User:Erhernandez/sandbox: Difference between revisions

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The myth Mailer is concerned with is one of the strongest surviving myths in American society: the American Dream. According to Slotkin, the American Dream equals “the conception of America as a wide-open land of unlimited opportunity for the strong, ambitious, self-reliant individual to thrust his way to the top”.{{sfn|Slotkin|1965|p=5}} In this view, anyone can climb the ladder of success by hard work and just a bit of luck. However, the reality of everyday life often contradicts this perpetual idee-fixe—and wealth is often accom-

modated by corruption and high-society influencing. In contrast with the democratic ideal of the original American Dream, wealth has become the privilege of a secluded group of perverted semi-criminals.

In ''Advertisements'', Mailer signals a frightened standstill in contemporary

society. American society has turned into a totalitarian state controlled by a

small number of highly powerful people—“men who had too much money and controlled too many things”—who are obstructively relentless to change. As a consequence, the American people were deprived of the possibilities of personal growth, which were initially offered by the democratic ideal of the American Dream. Enforced by the legacy of the Second World War, “[a] stench of fear has come out of every pore of American life,” resulting in the fact that “almost any kind of unconventional action often takes disproportionate courage”.{{sfn|Mailer|1959|p=338, 339-40}} According to Mailer, the power needed to overthrow the dictatorial regime is found in the power of the individual. The individual has to show courage to stand out of society, because without deviation from the norm, progress is not possible. By breaking away from the impediments of society, the Hipster will be able to claim what is rightfully his, namely the American possibility of self-creation. The guideline for this individual regeneration—a source of power in Slotkin’s view—

was outlined in the essay and re-evaluated in ''Dream''. Mailer tests his

mythological hypothesis by applying it to Rojack. At the same time, the dichotomy

between the “evil” and the “good” American Dream that was already touched upon in ''Advertisements'' is further elaborated in the novel. In Dream the conflict between the romantic and the consumatory stage of the American myth is illustrated by the protagonist’s heroic attempt to break the bonds with his old life and start life anew. The representation of Rojack’s old life holds Mailer’s description of the corrupted American Dream while the protagonist’s new life represents the new myth Mailer is proposing.

=====THE DECONSTRUCTION OF AN AMERICAN IDEAL=====

The prime representative of Rojack’s old life is his highly influential father in-

law, Barney Oswald Kelly. Kelly is presented as the embodiment of the romantic stage in the mythological development of the American Dream. The plot of Kelly’s life-story reveals the characteristics of a corrupted American society.

Kelly is of Northern-Irish descent and grew up in a poor immigrant family. Notwithstanding the fact that Kelly had to start from an impoverished

===Citations===

@@ Line 298: / Line 298: @@
 The myth Mailer is concerned with is one of the strongest surviving myths in American society: the American Dream. According to Slotkin, the American Dream equals “the conception of America as a wide-open land of unlimited opportunity for the strong, ambitious, self-reliant individual to thrust his way to the top”.{{sfn|Slotkin|1965|p=5}} In this view, anyone can climb the ladder of success by hard work and just a bit of luck. However, the reality of everyday life often contradicts this perpetual idee-fixe—and wealth is often accom-
 {{pg|362|363}}
+modated by corruption and high-society influencing. In contrast with the democratic ideal of the original American Dream, wealth has become the privilege of a secluded group of perverted semi-criminals.
+In ''Advertisements'', Mailer signals a frightened standstill in contemporary
+society. American society has turned into a totalitarian state controlled by a
+small number of highly powerful people—“men who had too much money and controlled too many things”—who are obstructively relentless to change. As a consequence, the American people were deprived of the possibilities of personal growth, which were initially offered by the democratic ideal of the American Dream. Enforced by the legacy of the Second World War, “[a] stench of fear has come out of every pore of American life,” resulting in the fact that “almost any kind of unconventional action often takes disproportionate courage”.{{sfn|Mailer|1959|p=338, 339-40}} According to Mailer, the power needed to overthrow the dictatorial regime is found in the power of the individual. The individual has to show courage to stand out of society, because without deviation from the norm, progress is not possible. By breaking away from the impediments of society, the Hipster will be able to claim what is rightfully his, namely the American possibility of self-creation. The guideline for this individual regeneration—a source of power in Slotkin’s view—
+was outlined in the essay and re-evaluated in ''Dream''. Mailer tests his
+mythological hypothesis by applying it to Rojack. At the same time, the dichotomy
+between the “evil” and the “good” American Dream that was already touched upon in ''Advertisements'' is further elaborated in the novel. In Dream the conflict between the romantic and the consumatory stage of the American myth is illustrated by the protagonist’s heroic attempt to break the bonds with his old life and start life anew. The representation of Rojack’s old life holds Mailer’s description of the corrupted American Dream while the protagonist’s new life represents the new myth Mailer is proposing.
+=====THE DECONSTRUCTION OF AN AMERICAN IDEAL=====
+The prime representative of Rojack’s old life is his highly influential father in-
+law, Barney Oswald Kelly. Kelly is presented as the embodiment of the romantic stage in the mythological development of the American Dream. The plot of Kelly’s life-story reveals the characteristics of a corrupted American society.
+Kelly is of Northern-Irish descent and grew up in a poor immigrant family. Notwithstanding the fact that Kelly had to start from an impoverished
+{{pg|363|364}}
 ===Citations===