Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas by Hunter Thompson The American Dream speaks of a promise of wealth, prosperity and a life that is well-lived. It is a long-standing ideal that ensures success in life as long as one is willing to work extremely hard in whatever way possible. The American dream is defined here as the motivating force for the millions of immigrants that flock to the Land of the Free because poverty has become so rampant and extensive in their countries that the only option that is viable to them is to move to a country that promises them success, wealth, freedom from religious persecution and material prosperity. Even though this is oftentimes true for the people who really do work hard for the dream, the American Dream should not be promoted as it is (Wikipedia).
This paper looks at Hunter Thompsons idea of the American Dream through his book that expounds on drugs and the pursuit of a high profile lifestyle. Thompsons book is fiction yet is it also an insightful social commentary of the American Dream and all that it represents. Thompson sees the booze and the drugs and the superficiality of it all. He touches on this American Dream that promises people from all walks of life and all countries of origin that within this land, there is freedom from oppression, freedom from poverty and material wealth but for other people, it will only remain a dream for them.
The Essay on United States Countries People Freedom
The United States is a nation of Immigrants. Many people come to the United States every year from all over the world. These immigrants include international students, professionals, and refugees. They come to the United States for many different reasons, but mainly for better opportunities for themselves and their families: better jobs, better life, to join family, to escape war, and for freedom. ...
It is not all that glamour and as Thompson remarks, All this had been rounded up the night before in a frenzy of high-speed drugs. All over Los Angeles County from Topaga to Watts, we picked up everything we could get our hands on. Not that we needed all these for the trip, but once you get locked into a serious drug collection, the tendency is to push it as far as I can. (p. 3).
So, thats how Thompson sees the American Dream. For the author, the dream that tugs at peoples hearts can be distorted and twisted in the first place. There is something amiss in the ruckus that is about the American Dream.
On one side, the American Dream remains a dream where the corruption and the apathy of people continues to prevent it from coming true while on the other side, the American Dream comes with too high a price. It asks for the individuals culture, it torments the person and convinces him into thinking that if you do not assimilate the American culture, you will never make it. The American Dream will always be a Utopian dream until people realize that material wealth is not the only path for success and happiness. Thompson illustrates how people can be automated as he points out one character who grapples with the music in the car, a tape recorder turned all the way up on Sympathy for the Devil. (p. 4).
That was the only tape we had, so we played it constantly over and over as a kind of demented counterpoint to the radio. Yet Thompson gives glimpses of hope for these characters as he adds right after, and also to maintain our rhythm (p. 4).
I think that for most of us, success and failure are important parts of our self-images. Perhaps one fails time and again and concludes that he cant succeed at anything. If so, a central fact is that he is very successful at failing.
If one is successful at failing and does not attain the American Dream and its goodies, little recourse is offered in terms of sympathy. Thats why people must not label one a success or a failure by outward manifestations. I think people must not poison themselves by trying to live a life that is not their own. People need to push past their limits which means considering new possibilities. It may also mean giving up something one values in order to get something thats even more important to him. In moving beyond ones limits, he is taking a risk.
The Essay on American Government System People Vote
Politics is a dirty business. Whether this truly reflects reality or is a popular misconception exacerbated by Hollywood excesses, the general sentiment towards our system of governance is that of disgust, suspicions or complete ignorance. John Doe believes that the average politician is more concerned with his own self-interest than that of his constituents - the term an 'honest politician' is an ...
The risk may be no more than that of having his feelings hurt, but when he does not feel good about himself, even that risk can be frightening. As one changes in ways that helps him move past certain limits, he would also want to live comfortably with those limits that feel right to him. At present, American drug dependents are teenagers and perhaps in school, this could directly affect the entire school population. Peer pressure is one of the primary causes of drug dependency. Without mitigation from the administration, drug dependency as seen in the book of Thompson would undoubtedly rise. Thompson drives his point earlier on as he begins with characters who are adventurous in trying everything they could get their hands on wheels and drugs intoxicating their entire beings.
This drives the distortion in their minds that spurs them even to think of killing a boy they had offered a lift at the slightest sign of misbehavior. It is a sickening picture of individuals wanting to pursue the great American Dream. You would know that their thinking were distorted as Thompson pens, And suddenly, there was a terrible roar around us and the sky was full of what looked like huge bats, all swooping and screeching and diving around the car, which was going about a hundred miles an hour with the top down to Las Vegas. (p.3) Those bats were imaginings of a very active mind. Thompson remains hopeful though, that after all these drugs, there will be a better outcome for politics and the redemption of the American dream. WORKS CITED Thompson, Hunter.
Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas: A Savage Journey to the Heart of the American Dream. Vintage Books, 1998. Wikipedia.com 2005. The American Dream http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/American_Dream.
