In both ‘A Streetcar Named Desire’ and ‘The Catcher in the Rye’, the characters’ existence is influenced by the idea of the American dream. An idea that was seen by capitalist America was that you must ruthlessly work to achieve your highest aspirations, and could be recognized by others through wealth and social class. With the ending of World War Two, the American public now felt they were in the perfect place to achieve their ‘American Dream’. Stanley’s attitude is shown to support this as he attempts to provide for Stella and his unborn child. Holden, however, is shown to reject the reality of the ‘American Dream’, despite being granted it through birth as he feels guilty for how he is treated and the advantages he receives due to his privilege. This suggests contemporary attitudes of the late 1940s revolve around the ‘American Dream’, and the influence this has on individuals' goals to achieve success, this must contrast with those who have achieved the ‘American Dream’ through their level of social standing and have yet not recognized their accomplishment.
A key construct of the ‘American Dream’ is the opportunity for success, this can be illustrated through Stanley as he manifests traditional gender roles present in the 1940’s which suggests that all men are born equally with an equal opportunity to succeed; Elaine Tyler May called this “domestic containment”. Despite being abusive to Stella sporadically, Stanley appears to take a large fulfillment in exposing Blanche’s “magic” to Stella. This adjective implies Stanley is determined to manipulate Stella to see Blanche’s delusions the same way he does, however, it can be interpreted as “Two people fighting over Stella” (William Delaney) as Stanley is using the power of his gender to manipulate Stella into a “narcotized tranquility”. As Stanley demands respect from Blanche, Stanley presents to the reader that a significant part of his success is the respect he receives from others. Stanley feels Blanche sees herself as more successful than him, he believes “some give themselves credit for more than they’ve got”. This could now be seen as Stanley having an inflated sense of his importance, fuelled by his dislike of Blanche’s morals however, in the 1950’s this could be seen as Blanche being unable to be as successful as Stanley, a man, due to traditional gender roles. Stanley's attitude can be shown to be acceptable in the media of 1953, six years after the play had opened, as advertisements such as Alcoa Aluminium’s ‘HyTop twist-off bottle cap’ which promoted a picture of a woman coupled with the tag line “you mean a woman can open it?”. As the declarative noun “woman” is shown to be the subject of the tagline, this shows the American media’s recognition that traditional gender roles are supported by consumers enough to affect how they spend their gains whilst attempting to achieve their ‘American Dream’. Stanley, in ‘A Streetcar Named Desire’, is presented as wishing to appear powerful in his expression of traditional gender roles, but that power is presented as “destructive”, and calls into question whether it is necessary to put someone in a “narcotized tranquility” to achieve Stanley’s desire of a powerful ‘American Dream’. Needs a link to Holden throughout.
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The character's existence is influenced by the ‘American Dream’, as Stella is shown to be determined to stay in her marriage “under colored lights”, appearing to be madly in love with Stanley to the extent that she is “sorrowful” to lose Blanche, but the dependency that Stanley provides is enough to have Stella have “no choice” but to not believe Blanche. This is comparable to Holden, whose psychological issues and “crazy” actions are brought about by social issues from the ‘American Dream’ yet, he is “sure somebody's cover [him] up as soon as [he] landed” if he was to commit “suicide”. American Sociologist David Riesman1 observed the importance of peer-group expectations, calling this new society 'other-directed,' maintaining the idea that such societies lead to conformity. Marriage and homeownership rates greatly increased during the 1950s, as many Americans were eager to pursue the ‘American dream,’ aided by suburbanization which is the reality that Stella wishes to pursue despite her belief that “New Orleans isn't like others”. These high expectations derived from the ‘American Dream’ however, can lead to disappointment as “he who expects nothing...shall never be disappointed”(Alexander Pope, 1727), suggesting Holden’s view of “phony” America shows his immaturity, as he expects complete transparency in adult life. Holden is said to be “the ultimately alienated teenager”(Jennifer Schuessler, 2009)3 yet little sympathy is now given to the “rich kid”, inferring that if you have achieved the ‘American Dream’ all previous empathy from others is gone as the ‘American Dream’ should be emotionally fulfilling enough.
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