In the novel Fear and Loathing In Lass Vegas by Hunter S. Thompson, the THESIS: characters and the situations they experience represent the decline of the American Dream and the rampant corruption In American society, due to widespread consumerism and self-interest. L. From the very beginnings of his country people have centered their life on achieving the American Dream. A. The concept of the American Dream is becoming a successful and prosperous citizen. B. It can have a variety of meanings and interpretations.
C. America was built around this idea. II. Over the years there has been a significant decline and destruction of the original morals of the American Dream. A. This can be partially blamed on the increase of consumerism. B. The media has spread negative ideas, products, and behaviors to the public. Ill. In the novel Fear and Loathing in Lass Vegas, the corruption of the American Dream Is shown by the narrator’s experiences In Sin City. A. The characters represent the people who are Influenced by the consumerism and corruption. B.
The city of Lass Vegas is a prime example of how the values of the American Dream mean very little. IV. The American Dream is not dead. A. The meaning of the American has changed. B. It still focuses on success, but the methods for obtaining success have been altered. C. It is centered on the ruthless struggle for power by citizens of a consumerist society. In the novel Fear and Loathing In Lass Vegas by Hunter S. Thompson, the characters and the situations they experience represent the decline of the American Dream and the rampant corruption In American society, due to widespread consumerism and self-interest.
From the very foundation of the united States people have centered heir life on achieving their specific perspective of the American Dream. The concept of the American Dream is becoming a successful and prosperous citizen, maintaining values, and working to achieve certain goals. The foundation of America was based on this concept of success and is still prominent in today’s society, taking on a variety of meanings, interpretations, and several different viewpoints.
The American Dream used to hold an optimistic and genuine meaning to the citizens of the country, but in modern times it has been completely altered and transformed into an idea driven by activity and manipulative actions in order to maintain that same success. Over the years there has been a significant decline and destruction of the once extremely positive values of the American Dream. This can be blamed In part to the world-wide spread of consumerist Ideas and actions. According to an article In the Lass Angles Times, not only in America but on a global scale, “vast numbers of families in these improve their living standards”(Lee).
Americans have been sucked into a never- ending cycle of useless spending and focus on materialistic ideas and objects rather Han the innocent and optimistic ideas once pulled from the American Dream. Another political critic, Jennifer Waters, believes that “Americans may not be able to go back to the days of conspicuous consumption even if they want to,” so it is safe to say that the media has spread negative ideas, products, and behaviors to the American public that are essentially irreversible.
One thing critics have difficulty taking sides on is the success of America, and whether or not the country has stayed true to the ideas that originally founded it. In Beam’s State of the Union Address 2010, he says to the American public that: For while the people who sent us here have different backgrounds, different stories, different beliefs, the anxieties they face are the same. The aspirations they hold are shared: a Job that pays the bills; a chance to get ahead; most of all, the ability to give their children a better life.
Whether the way people obtain these goals are positive or negative, this is the American Dream; but this is also where the innocent dream is corrupted. Goals and ambitions are the drive of the American people, but what appends when those citizens will do absolutely anything to get ahead and provide for themselves? The basic concepts of human nature explain why the dream has been altered; after a certain point personal gain tramples any sense of unity in a nation due to the struggle for power.
Materialism is one of the most contributing factors to the destruction of the American Dream. This concept can be observed through the main character’s actions in the Great Gatsby; Jay Gatsby lost the love of his life and attempts to earn her back by accumulating his wealth and making a name for himself n the upper class. This epitomizes the complete consumption of society with wealth, fame, and the use of manipulation to achieve those materialistic concepts.
Major corporations are overwhelming the country and have nearly as much power as the government. The leaders of these companies have one thing in mind: personal gain, and basically they are like every other citizen working to meet their goals, but their means are depraved. Niccole Machiavellian philosophy that “the ends Justify the means” condones these business leaders to use immoral tactics to achieve a successful life. The American people fall to materialistic fantasies and replace their own personal values to fit in with the rest of society.
The revered American author and Journalist Hunter S. Thompson molds the novel Fear and Loathing in Lass Vegas by incorporating his life experiences and views of society into a demented, drug- driven adventure of a man and his attorney, thrown straight into the heart of Lass Vegas. After the tragic death of his father at a young age, Thompson took an entirely new perspective on life and began to make poor decisions; he even went as far as to et himself arrested for robbery, making him unable to graduate from high school.
Drugs and alcohol became a necessity to him in his later years, helping the author to manage the pressure of his position in society; but the struggles he underwent eventually drove him to suicide (Bio. Life). These events formed the foundation for the dark and solemn life of the author, and are believed to be the inspiration for the majority of his literary works and the source of his fame. In the novel Fear and Loathing in Lass Vegas, the corruption of the American Dream is represented in the he media and important corporations.
The characters of the novel represent the people who are influenced by the consumerism and the corruption of Sin City. At the very beginning of the novel the narrator states “We’re on our way to Lass Vegas to find the American Dream” (Thompson 6). This is ironic in that the original ideals of the American Dream, such as success and individuality, are replaced by drugs, alcohol, and limitless partying. The city of Lass Vegas is a prime example of how the morals of the vast majority of people have been altered and the slow but sure takeover of
America by consumerism. The American Dream is not dead; it has simply taken on a wholly different meaning. The ideas still focus on success but the methods obtaining success have been noticeably altered in a way that may not be able to be reversed. It is now centered on the ruthless struggle for power by the citizens of a consumerist society, and the lack of morality and consumption by materialism has replaced the American Dream into the American Nightmare.
