The American Dream

In The Great Gatsby and A Raisin in the Sun, the American Dream, made up of many different aspects, plays a prominent role.  For both Gatsby, in The Great Gatsby, and Walter in A Raisin in the Sun, money is a very large part in achieving the American Dream.  To Gatsby, earning this money equals love and winning over Daisy.  Walter believes money can fix all worries and problems, and provide a better life for his family.  Both of these characters also share the hard work of trying to create a name for themselves, and to establish an identity, mostly through their earnings.  Gatsby is born into a poor family of farmers and he rises from nothing into wealth.  Walter inherits a sum from his father and he attempts to make it grow by investing this money in a business.  This ideal American Dream of money bringing all they want seems to become only an illusion and not actually so ideal.  Walter’s money falls through in a wrongly trusted business partner, and the hope brought to Gatsby by the green light signifying Daisy remains just that-hope.  Gatsby’s dream is behind him in what happened with him and Daisy in 1917, while his American Dream remains unreachable. 

Another factor in the American Dream is race.  In The Great Gatsby, Tom Buchanan believes that white is the dominant race and that black people achieving success in America is breaking down civilization.  In contrast, the Younger family, in A Raisin in the Sun, believe that they have every right to achieve just as much as the white people.   The Younger family lived during the 1950’s, a time when racial segregation was very prominent, and their hope to reach the American dream of money represents the beginning of reform in America. The Younger family lives on the South Side of Chicago and they take the bold step to move into a white dominated neighborhood, even when pressured and bribed to not move in. 

 The final factor of the American Dream presented in A Raisin in the Sun and The Great Gatsby is gaining independence.  Nick, in The Great Gatsby, leaves his home in the Midwest to begin his own life on Long Island, away from what he knows.  Beneatha Younger also wants independence from her family in A Raisin in the Sun.  She has to make her own decision between two men who love her, Asagai and George, and she decides she wants to live her life with Asagai even though he is not rich.  This brings up the importance of happiness over money in Beneatha’s American Dream.  Nick and Beneatha both do return to their roots, realizing that that is where their dream takes them.  Nick goes back to the Midwest, and Beneatha agrees to go with Asagai to Nigeria. There are similar aspects of money and independence making up the American Dreams of characters in both novels, but the characters’ views on race are the biggest differing factor in whose dreams they believe should become reality. 

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