Unattainable Dream In The Great Gatsby And Richard Cory By Edwin Arlington Robinson

The Unattainable Dream The American Dream is known as a life of personal happiness and material comfort as traditionally sought by individuals in the United States. It’s the overall thought that one can self invent themself, being able to construct their own life by starting over and setting the past aside. In today’s society, the American Dream is categorized as either being something that is attainable or unattainable, but the three sources that I have chosen being Jay Gatsby from The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald, Richard Cory from Richard Cory by Edwin Arlington Robinson, and Walter Mitty from The Secret life of Walter Mitty by James Thurber, all explain how the American Dream is unattainable. Although satisfaction is never permanent
In this poem, the main character, Richard Cory, is portrayed as the “American Dream” that everyone wants to achieve in his town. Throughout the poem, Richard Cory went through stages of deep depression that no one had known about since he never showed his inner emotions in person. For example, Richard Cory was said to be “quietly arrayed... he was always human when he talked…he fluttered pulses when he said, ‘Good morning’, and he glittered when he walked”(lines 6-8). Richard Cory was a man of integrity, always dressed nice, and presented himself as a guy that was always happy and shined in the eyes of people when seen. In these lines, Richard Cory’s generosity delivers a positive message to his surroundings, showing how he is fully satisfied with his own life. It isn’t until the end of the poem when Richard Cory, “Went home and put a bullet through his head”(line 16). The people that Richard Cory was surrounded by never really knew about his inner world. Richard Cory was respected way too much to the point that he was more of an idealization rather than a living, breathing person. As a result, he was never truly befriended by any of them; consequently, he became isolated and permanently lonely causing his depression. Richard Cory had all of the money in the world but didn’t gain his happiness, which correlates to my thesis
The daydreams that Walter Mitty encounters are all triggered by the heat of the moment when he’s driving, thinking about what he can become, foreshadowing all of his American Dreams. Throughout this short story, Walter Mitty had to put up with an environment that constantly interrupted his daydreams. For example, at the beginning of the story when Walter Mitty is driving, he enters a state where he’s in war, flying the hydroplane that he had always dreamed of flying. “We’re going through!... Throw on the power lights! Rev her up to 8,500! We’re going through… The pounding of the cylinders increased ta-pocketa-pocketa-pocketa-pocketa…”(625). At the time, Richard Cory is in complete satisfaction with himself until his wife suddenly says, “Not so fast! You’re driving too fast!”(625). Another example of Walter Mitty’s American Dream is created when he puts on a pair of gloves, dreaming that he’s in an operating room with his partner that tells him to, “Get on with the operation…”(626). At this point, Walter Mitty is an amazing surgeon until a parking attendant suddenly yells at him and says, “Back it up Mac! Look out for that Buick!”(626). Both of these examples support my thesis because Walter Mitty’s American Dreams are to become all of these things but he never gets the chance too because there’s always someone or something