American Dream-Catcher in the Rye+American Beauty+Mlk
- Submitted by: jogo1440
- Views: 2647
- Category: English
- Date Submitted: 05/24/2010 04:06 AM
- Pages: 7
- Report this Essay
The concept of the American dream as shown in the novel “The Catcher in the Rye” by J.D Salinger, the film “American Beauty” directed by Sam Mendez and Martin Luther King Jr. “I have a dream speech” demonstrate that the American dream contains more materialistic aspects than moralistic. The texts show the American dream in a predominantly negative way, none of the moralistic elements described by Fisher appear in them. The texts show the damaging nature of the dream by exploring the themes of alienation, conformity, superficiality and corruption intertwined with the American dream.
Conformity and alienation are explored in Holden's refusal to become a phony and follow the norm. “They don’t do any damn more moulding at Pency than at any other school”, shows the reader through the use of colloquial language and the verb “moulding” the aim of the school, to form students. Holden is against the idea of moulding an individual to conform; this is an early example of Holden’s uniqueness and rejection of conformity. When Holden later talks about the Bible he says “the disciples annoy the hell out of me” the biblical allusion and colloquial language used here reinforce how much he dislikes people who follow expectations and leadership. As a result of Holden’s unwillingness to conform he isn’t accepted by his peers and feels alone. At the start of the novel Holden stands solitary on the hill watching the game below. The symbolic image of alienation coupled with Holden's recount of the teams reaction towards him when leaving the fencing equipment on the train, “ the whole team ostracized me the whole way back to the train” illustrates the extent to which Holden is isolated from the American dream. Later in chapter 1 Holden's casual, colloquial and succinct, “so I got the ax” reminds the reader of the callousness and ruthlessness involved in attaining the dream. It can also hint at the violent competitiveness aroused. The corruption of the American dream is further evidenced...
Conformity and alienation are explored in Holden's refusal to become a phony and follow the norm. “They don’t do any damn more moulding at Pency than at any other school”, shows the reader through the use of colloquial language and the verb “moulding” the aim of the school, to form students. Holden is against the idea of moulding an individual to conform; this is an early example of Holden’s uniqueness and rejection of conformity. When Holden later talks about the Bible he says “the disciples annoy the hell out of me” the biblical allusion and colloquial language used here reinforce how much he dislikes people who follow expectations and leadership. As a result of Holden’s unwillingness to conform he isn’t accepted by his peers and feels alone. At the start of the novel Holden stands solitary on the hill watching the game below. The symbolic image of alienation coupled with Holden's recount of the teams reaction towards him when leaving the fencing equipment on the train, “ the whole team ostracized me the whole way back to the train” illustrates the extent to which Holden is isolated from the American dream. Later in chapter 1 Holden's casual, colloquial and succinct, “so I got the ax” reminds the reader of the callousness and ruthlessness involved in attaining the dream. It can also hint at the violent competitiveness aroused. The corruption of the American dream is further evidenced...