materialsm
Materialism
America has been labeled "The land of opportunity," a place where it is possible to accomplish anything and everything. This state of mind is known as "The American Dream." The American Dream provides a sense of hope and faith that looks forward to the fulfillment of human wishes and desires. This dream, however, originates from a desire for spiritual and material improvement. Unfortunately, the acquisition of material has been tied together with happiness in America. Although "The American Dream" can be thought of as a positive motivation, it often causes people to strive for material perfection, rather than a spiritual one. This has been a truth since the beginnings of America, such as the setting of F. Scott Fitzgerald's novel, The Great Gatsby, which is an example of this set in the 20's. The characters in this novel are too fixed on material things, losing sight of what is really important. The characters in The Great Gatsby take a materialistic attitude that causes them to fall into a downward spiral of empty hope and zealous obsession. John Steinbeck’s classic novel “Of Mice and Men” captures the surly and often hopeless lives of a group of nomadic farmhands living together in central California. The novel has a morbid tone throughout, which is only alleviated through the lightheartedness of Lennie, the affable and mentally challenged friend of George. Throughout the novel each character is plagued by indelible self-interest. Houses, property, and clothes are a small sampling of the materialistic possessions that the characters insist that, only if, they could acquire these things, then they would be happy. Curley’s wife tells Lennie, “Coulda been in the movies, an’ had nice clothes–all them nice clothes like they wear. An’ I coulda sat in them big hotels, an’ had pitchers took of me…An’ all them nice clothes like they wear” (89). Curley’s wife comes off as pathetic as she laments over what could have been. Not only is what she saying
America has been labeled "The land of opportunity," a place where it is possible to accomplish anything and everything. This state of mind is known as "The American Dream." The American Dream provides a sense of hope and faith that looks forward to the fulfillment of human wishes and desires. This dream, however, originates from a desire for spiritual and material improvement. Unfortunately, the acquisition of material has been tied together with happiness in America. Although "The American Dream" can be thought of as a positive motivation, it often causes people to strive for material perfection, rather than a spiritual one. This has been a truth since the beginnings of America, such as the setting of F. Scott Fitzgerald's novel, The Great Gatsby, which is an example of this set in the 20's. The characters in this novel are too fixed on material things, losing sight of what is really important. The characters in The Great Gatsby take a materialistic attitude that causes them to fall into a downward spiral of empty hope and zealous obsession. John Steinbeck’s classic novel “Of Mice and Men” captures the surly and often hopeless lives of a group of nomadic farmhands living together in central California. The novel has a morbid tone throughout, which is only alleviated through the lightheartedness of Lennie, the affable and mentally challenged friend of George. Throughout the novel each character is plagued by indelible self-interest. Houses, property, and clothes are a small sampling of the materialistic possessions that the characters insist that, only if, they could acquire these things, then they would be happy. Curley’s wife tells Lennie, “Coulda been in the movies, an’ had nice clothes–all them nice clothes like they wear. An’ I coulda sat in them big hotels, an’ had pitchers took of me…An’ all them nice clothes like they wear” (89). Curley’s wife comes off as pathetic as she laments over what could have been. Not only is what she saying