What is “The American Dream”?

1. What is “The American Dream”? Preparation for reading Death of a Salesman

2. What do we mean by the phrase “American Dream”? • As we have (hopefully) seen from the variety of images presented to us by our classmates, “The American Dream” does not have one meaning. It means (and has meant over time) different things to different people. • So why do you think this is a phrase that is so powerful and resonant with readers and listeners? I’ve heard politicians use it, but I’ve also heard it from graduation speakers, insurance commercials, real estate commercials… where have you heard it?

3. Definition One: The Fulfillment of Phrases from the Declaration of Independence • One way to view “The American Dream” is as the fulfillment of what are seen as “promises” made in the Declaration of Independence. • Specifically, the phrase “life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.”

4. Ah, but it’s not that simple… • What exactly do we mean by “liberty”? Liberty for whom? And what exactly is meant by “the pursuit of happiness”? These phrases have meant a lot of things for a lot of people. And these words have been quoted to support freedom from govt. interference and marriage equality, just to name a couple of causes. • The failures of the United States to live up to those ideals have been rallying cries for civil rights activists.

5. Another Useful Version of This Definition • A sociologist named Gunnar Myrdal, in a 1944 book that examined the gap between the American idealism and the reality of the country at the time, defined the America “Creed” (the phrase “American Dream” wasn’t in common use yet, but Myrdal is talking about the same concept) in this way: “liberty, equality, justice, and fair opportunity for everyone” (qtd. in Cullen 117).

6. Definition Two: Upward Social Mobility • In this definition, the defining characteristic of “The American Dream” is the ability to rise up the social ladder. • This “dream” assumes that there exists in America equality of opportunity, which means that everyone has an “equal” shot, no matter their station at birth. • Some major implications of this version of the “dream” include: • Children could have better (or at least more financially stable) lives than their parents. • Each individual is free to fulfill his/her potential (which is beneficial to everyone). • Hard work will be rewarded with financial stability, dignity, and comfort for oneself and one’s family.

7. Definition Two: Upward Social Mobility • While no supporters of this version of the dream ever thought they were creating a “classless” society, the possibility of upward social mobility blurs boundaries between social classesin a way that, especially in the first century of America’s existence, was fairly unique among Western nations. • This idea recognizes that while some Americans are going to be wealthy business owners, and some are going to be garbage collectors, the first enjoys no special legal privileges because of his/her station, and the second can, theoretically at least, look the first in the eye with dignity.

8. But wait! This one is complicated too. • The belief in the possibility of upward mobility gave rise to phrases like “pull yourself up by your bootstraps,” which implied that anyone, no matter how difficult their circumstances, could, through hard work and determination, succeed. • The problematic idea that this belief gave birth to was: “If upward social mobility is possible, than those who are not upwardly mobile must have something wrong with them.” • Those who held this problematic idea thought (ok, let’s be honest… think) that the poor stay poor because of some failure of morals or of willpower.

9. Equal Opportunity? • Martin Luther King Jr., in his last sermon before he was assassinated in 1968, said, “It’s all right to tell a man to lift himself up by his bootstraps, but it is a cruel jest to tell a bootless man that he ought to lift himself up by his bootstraps” (qtd. in Cullen 128). • Here, King is questioning the assumption of equal opportunity embedded in the “bootstraps” phrase.

10. Definition Three: Home Ownership • Home ownership as an essential characteristic of “The American Dream” is older than the phrase itself. • Why is home/land ownership so vital? • It taps into the ideals of independence/privacy laid out in the Declaration of Independence. • It has played an important role in American History, all the way back to the earliest days of the US when the Western frontier (now, in 1776 “The West” was Ohio, not California…) was seen as “wide open” country that anyone, no matter how poor, could come, cultivate, and make a life for themselves. • Another event that helps to explain the importance of home ownership is the Homestead Act of 1862, which promised title to 160 acres of previously unclaimed land to anyone who would work on it for five years.

11. Definition Three: Home Ownership • Home owners were (and still are) seen as stakeholders in their communities, and in a larger sense, the country as a whole. • As American cities grew, a rising middle class needed housing and access to the opportunities provided by cities. This (and the rapid rise of the automobile) created suburbs.

12. Features of Suburbs • Neither country nor city – lacks the isolation of “the country” and the metropolitan nature and economic activity of “the city.” • In the beginning, suburbs were reliant on public transportation to get workers to city, but everything changed when the automobile because affordable for average middle class workers. • Suburbs, in a way, were seen as fulfilling some of the ideals from the Declaration of Independence. The personal mobility provided by cars offered freedom/liberty, and the stereotypical house with a yard and a fence provided privacy and a “peaceful” environment – “happiness.”

13. The Problem With Suburbs • As suburbs began to develop identifiable characteristics, as separate from cities, one of the most recognizable was an emphasis on conformity. • In the 1950’s various authors were beginning to see this suburban sameness and conformity as a danger to the individualistic character of America, • The phrase “company man” came to mean a worker, usually from the suburbs, who was made in the same “mold” as all of the other workers in his company, and who accepted the policies and decisions in his workplace without question. • Artists working in film and literature produced pieces that critiqued suburbia. • “Stepford Wives” is one of the more famous critiques of suburban sameness. • American pop culture is still producing work like this. The Office was an incredibly sharp critique of American corporate culture (yes, I know it was originally British) and the concept of “the company man.” • As cities grew, little suburbs were being incorporated into big cities in the late ‘40s and early ‘50s. (This is what is happening to the Lomans.)

14. Definition Four: The Possibility of Extreme Financial Success and Fame • This definition of “The American Dream” is a version of your classic “rags to riches” story. • This is related to our previous definition of the dream as “upward social mobility,” but there are some key differences. • “Upward social mobility” was grounded in the promise of reward for diligence and hard work. This version relied (mostly, but not entirely) on luck and/or personal charisma. • This version emphasized luck, risk taking, and gambling rather than of equal opportunity. • The allure of this version of the dream is it could happen to anyone, with almost no effort.

15. Symbols of the Dream of Wealth and Fame • California became a potent symbol of this version of the American dream thanks to the Gold Rush of 1849, and later, Hollywood. • Two early Hollywood celebrities who embodied this version of the dream were Douglas Fairbanks and Mary Pickford (Who were married, and after she’d been recently divorced, too, which was QUITE the scandal…) They were the quintessential early Hollywood couple – effortlessly glamorous and endlessly interesting. Fans followed their lives the way we follow reality TV personalities and other celebrities today. • If you want to read a novel that is all about this “luck, wealth, and fame” version of the American Dream, look no further than The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald.

16. Douglas Fairbanks and Mary Pickford at their home in the early 20’s. This is a picture of “Pickfair,” a home that was sometimes called “The White House of the West Coast” that appeared in postcards, and in many fan magazines. Notice how relaxed and “effortlessly good looking” they are.

17. “To be sure, these were people with real talent, but exercising that talent was something that presumably came naturally, something that simply happened in the course of a normal day. To put it another way: the American Dreams of Benjamin Franklin, Abraham Lincoln, and Andrew Carnegie rested on a sense of character; those of Douglas Fairbanks and Mary Pickford rested on personality” (Cullen 177).

18. So, to sum up… • We have four competing definitions of “The American Dream” here. • Definition One: The Fulfillment of Phrases from the Declaration of Independence • Definition Two: Upward Social Mobility • Definition Three: Home Ownership • Definition Four: The Possibility of Extreme Financial Success and Fame • As you begin to read Death of a Salesman, ask yourself how these competing versions of the dream are present in the lives and attitudes of these characters.