The American Dream 2
Thomas Jefferson described the American Dream as "...life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness." Every person has a dream and in the three short stories, "The Catbird Seat" by James Thurber, "Winter Dream" by F. Scott Fitzgerald and "A Rose for Emily" by William Faulkner, the theme is one common American Dream: happiness. The search for happiness is found in "The Catbird Seat" when the main character Erwin Martin plays an elaborate stunt to save his job and dispose of a bothersome co-worker. In "Winter Dreams" the attempt to find happiness is found in Dexter Green's effort to woe Judy Jones, a young coquettish woman of the upper class who is 'out of his league'. Emily Grierson the main character of "A Rose for Emily" was a lady of high status as well, but she had an overprotective father whom felt she was too good for any of the men in their town. When her father dies, she mets a man and fails in her attempt to find happiness with him. In all three of these stories the main characters will struggle to fulfill their American Dreams. The main character of James Thurber's "The Catbird Seat", Mr. Erwin Martin, is best described in his boss's, Mr. Fitwieler's, words "Man is fallible, Martin isn't." (Pg.602). Mr. Martin is
In William Faulkner's short story "A Rose for Emily", Emily Grierson's American Dream is to find happiness and love. She yearns for happiness, because her father is very overbearing and never really shows her love. He is a noble man in the community of their small town and believes she is too good for any of the poor townsman. The town's people often think, "she carried her head [too] high..." (Pg. 512) meaning she is snobby. After her father dies, she is left with nothing but the house. The townspeople said they remember "all the young men her father had driven away" (Pg. 512) and they know she has nothing left. Years later she meets a man named Homer Barron and the townspeople "...began to see him and Emily on Sunday Afternoons..." (Pg. 512) together. Not to long after meeting Homer, Emily asks him to marry her. Homer tells her he is "not the marrying type." (Pg. 513) She becomes so upset that she decides if he is no going to marry her now, she is going to make sure he still comforts her. So she buys arsenic from the drug store and all the townspeople think, "she will kill herself" (Pg. 513). After she kills Homer with the arsenic, she leaves his body in bed and often lays next to it. She dies a long time later as an old, lonely woman, leaving her American Dream unfulfilled. a perfectionist, who has a set schedule he follows everyday, and he enjoys his life that way. Then a fellow co-worker named Mrs. Ulgine Barrows disrupts his happiness. Mrs. Barrows is hired two years before and was constantly hassling Mr. Martin with annoying sayings such as "Are you tearing up the pea patch?"(Pg. 602) and "Are you sitting in the Catbird seat?" (Pg. 602) "...For almost two
Some common words found in the essay are:
American Dream, Ulgine Barrows, Jones Dexter, Homer Emily, Rose Emily, Erwin Martin, Catbird Seat, Dexter Green, Emily Greirson, Irene Shires, american dream, catbird seat, rose emily, main character, winter dreams, pg 512, fulfill american, main characters struggle, accomplish american, pg 513, pg 617, catbird seat james, seat james thurber, emily william faulkner, james thurber winter,
Approximate Word count = 1139
Approximate Pages = 5 (250 words per page double spaced)
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