The American Dream

A detailed Summary of The American Dream


In the early 1950s, the American dream was a dream shared by the entire nation. The stereotypical family included a mother, father, two children and a pet, all living in suburbia, USA. Every day the father would leave for work in the morning, and mother stayed home, cooked, and cared for the kids. Each family included a boy and a girl. The boy would have his hair neatly parted down the middle, and the girl in pigtails. At night, everyone would sit around the dinner table and discuss what had happened in the day gone by. But during the last fifty years, Americans realised that their dream of a perfect life was completely different. Comic entertainment, such as The and American Beauty depicts how such a vision has turned into a laughing matter.

The Simpsons was the first cartoon series to send up this so called 'American Dream'. The family consists of Homer, a husband, father, safety inspector at the Springfield Nuclear Power Plant, bowler, beer drinker, astronaut, small business owner and dreamer, and makes it all look easy. Marge, a happy homemaker and mother of three. Bart, a misunderstood. Wrongly pegged as an underachiever and troublemaker. Lisa, who is only 8 and already reads at a 14th grade level, and has written a number


of application quality essays. And Maggie, the baby of the family.

American Beauty gives us an idea of what some modern Americans probably view as the American Dream. Burnham is doing practically nothing apart from breaking the law and tossing hamburgers, but still earning enough to afford a beautiful house, expensive car and money to support his family.

Some may argue that Homer Simpson lives out the American Dream in every day of his life. Whilst working at the power plant, Homer sleeps on the job, eats doughnuts, and also causes the occasional meltdown, yet he still gets paid for an honest days work. The most shattering fact of all is that Homer does indeed achieve his wildest dreams without having to work towards them. He becomes an astronaut, navigates a Navy nuclear sub, meets the President, becomes a world-famous artist, tackles and captures James Bond, and performs with Smashing Pumpkins. Although viewers are filled with laughter at his actions, Homer's adventures defy the American saying that hard work will pay off. The Simpsons successfully confronts the questionable reason of the 1950s American dream, and portrays it as being the ability to have fun with life yet still

Some common words found in the essay are:
Lester Burnham, American Dream, , Power Plant, American Beauty, Smashing Pumpkins, Burnham Burnham, Dream Burnham, Annette Bening, Beauty Simpsons, american dream, american beauty, view american, view american dream, family included, power plant, money whilst, suburbia usa, lester burnham, 1950s american, 1950s american dream,

Approximate Word count = 803
Approximate Pages = 3 (250 words per page double spaced)

Category: English

join now Save Paper

Related Essays

  • The American Dream 2 Thomas Jefferson described the American Dream as ampquot...life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.ampquot Every person has a dream and in the three short stories ... 1139 words
  • The Corruption of the American Dream Fitzgerald criticized the American Dream in The Great Gatsby through Gatsby and Wilson, and symbols such as Gatsbyamp39s car. The American ... 715 words
  • American Dream During the Jazz Age, the 1920amp39s, the American Dream was formed by the upper class society. ... The American Dream was based purely upon materialistic things. ... 862 words
  • American Dream 2 The American Dream is the idea that all people in this country have a chance to achieve success and create a better life for their children but there are ... 1123 words
  • Fitzgerald and the American Dream . The American Dream promises prosperity and fulfilled desires as rewards for hard work and selfreliance. The American Dream is ... 351 words
  • The American Dream ... is defined in Websteramp39s Dictionary as ampquotA good position, chance or prospect for achievementampquot which is easily connected to the idea of The American Dream. ... 580 words

Professional Essays

  • The American Dream of Success The media fosters myths about the American Dream 1. The illusion of success is sold as success 2. The media primarily sell the notion that buying the material ... 1063 words
  • The Media and the American Dream OUTLINE I. The media fosters myths about the American Dream 1. The media primarily sell the notion that buying the material things advertised will bring the ... 1084 words
  • The American Dream Article Review The American Dream is often associated with living the good life and prosperity. In contemporary society, the good ... 996 words
  • Albee American Dream EDWARD ALBEE The American Dream The American Dream, by Edward Albee, is a play with lots of laughs that is actually very disturbing by the time the ... 909 words
  • Keeping the American Dream ... that Americaamp39s economic position and its internal stability will ensure that my generation and the next generation can aspire to achieve the American dream. ... 794 words
  • Crime ampamp The American Dream Sociology Crime ampamp The American Dream There are valid statistics that prove crime is increasing among adolescents, that more men commit crimes than women, and ... 780 words


Saved Paper

Save your papers so you can locate them quickly!

Newest Essays

Testimonials

  • "Thank You So Much!!! You have saved me once again!!!"
    Jack M.
  • "With so many papers to chose from, I was able to get ideas to help me with all of my classes. Thank You!"
    Brian P.
  • "I've used this site for the last 3 years to help me come up with ideas for my papers."
    Sara J.
  • "I use this site every week to help me write my own papers!"
    Rachel W.
  • "I love this site!!!"
    Marie N.
Home Join Now Support
Acceptable Use Policy About us FAQ
All papers are for research and reference purposes only!
© 2002-2009 DirectEssays.com. All Rights Reserved.