Love and Other Impossible Pursuits

A Dead Man’s Dream Hard work, dedication and initiative are the fundamental values of the great pursuit of success, known as the “American Dream”. Equal to all US citizens, it represents the individual and collective desire to push beyond the boundaries of society and to strive for a better future. For generations, it has been the motivational ground for the progressive development of american civilization. In his critically-acclaimed novel “The Great Gatsby”, F. Scott Fitzgerald…

Sorry Orwell, It’s Not 1984 Anymore. “It has become appallingly obvious that our technology has exceeded our humanity”(Albert Einstein). The novel 1984, a dystopian classic written by George Orwell, depicts Winston Smith, the protagonist, being watched everywhere he goes, even in his own home and public restrooms through telescreens; everywhere he looks he sees propaganda which illustrates the face of the Party, a figure known as Big Brother. He is constantly anxious and paranoid due to…

3/27/15 Love as Attraction, yet Failure to Persevere Love is a vital part of a relationship and is an intricate provision to the attraction between two people. This however is not the only component that calculates how well a relationship truly works. The Great Gatsby and Coming Aphrodite dually offer aspects of individuals who are immensely in love with each other, but end up ending their relationships. It is clearly evident in Coming…

The stressful pace of today 's lifestyle makes the pursuit of happiness feel so distant. Even for the past generations the path to a happy life has been a difficult one. Being a happier person does take a lot of effort but nothing is impossible. When a person is happy his or her life will be much smoother and in most cases healthier and/or longer. According to Sarah Hansen, a writer for Lifehack.org, studies have shown that happy people are 35% less likely to die early compared to people that…

In his 2006 movie, The Pursuit of Happyness, Will Smith portrays impoverished single father Chris Gardner as he moves through the five levels of Abraham Maslow’s hierarchy of needs. This hierarchy theorizes basic needs that are required in order to reach happiness in life. The search for fulfillment is not a journey experienced by Gardner alone. Peace prize winner Hermann Hesse’s 1922 novel Siddhartha tells the story of a young man who experiences the various levels of Maslow’s hierarchy before…

The idea of working hard to obtain the American Dream is corrupted when the pursuit of wealth is driven by greed, causing the decay of society and moral judgment. F. Scott Fitzgerald uses physical objects to symbolize the moral and social decay caused by the corruption of the American Dream. The author demonstrates the Valley of Ashes as an image of the developing loss of profound qualities in America. The Characters’ excessive need for material objects is illustrated by the symbol of clothing.…

is a rat race for wealth and status. The pursuit of the American Dream gave the characters in the novel, money and prestige, but along with it came corruption, barbaric human nature, and carelessness. However, the protagonist, Jay Gatsby is one of the very few Americans left who still have an honest and pure American Dream: to win back the love of his life, Daisy Buchanan. Gatsby fails to see that his dream is impossible because of his overwhelming love for Daisy and spending five years of…

In the Declaration of Independence Thomas Jefferson wrote that every single person has the right to “life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness”. Well it’s interesting that he put “the pursuit” of happiness because happiness isn’t something that is guaranteed or something that can be bought. You have to bring happiness to your life by whatever means necessary. Whether it be music, art, literature, exploring, or just learning more about the world around us. For me personally there are three main…

Happiness has always seemed like an impossible goal to those who always question their own. John Stuart Mill is mentioned in the article, “In Pursuit of Unhappiness” concedes that those who are happy are focused on something else rather than their own happiness. Many philosophers such as John Stuart Mill had a similar idea that happiness should not be sought, but found naturally. In addition, naturally finding happiness will help you enjoy the things you like to do for yourself not because you…

to die and how anxious he is for him final attempts to have her. The obstacles that Gatsby and the green light, which symbolizes Gatsby’s uncontrollable desire to have Daisy, represent that even through nature his dream is unconquerable making it impossible to achieve. This shows that the American Dream itself is so close, but always out of reach describing the downfall of the American Dream. Another time the novel exemplifies the death of Gatsby American Dream is when he Nick refers to his age.…