How Fitzgerald and Cheever reflected the changes in America

Question 8

There was a lot of fascination among the readers of Fitzgerald`s work. He mainly focused on the American dream and most of his writings were concentrated on how America was changing. Moreover, he constantly offers an exploration of where the fate of the American dream originated from. He further expresses his lack of concern regarding what the dream was all about. Instead what he was concerned about, is how to live in it. Similarly, there are many people who share the same assertions held by Fitzgerald regarding the changes they are likely to express in their lives as Americans. Symbolism is an ideal element in his poetry. One of the elaborate instances would be where he defines the extravagant and illusionary imagination of the Gatsby’s. He paints a picture of individuals who adorn expensive clothing to appear wealthy yet this is not the case; they are just morally corrupt. This reflects on the real life situation in America where people constantly post alluring photos that exhibit a life of luxury on social media platforms yet this differs from their real life. 

Also, James Cheever writes during America`s worst economic period dubbed the great depression. Through The Pot of Gold he offers an account an account of a family living on the brink of poverty owing to their extravagant lifestyle. The husband even goes to war with the wife and daughter returning to work in order for them to acquire the coveted life which they so much desire; all to no avail. The big break, however, comes when the husband`s uncle saves a drowning man who manages to ascertain that the husband gets a high paying job. The death of the kind man further leads the husband to lose his job, with the wife more concerned about the death than the idea of the job that was no longer existent. This is a psychological self-revelation that is evident in the present society; whereby one loses the facade and remembers nothing of the life they led initially. Besides the moral aspect emerges where they later realize they have a moral obligation towards others. Moreover, the scenario depicts America`s former situation where individuals relied on single income families unlike the current scenario where both husband and wife are breadwinners. Additionally, during the same time, whenever a woman was expectant, she had to leave her job to care for her child. This differs from the present situation where maternity leaves have been developed with the sole aim of preserving women`s jobs. 

Question 9

The idea that that all men are created equal, and are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable rights, that among these are: Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness, is viewed as an illusion by many American authors of the 20th century. According to Kingston & Silko for instance, the identity of a man is continually changed with many transformations and alterations taking place. Additionally, the changes end up ensuring that men are not equal to one another; there will always be one who is greater than the other. An account of Tayo, a mixed blood individual is offered whereby, he fails to embrace Anglo-American beliefs after his return from World War II. The problems he experiences base their origin on self-definition, which a distinctive concept that distinguishes one individual from the other. 

American writers end up creating new images of self-identity by drawing from their culture. According to Robinson & Lowell , the idea of brotherhood, family status and supremacy ascertains that no man is created equal to the other. Besides no single person is created free and neither is man an equal to his peers. Basically, what the authors meant was that regardless of everything, people have differing ambitions and goals and at one point a certain goal is deemed to be superior to the other and hence the person who has attained the achievement cannot in any way be deemed as an equal of one who has not made any accomplishment.