and also the deep detachment from German civilian life felt by many men returning from the front.
This Side of Paradise by F. Scott Fitzgerald portrays the lives and morality of post-World War I youth. The Sun Also Rises by Ernest Hemingway is about a group of expatriate Americans in Europe during the 1920s. All in all writers and their works in those years were haunted with complicated sensations which have shown us all the difficulties and frustrations in their life.
PartⅡ American Dream and its Disillusionment
2.1 The American Dream
Before we take a look to the causes and effects of the disillusionment of American dream, let's first try to understand the definition and content of American Dream.
2.1.1 The Definition of American Dream
In different social and historical backgrounds, the concepts of American Dream are different, and for different people, they have different understandings of American Dream and the ways to pursue their American Dream are also various. The definition of the so-called American Dream can be distinguished in broad sense and narrow sense. For the former, American Dream is the equality, freedom and democracy in the land of the United States. The later one means, everyone in America ,if only work hard and never give up, he could achieve his dream and could live a better life in this piece of land, that is to say, people should make their efforts ,such as diligence, courage and determination to realize dreams rather than depend on the help from others.
This term that American Dream was first used by James Truslow Adams in his book The Epic of America which was written in 1931. He states, "The American Dream is that dream of a land in which life should be better and richer and fuller for everyone, with opportunity for each according to ability or achievement. It is a difficult dream for the European upper classes to interpret adequately, and too many of us have grown weary and mistrustful of it. It is not a dream of motor cars and high wages merely, but a dream of social order in which each man and each woman shall be able to attain to the fullest stature of which they are innately capable, and be recognized by others for what they are, regardless of the fortuitous circumstances of birth or position." This ideology is based itself on the principle that one should be responsible for oneself, and taking every opportunity to gain success by courage and hard working.
2.1.2 The Essence of American Dream
As for the American Dream, it is a belief that a better life could be achieved through hard work and strives. There are several elements lie in the American Dream: the US has provided equal opportunities for everyone; the success based on own talents and efforts, not the backgroundand extraction; everyone was born equally; and everyone has his own right to achieve success.
"For any American no matter what his origin was, could succeed in changing their social positions and making their dreams come true through their own efforts, and getting new, free and better life."(Zhao Hongwei, 2)This is the basic often of "American dream". It is the idea that the American way of life offers the equal possibility of unlimited economic, social, etc. One can always work their way up from the rags to riches just like Abraham Lincoln, 16th Presiden
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