealth to satisfy his hope. The hope is his lover, Daisy.
The character of Gatsby has been created by the author to show the audience the reality of the American dream. The protagonist is the perfect representation of the American dream; where he promotes from being poor to wealthy and powerful. However, despite of gaining all the power and wealth, he is still left unfulfilled. Can anyone relate to that?
Throughout the plot, the author uses many symbols to showcase the false dream. One such symbol used is the green light.
Before even meeting the character of Gatsby, we get a description of him stretching out his arms toward a green light he can't reach. Well, this is symbolic of the American dream; it’s something that no one can achieve no matter how far their arms are stretched! Comment by Rehnuma Tarannum: This is symbolic of the American dream; it can’t be reached no matter how hard you work for it.
By using the metaphor ‘green light’, the author made the readers explore whether the promise of the American Dream is actually true.
In the beginning, Gatsby appears to have achieved the American Dream, because he has managed to move from a lower-class background into the highest society of New York, entirely through his own self-invention. Later we find out that, it was not really hard work but was a crime instead.
Gatsby demonstrates the hollowness of the American Dream because even once he has accomplished this goal, he still is unable to attain Daisy, who represents a traditional influential background. Tom consistently mocks Gatsby for his humble beginnings, calling him a “common swindler who’d have to steal the ring he put on Daisy’s finger.” Fitzgerald subtly employs foreshadowing here, calling forward to the revelation that Gatsby’s money came from crime. This suggests that, despite the illusion of social mobility, people from the lower classes will never be fully accepted by those who were born into wealth, even if they are willing to take unethical actions.
Fitzgerald very accurately showcased his opinions of the false promise that has been made through The American Dream.
At the end of the novel, he finishes off with a memorable quote summarising his point; “Gatsby believed in the green light, the orgastic future that year by year recedes before us. […] tomorrow we will run faster, stretch out our arms farther.”
The metaphoric language used when he refers to “[running] faster” indicates the labor of trying to fulfill the American Dream; it characterizes not just Gatsby’s struggle but also the American Dream’s struggle to transform itself into reality. The quote is a reminder to the readers for the last time that the American Dream’s most important quality is its unavailability: and the fact that a dream is not a reality.
In contrast to that, while some people work extremely hard to only hope to achieve their dream one day, some people are born with unlimited wealth and power. You can totally agree with the fact that the young millionaires in America today, didn’t have to work for a single penny to get all the wealth they own. That’s totally unfair!
Through that fact, it can be suggested that in order to even dream about the American Dream, you need to be rich. That completely takes off the true purpose of the inspirational ethos as according to it you are meant to work hard to reach the wealthy society. Sadly, the inequality between the poor and the wealthy is always going to exist.
However, despite of having all the wealth and power is it possible to feel a sense of an unfulfilled life? According to Ivanka Trump, yes that is possible!
In the documentary ‘The Born Rich’ (2003), it was revealed that you don’t need the American dream in order to be wealthy and powerful. The director’s main message from the documentary was that the American dream is not actually real and further supports the concept that wealth can be earned without working hard, however it doesn’t provide happiness and complete satisfaction.
According to the director of the documentary; Jamie Johnson, everyone deserves an equal opportunity and is supposed to be able to work hard to achieve that. The following words summarise his opinions.
“In America, we’re supposed to live in the land of equal opportunity, where everybody is supposed to be able to earn their fortune […] That’s obviously not true,” he says.
In other words, he is saying that there is no such thing as the American Dream as it doesn’t exist! No one earns their fortune with hard work some people are just born with all the power and wealth.
In the documentary, the glamorous Ivanka Trump was present along with Josiah Hornblower, an heir to the Whitney and Vanderbilt fortunes, who is so conflicted about his wealth that she spent two years working in the Texas oil fields. In the film he says, “It’s hard to accept you’re a millionaire when you’re a kid and haven’t done anything.”
We can all agree to the fact that achieving wealth through hard work fills up internal dissatisfaction. However, in the country, if you don’t start out being in a higher society, your dream of achieving wealth is going to stay unfulfilled.
It was visible in the documentary that Ivanka belonged to a rich family. I mean just by looking at her clothes it was pretty obvious! The way she carries herself and even the way she walks is different! Costuming is a pretty clear way to differentiate between the classes and Ivanka without working hard, quite easily fits into the higher class.
Despite achieving everything, there was a slight unsatisfaction present which was easily captured through the close- angles. As the camera zoomed more into her face, her unhappiness and emptiness were very visible to the audience.
When asked about how it feels to be both young and rich, she replied “It does get awkward, because for me there is no answer to that particular question, as I have not done anything very special that got me the position that I have today”. While she was answering, the camera took multiple close angles around her, those close shots positioned the audience to feel a sense of sympathy towards her. Honestly, I did too, there are struggles with being wealthy as well!
But then again there are no college courses on how to be a hard-working and productive rich person. It’s something you’ve got to figure out for yourself. But some powerful people, are unsure whether working really hard will give them the power they hold today. Strange right? It’s like either way they are unsatisfied!
Born rich in fact is truly unique as it has a lot to say about matters of self-worth, especially for all those twenty-somethings who are trying to find their niche in society. Are you who you are, or what you have? Do you fit in? These questions are world-wide but are also complicated by the tradition of extreme wealth.
It also reflects the fact that the American Dream is not very attainable, and the rich people know it. It doesn’t matter how uncomfortable they feel when asked about being wealthy, they wouldn’t work hard just because the American Dream says it. They know the reality of it being nothing but just a false promise.
Both texts support my opinion of the American Dream being a false and unfulfilling promise. Thanks to F. Scott Fitzgerald and Jamie Johnson! Through showcasing the wealthy yet unfulfilled lifestyles of the rich, ‘The Great Gatsby’ and ‘The Born Rich’ reveal that the American Dream is nothing but a false promise; a promise that will leave everyone unfulfilled. I suggest that it's high time for us to retire the American Dream and drop it from the national conversation. Trust me it’s really not worth it!
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