English 11 / Unit 6: Contemporary American Literature
6.2 Revisiting the American Dream
Notes
The American Dream is the belief that anyone can succeed through hard work. Many writers question who can reach it and what it costs.
- Fitzgerald's The Great Gatsby (1925) already showed the dream turning into empty materialism.
- Arthur Miller's play Death of a Salesman (1949) follows Willy Loman, an aging salesman who believes being "well liked" guarantees success. The play shows how that belief wrecks his family and his sense of reality.
- Lorraine Hansberry's play A Raisin in the Sun (1959) shows a Black family in Chicago deciding how to use an insurance payment. Mama wants a home; her son Walter wants business success. The family faces housing prejudice, so the play links dreams to racial justice. Its title comes from a Langston Hughes poem about a postponed dream.
- Worked example: Willy's belief in popularity over skill shows how a flawed definition of success can be tragic.
Practice
What flawed belief drives Willy Loman in Death of a Salesman?
Willy trusts popularity over skill or honest effort.
What conflict drives the Younger family in A Raisin in the Sun?
Family members want different futures, and housing discrimination complicates them.
A novel shows a character working constantly but never getting ahead because of unfair barriers. What view of the American Dream does it suggest?
The story criticizes how obstacles limit opportunity.
Ready for more? Take the Unit 6 test.