American Dream Essay Outline

What types of conflict do you see in the different works of literature and what does this reveal about the American Dream?

There are different types of conflict that man has to deal with in every piece of literature we have looked at. They all, in their own type of way, reveal something about the American Dream. In the pieces that we looked at in class, three particular types of conflict continuously showed up. Man has to deal with other men, himself and with the society around him. While looking deeper at these conflicts, different aspects of the American Dream have been revealed.
Man vs. Man
– OMAM
“You guys better come on while they’s still something to eat.” 36
[shows conflict even in things as eating a meal- we feel the need to compete with others for our American Dream, if we need to compete with things as simple as eating then how far will we go when we have to compete for a dream?]
“A guy goes nuts of he ain’t got nobody.” 72
[As we focus on our dreams more and more the connection with people starts to break, if we can’t rely on others to help us with our dreams we go crazy. This is showing the conflict of man vs man because how far will we stick with someone until their dream takes over *fear of relationship*]
– DOAS
“He loves you Willy” “Always did, Pop.” 133
[The conflict that had arisen between Willy and Biff had prevented them from seeing thee truth and building a better relationship between them- which could have prevented both of them from realizing and achieving their American Dream *fear of relationship*]
• Anytime that Willy starts yelling he causes some sort of conflict
– POEMS/SONGS
“Where never kings connive nor tyrants scheme That any man be crushed by
one above.” Let America be America Again
[The idea of the American Dream- keeping peace, ø conflict]
“I am the farmer, bondsman to the soil. I am the worker, sold to the machine. I
am the Negro, servant to you all. I am the people, humble, hungry, mean–”
Let America be America Again
[Shows how in the American Dream we expect to be working for others/ others working for us= success]

Man vs. Self
– OMAM
“George shook himself. He said woodenly, ‘If I was alone I could live so easy’…George shook himself again. ‘No,’ he said. ‘I want you to stay with me here.'” 103-104
[George is questioning himself on the huge decision that he is about to make- he doesn’t know if he truly wants Lennie to be gone even after he has told other people that life would just be so much easier without him]
– DOAS
• All of Willy’s flashbacks (goes with underlined portion below)
“Chevrolet, Linda, is the greatest car ever built…I’m not going to pay that man! That goddam Chevrolet, they ought to prohibit the manufacture of that car!” 21-23
[Willy always seems to be conflicted with himself and always has 2 different opinions about a certain situation, his mind just isn’t clear- this is very similar to his flashbacks too, he has two different times going on in his head- the past and the present, he just can’t sort them apart and that is creating conflict for him]
– POEMS/SONGS
“Say, who are you that mumbles in the dark?” Let America be America Again
“I am the poor white, fooled and pushed apart, I am the Negro, bearing slavery’s scars.” Let America be America Again
[Both of these quotes are showing a man trying to find his true self while working toward his American Dream.]
“Doing a man’s work, though a child at heart–” Out, Out–
[All our lives we seem to work toward our American Dream, never getting the chance to sit back and enjoy the moment we’re in so it may seem that we are still living in our childhood {connects with Willy because he was working to hard for his dream that maybe he forgot to relax in the moment he was in so he feels like he needs to still be there}]

Man vs. Society
– OMAM
“Don’t come into a place where you’re not wanted.” 69
[Lennie is going into Crooks living place to go visit his pups and Crooks realizes that he isn’t wanted in the bunkhouse. So if he’s not wanted there, then the people from the bunkhouse aren’t welcome in his place either. This is conflict with man an society because today in society we have put people in different groups and choose not to affiliate with them even though they are just regular people too. We listen too much to what society says about them instead of making accurate personality conclusions by getting to know the specific person.]
“Finally George seemed satisfied” 19
[Sometimes we think that the achievement of our American Dream is connected to the amount of success we achieve]
“That’s the boss’s son.” 26
[In the American Dream sometimes we think that the only way we can make our way to the top is if we are already in that position- we are born into it] {Can connect with ‘it’s not what you do…’ from DOAS}
– DOAS
“it’s not what you do its who you know, Ben. It’s who you know” 65
[As we look for success in our dreams we try to find easier ways to achieve them- shortcuts; we don’t want to work our hardest to achieve them because we know that will take a long time and we want them to come right away.]
“‘You’re supposed to pass’ ‘I’m taking one play for Pop. You watch me, Pop'” 19
[We are too busy listening to what society wants us to do and we don’t look at what we can do for ourselves.]
– POEMS/SONGS
“And so I followed the mob” Brother, Can You Spare a Dime?
[Listening to society more than ourselves]
“since they Were not the one dead, turned to their affairs.” Out, Out–
[The American Dream is only about work- or so society says and once we start not working toward our dream we start to see the reality; that isn’t a bad thing!]
“Seeking a home where he himself is free.” “But opportunity is real, and life is free,” Let America be America Again
[Is society saying that the American Dream should revolve around freedom?]
“Of profit, power, gain, of grab of the land!” LABAA
[Is society saying that the American Dream should revolve around what we inherit?]
“Except the dream that’s almost dead today.” LABAA
[Can dreams really die? Why would they?]

Transitions:

As we are seeing conflict between man and man, conflict between man and self is also relevant because it shows how we don’t have a solid idea of what we want/need in our American dream- we are conflicted with ourselves. Sometimes it is harder to deal with this conflict because you are fighting yourself instead of another person. The relationships that you share with the people and what you think about yourself also are a big factor of these different types of conflict.

As we are seeing conflict between man and self, conflict between man and society is also relevant because it shows that we listen too much on what others dreams and desires are, rather than what we want for ourselves. This is also a hard conflict to deal with because sometimes our dreams can be based off what society has influenced upon us for so long, and by then its hard to separate the two.