Gatsby believed in the green light, the orgastic future that year by year readers before us. It eluded us then, but that’s no matter—tomorrow we will run faster, stretch our arms farther…And one fine morning—
So we beat on, boats against the current, borne back ceaselessly into the past.
While I’m tempted to analyze Jay Gatsby’s character, I’m fascinated more by the notion of the American dream. This dream continues to be an aspiration for many people who, like Gatsby, seek wealth and status, but are also still eluded by it. The notion itself is not restricted to the Great Gatsby but is evoked in many other texts in American literature. It remains the main desirable goal for many immigrants. I could use this post to draw similarities between the dream depicted in the literature and the one rooted in our reality, but I frankly don’t remember enough of the texts, neither do I have the time to revisit them. Instead, I would like to explore the question: Is the American Dream achievable or is it just an illusion that many of us fail to grasp?
I remember coming across the term the “American Dream” during my first year in our English class in high school when we were asked to write about our future plans and dreams. At the time most of us didn’t have the knowledge or the language to contextualize the concept, but it was drilled into our heads and almost made it feel like a self-fulfilling prophecy—as soon as we walk on the graduation stage with our college diplomas in our hands, the American dream would be waiting for us across the threshold. We would be able to realize everything that we wanted, almost like suddenly achieving nirvana. Yet most fail to reach this momentum and instead remain hanging in a state of hope.
However, I came to learn that the American dream itself was born out of hope. When I decided, out of curiosity, to briefly research the term “American Dream,” I discovered that the term was coined by James Truslow Adams in 1931 in his book The Epic of America. He describes the American dream as:
“…that dream of a land in which life should be better and richer and fuller for everyone, with opportunity for each according to ability or achievement. It is not a dream of motor cars and high wages merely, but a dream of social order in which each man and each woman shall be able to attain to the fullest stature of which they are innately capable, and be recognized by others for what they are, regardless of the fortuitous circumstances of birth or position” (404-405).
Adams’s definition of the American dream can be interpreted in many ways. The most obvious observation is that Adams wrote his book during the Great Depression, and perhaps his intention was not to restrict the term to a certain context and to a specific time period, as it encompasses everything, even the innate disposition of oneself. From this position, I can assert that the American dream—besides involving wealth, status, fame, and freedom—can certainly compromise wisdom and knowledge.
Following the pattern of the above interpretation, the American dream—despite being rooted in hope—is in the end elusive. The American dream is not fixed, but it has the ability to shift based on the person’s goals and emotions. In one moment, it could be a physical and tangible object, as in acquiring a college degree, and in another, it could be a fleeting sentiment or desire that can’t be fully grasped. Yet this understanding in itself is not universal, nor is it applicable to all situations. That is, while I’m viewing the American dream as the way I just described it, someone else could be viewing it entirely differently. People’s understandings of the concept have already been predisposed to certain thought processes, which are shaped by people’s cultures and surroundings.
Although my analysis lacks adequate references and my thoughts appear scattered, I do believe there is some semblance of logic between the lines. Perhaps there has been comprehensive studies on the definition of the American dream and its relationship to immigrants and their struggles. My attempt, however, is to reassess this concept from my observations as an immigrant. I’m trying to draw a conclusion from my own and parallel it with experiences from my relatives and the community around me. I can imagine my family being unaware of the concept or maybe even disbelieving it altogether. In the end, everyone wants to be successful in his/her own way, even if others don’t recognize or share the same ambitions.
So, is the American dream achievable? Perhaps for some, depending on how their dreams manifest. For most, however, it remains an illusion that casts itself as hope. In the end, Adams might have intended for the notion to inspire hope and optimism during a time of suffering and pain, but later interpretations extended the notion to the materialistic realm.