Last year my summer assignment for English was to read Slaughter-house five and discuss its representation of the American Dream. I am halfway through A Streetcar Named Desire and out of everything I can think of nothing stands out in this book more then the American Dream. It is not evident when you first begin reading the book however the more you get into it and understand the background of Stanley you see the abuse of the American dream. He is Polish, him or his parents were immigrants, he has a great life with a lovely wife and yet he is still unhappy. Why must he be so abusive towards the life he has been given? What triggers the mad man inside him?
Even in Stanley’s madness the American dream is seen. He is free of rules and control. He speaks as loud as he wants and does what he wants with who he wants whenever he wants to and no one can stop him. This idea that you can do anything and walk down the street without worrying who you are or where you’re from sets him loose to be careless and simple minded. The American dream that he once probably longed for has now swallowed him into a darkness he has become lost in. Stanley seems like the type who never achieved what he came to America for and his failure has taken over his emotions, leaving him with an angry, destructive soul.
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