A Raisin in the Sun/The Great Gatsby American Dream

The American Dream in A Raisin in the Sun and the Great Gatsby differ; these stories are set in different time periods, which sway the ideas of the American Dream, and both also contain different characters with different personalities and struggles. The Great Gatsby takes place in the 1920s, known as the Jazz Age; the main issue during this time was prohibition; A Raisin in the Sun’s time period is the 1950s, which has major racial discrimination problems throughout the country as more African Americans migrate north. The characters in the Great Gatsby may not have the same American Dream, they aren’t even in the same social class, as Nick isn’t rich like Tom and Daisy but isn’t as poor as the Wilsons’. Even though Nick isn’t rich, he can afford to live next door to Gatsby’s mansion in West Egg. One character with a prominent “American dream” in the Great Gatsby was Jay Gatsby; I believe his dream was always to live lavish with wealth. His reasons could have spanned from him coming from a poor family in North Dakota, or his idea that money could win back the heart of his first love, Daisy Buchanan.

                In A Raisin in the Sun, the Youngers are a poor African American family that lives on Chicago’s Southside. The family struggles to make it in their conditions while trying to send one family member to college. Insurance money from the death of Mr. Younger has left his children, wife and grandson with opportunity, and also a dilemma. The son, Walter, has the dream of opening a liquor store as means of stable income for the family; the rest of the family wants to move into a house in a better community to provide a better environment for everyone. The wife, Lena decides to help everyone with their dreams and wishes; she buys a house for the family, and gives the rest of the money to her son, some for her daughter’s schooling funds and the rest for his investment in his business.

                Both ideas of the American dream presented in these stories revolve around money, for future happiness. The methods to reach this happiness differ, I think because these people come from different backgrounds, are of different races, and have different financial situations. They are reaching for the same goal, but the obstacles thrown at them influence the choices they make and the route taken to accomplish this dream. Gatsby uses his connections to help him become wealthy, like Mr. Cody; even though he doesn’t inherit Cody’s insurance money, he knew that he could never go back to living in poverty. The Younger family benefits from a tragedy, the death of Mr. Younger; was it not for his insurance money, his family wouldn’t have had any chance to better themselves, because they were barely making it. Opportunity and influence was the stem of the flower of the American Dream in both of these books; the differences don’t matter because these two elements helped the characters achieve what they thought wouldn’t be obtainable.

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