Concetti Chiave
- The American Dream in literature often highlights the corruption of original values, emphasizing the pursuit of power and wealth over integrity.
- Francis Scott Fitzgerald's "The Great Gatsby" critiques the abandonment of traditional American values in favor of materialism.
- John Steinbeck's "The Grapes of Wrath" suggests community values as a remedy for the selfishness prevalent in the American Dream.
- J.D. Salinger's "The Catcher in the Rye" portrays a protagonist disillusioned by societal hypocrisy, resonating with many readers.
- The Beat Generation, led by authors like Jack Kerouac, embraced a countercultural lifestyle, rejecting traditional norms and creating a new cultural identity.
Indice
The American dream
The corruption of the American dream is a recurring theme in American Literature. The dream that arose in the Colonial Period and developed in the following century was based on the belief that the individual could succeed in life, thanks to her or his ability, intelligence and effort.
In The Great Gatsby (1925) Francis Scott Fitzgerald investigates ho these old values, with their strict morality and integrity, are sometimes cast aside and instead another dream tends to prevail: the individual's crazy pursuit of power and wealth. John Steinbeck in The Grapes of Wrath (1939) would seem to offer a possible antidote to such selfishness by stressing the necessity of community values over individual needs.
Others aspects
In the post-war period American fiction continued to explore the individual's sometimes difficult relationship to society. In J.D Salinger's The Catcher in the Rye (1951), the lead character, Holden Caulfield, is disenchanted with the hypocrisy, corruption and selfishness he sees everywhere. The vein search for love and understanding on the part of this sensitive young man touched a chord with many readers, and the novel proved a huge success in America and elsewhere. Instead, the writers of the Beat Generation - Jack Kerouac, Allen Ginsberg, William Burroughs and Neal Cassady - believed in a very unconventional lifestyle. In Kerouac's On the Road (1951), Sal Paradise embarks on an adventurous trip across America, during which he keeps meeting friends who are likewise drifting around the country. These people share the same dream: a revolt against the strict rules of previous generations. In their search for something new, they invent a culture, including a different way of speaking, dressing and behaving. Instead, Nicholas Ray's well-known film, Rebel without a Cause (1955), explores the dilemma of seventeen-year-old Jim Stark who is fed up with the way of life and values of his parents' generation, but does not have a clear idea of what he wants out of life.
Domande da interrogazione
- Qual è il tema ricorrente nella letteratura americana riguardo al sogno americano?
- Come viene rappresentato il sogno americano in "The Great Gatsby" di Francis Scott Fitzgerald?
- Qual è l'antidoto proposto da John Steinbeck contro l'egoismo nel sogno americano?
- Come viene esplorata la relazione dell'individuo con la società nella narrativa americana del dopoguerra?
Il tema ricorrente è la corruzione del sogno americano, dove i valori tradizionali di moralità e integrità vengono spesso messi da parte per inseguire potere e ricchezza.
In "The Great Gatsby", Fitzgerald esplora come i vecchi valori del sogno americano siano talvolta abbandonati a favore di un folle inseguimento di potere e ricchezza.
John Steinbeck, in "The Grapes of Wrath", propone come antidoto l'importanza dei valori comunitari rispetto ai bisogni individuali.
La narrativa del dopoguerra esplora la difficile relazione dell'individuo con la società, come visto in "The Catcher in the Rye" di J.D. Salinger, dove il protagonista è disilluso dall'ipocrisia e corruzione che osserva.
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