In the novel The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald and the play Death of a Salesman by Arthur Miller, both authors use their characters’ living space, the house, as a metaphor for the attainability of the American Dream of security, wealth, and happiness. In the American Dream, the house—the living space—demonstrates the social class and degree to which the Dream has been physically attained. The home, however – the dynamic among the people living in the house—demonstrates the happiness and fulfillment truly attained. Because of the emphasis on material things that was necessary for these characters to get their houses in the first place, neither are able to make their house into a home because of the misguided focus on material success.…show more content… Gatsby does, however, attempt to turn his massive house into a loving home through Daisy. When Gatsby first gives Daisy the grand tour of his property, she “admired this aspect or that of the feudal silhouette against the sky, admired the gardens, the sparkling odor of jonquils and the frothy odor of hawthorns…” (90). However, Daisy eventually rebuffs Gatsby’s attempts to make a home together; she refuses to admit that she “never loved” her husband Tom, and instead flees from East Egg with Tom, leaving a crestfallen…show more content… Trunk suggests an antidote to the “old” Dream, which “used to be a college education, a steady job, a nice house (and a family to fill it), and a better financial picture than what your parents had.” Instead, Trunk suggests, in order to truly achieve the American Dream of happiness, one should not try for better than one’s parents financial status (the House), but rather in fulfillment (the Home). Had Willy and Gatsby built meaningful human relationships, rather than business ones, as Trunk suggests, perhaps both characters would have found such fulfillment, although perhaps they would not have had quite as much material wealth. Indeed, one’s success in attaining the new Dream will not be as tangible as the old Dream; as Trunk writes, “the new American dream is about fulfillment, which is a murky slippery goal, but young people…know it when they feel it, and you will, too.”
Likewise, in response to the question “What is the American Dream?” Martha Stewart rephrases Trunk’s advice in a succinct statement. Stewart quoted the writer Samuel Johnson: “To be happy at home is the ultimate result of all ambition.” Johnson and Stewart suggest that the Dream requires one to forget about financial aspect of the Dream and instead focus on personal fulfillment; the amount of money one earns or the size of one’s house does not determine happiness.
