Feburary 22nd

Does society's definition of success yield happiness?

The American Dream has become society's definition of happiness. As we see from Jay Gatsby, Charles Foster Kane and Andrew Carnegie, ahceiving it doesn't yeild happiness.

When I think about the American Dream, I think of one man in particular- Jay Gatsby. He had everything- the people, the house, the money, the air of excellency. He had all these things and yet all he wanted was one- Daisy. She was his driving force- he worked to get enough money so he would be sociall accepted enough to marry her, he moved across her lake so he could look at her green light. What happens when he acheives these things though? He certainly doesn't get Daisy back, and he doesn't gain any happiness by that.In fact, he happens to die after finding out he can't get her back. She was the sum total of his existance- all the things he'd gained meant nothing and therefore couldn't possibly have made him happy.

Another man driven by something he could never get back was the fictional character, CHarles Foster Kane. Everything he did was in search of his childhood sled, Rosebud, which represented the life he was robbed of having. This fueled his business, his politics, his marriages- big decisions always seemed to occur when he was searching for Rosebud. It was something he never got back though- maybe tangibly, but not emotionally, and he was miserable slaving over his search for it. He never acheived happiness.

Andrew Carnegie spent his life in misery as well. He was always striving to acheive the impossible, always working, slaving over his steel work. He thought being at the top would bring him happiness, that money would solve all his problems. But while taking this path, his public image faltered, and even though he did lots to try and improve it, nobody really liked him. His relationships with people diminished and the only person he ever really had was his mother. She was his driving force- but how would one feel if their only friend was their mother? I doubt they'd be beaming with joy. In choosing the American Dream, Andrew Carnegie gave up happiness.

Society's definition of success calls for too much from those trying to acheive it. The American Dream is just that- a dream. It's an illusion that money and productivity will yeild happiness, and as we've just discovered, that just isn't true.