gatdream American Dream Alive and Well in Fitzgerald’s The Great Gatsby :: Great Gatsby Essays

The American Dream is Alive and Well in 2002 ...One Nation, under God, indivisible, with justice for all. Most Americans have heard and said this pledge to allegiance hundreds of times. The interrogative sentence is, do we really believe in the power of its meaning? Its a shame that America, land of the free, is also the land of capitalism, scandal and discrimination. Though we have the emancipation to bear arms, freedom of speech, and freedom of religious and political affiliation, some Americans claim that they do not have the freedom to be themselves. Images from the media of aesthetic beauty and monetary success bombard the majority of Americans on an everyday basis. It is only natural for one to attempt to improve himself or herself by living up to the standards imposed by society. Unfortunately, Americas brand of self-improvement often comes with a price. I agree with the definition in Websters College Dictionary of the American Dream an American ideal of social equality and oddly material success. Though the American Dream is very much alive for many, it is not necessarily well for most. Ron Suskind, author of the national bestseller, A Hope in the Unseen, writes about the real-life story of Cedric Jennings. Jennings was a high school senior at a crime-infested school in Washington, D.C. Jennings beats the odds in Suskinds novel of the American struggle, and gains acceptance into Brown University (an Ivy League school). Jennings dealt with more than the average high school turmoil in his four years at Frank W. Ballou senior High School. He couldnt even accept his award for a year of perfect grades in fear that his life would be threatened Pride and such(prenominal) accomplishment is acceptable behavior for sterling students at high schools across the land, but at Ballou and other urban schools like it, something else is at work (Suskind 17). This is the direct in the bucket syndrome (a phrase coined by educators, Suskind explains) where one crab p ulls the other crab down, and keeps them from climbing out of the bucket. Though Cedric is aware of the jeers he receives from his classmates for his accomplishments, he continues to chip in his head up high when he thinks of his green light to graduate from Ballou, and continue his education at an Ivy League school. As I sympathize A Hope in the Unseen, I thought of the unfairness of the American ideal.