The Rise and Fall of the American Dream: From

TheAutobiographyofBenjaminFranklinto
DeathofaSalesman 
Donna Packer-Kinlaw

In his 1931 The Epic of America, James Truslow Adams became the
first to name and define the one desire that has united and characterized
the American people since our beginnings. He called it the “American
Dream” and identified it as the “hope of a better and richer life for all
the masses of humble and ordinary folk” (363). This optimism about
one’s ability to have a better life and the “belief in the common man
and the insistence upon his having, as far as possible, equal oppor-
tunity in every way with the rich one,” according to Adams, is the
“greatest contribution we have as yet made to the thought and welfare
of the world” (viii). Although notions of success vary widely and in-
terpretations of the dream have shifted over time, the notion of the
American Dream can be traced back to the nation’s beginnings, and
it has remained a crucial aspect of the national ethos even into the
twenty-first century.
In the seventeenth century, Americans dreamed about obtaining a
better life through faith, hard work, and perseverance. For eighteenth-
century Americans, success was inextricably tied to religion and mo-
rality; thus, success was measured, not only by the accumulation of
material wealth, but also by one’s moral code, one’s standing in the
community, and the contributions that an individual made to the com-
munity. By the nineteenth century, though religion and morality were
still important, material success and work itself became the two most
important aspects of the American Dream. Americans continued their
practice of working hard, but they wanted money in the bank, large
houses, and other symbols of wealth. It was important to be a respect-
able member of the community, but one’s worth was measured, in large
part, by one’s profession and income. This emphasis on augmenting
one’s material wealth continued and, by the early twentieth century,

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 many Americans dreamed about large bank accounts, even larger
houses, and cars. By the mid-twentieth century, some began to ques-
tion whether or not it was even possible to attain the American Dream,
while others challenged notions of the dream itself. Yet, even in these
moments, Americans in general remained optimistic and continued to
believe that the United States was a place where if one worked hard,
success would surely follow.
Since its beginnings, American literature has served as a chronicle
of the American Dream, and some of the nation’s most revered texts
provide strikingly forthright portraits of individuals pursuing and liv-
ing the dream. Perhaps no other text demonstrates the American Dream
of the eighteenth century quite as accurately as Benjamin Franklin’s
Autobiography, as Franklin himself seems to embody the American
Dream. Horatio Alger’s Ragged Dick thoroughly exemplifies the
hopes and aspirations of those living in the nineteenth century, and
Alger’s protagonist, Richard Hunter, or “Ragged Dick,” demonstrates
what can happen if one will only work hard and live honestly. In the
twentieth century, F. Scott Fitzgerald highlighted the American Dream
in his fiction, and he constructed a forceful image of the post–World
War I dream in The Great Gatsby. Fitzgerald’s characters, with their
fine houses, clothes, and cars, seem to have reached the pinnacle of the
“good life.” Finally, Arthur Miller’s Death of a Salesman demonstrates
not only the enduring belief in the dream but also the dangers associ-
ated with having “the wrong” dream in mid-twentieth century Amer-
ica (Miller 138). Through Willy and Biff, Miller explores what the
dream means at that particular moment and the reasons why it seems,
for some, unobtainable and elusive. These four narratives provide an
opportunity for us to survey the American Dream from the nation’s
beginnings through the twentieth century. Such a study exposes the
relation between the dream and American literature, provides a better
understanding of what the dream represented in different periods, and
reveals the evolution of the dream from one era to another. Perhaps
most importantly, it suggests the omnipresence of the American Dream

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 in our national consciousness and demonstrates how tremendously sig-
nificant it is to Americans, both individually and collectively.

Franklin’s Autobiography
When the Pilgrims established Plymouth Plantation in 1620, they had a
dream of practicing religion without the oppressive constraints placed
upon them by the Church of England. Ten years later, in 1630, the Puri-
tans arrived in Massachusetts Bay, bringing with them a similar desire
to follow their own faith without the intervention of popes and bishops
from other religions. Throughout seventeenth century, religious ideol-
ogy guided American thought, and texts such as John Winthrop’s “A
Model of Christian Charity,” the poetry of Anne Bradstreet, and A Nar-
rative of the Captivity and Restoration of Mrs. Mary Rowlandson re-
flect the pervasiveness of religion in the American consciousness dur-
ing this period. However, by the eighteenth century, dramatic changes
in the social and philosophical environment, in the government, and in
the sciences transformed how Americans perceived the world and their
place in it. Although religion still played a central role in American
life, many turned to science and philosophy to provide answers to their
philosophical and moral queries. The American Dream, though it had
not yet been named, was affected by these transformations.
In his Autobiography, Benjamin Franklin fashions a self-portrait
that demonstrates this coalescing of religious and philosophical ide-
ologies in the eighteenth century. Franklin’s notions about religion and
morality guide his life and actions, and they provide the foundation
of his understanding of the American Dream. Even though he never
used the phrase “American Dream,” Franklin had a clear vision about
how to be successful, and his ideas serve as the basis of the Ameri-
can Dream in the eighteenth century and beyond. For Franklin, the
dream consisted of attaining moral perfection, earning the respect of
one’s fellow citizens, and becoming financially independent. In order
to achieve such a position, one must live morally, work diligently, and
practice frugality, and Franklin insists on the relation between success

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 and moral fortitude. Thus, he confesses his faith and avows that he
“never doubted, for instance, the Existence of the Deity” (89). Addi-
tionally, Franklin believes that “the most acceptable Service of God
was the doing Good to Man,” and he emphasizes work, rather than
faith, as the key to realizing the dream (89).
By confessing his faith and linking one’s work to God, Franklin
attempts to establish morality and work as the path to success, and
his narrative continually reaffirms that assertion. For example, he
“conceiv’d the bold and arduous Project of arriving at moral Perfec-
tion” and confesses that he dreamed of living “without committing
any Fault at any time” (90). In his effort to achieve moral excellence,
Franklin banishes drunkenness, extravagance, indolence, dishonesty,
and such vices, and thus positions himself as an honest, temperate, fru-
gal, and industrious man. Such a man, it follows, should necessarily
find success. Thus, Franklin concocts a plan wherein he attempts to
gain control over thirteen different areas of his life, including “Tem-
perance,” “Silence,” “Order,” “Resolution,” “Frugality,” “Industry,”
“Sincerity,” “Justice,” “Moderation,” “Cleanliness,” “Tranquility,”
“Chastity,” and “Humility” (91–92). By mastering each of these areas,
or virtues, as he called them, Franklin believed that he would live a life
of productivity, faultlessness, and rectitude. Although he confesses that
he “fell short” of reaching the “Perfection” that he “had been so anx-
ious of obtaining,” he claims that he was “a better and a happier Man
than I otherwise would have been” (99). What is more, he insists that
his financial success and his outstanding position in the community
stem from his dedication to living a life grounded in morality, industry,
and frugality. In Franklin’s view, these virtues lead directly to the at-
tainment of his dream.
By the nineteenth century, perceptions of the dream shifted as
Americans began to measure success by the amount of material wealth
that they accumulated. The desire to obtain such wealth became so
intense for some that Merle Curti, author of The Growth of American
Thought, calls it a “quest” that Americans embark upon as they seek

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 out “material fortunes as ends in themselves” (508). Whereas Franklin
and his eighteenth-century contemporaries perceived work itself as
a virtue, nineteenth-century Americans had a new interpretation of
work, wealth, and success. Rather than a means of doing God’s work
and an opportunity to enhance the lives of one’s fellow citizens, work
now primarily served as a pathway to building individual fortunes. The
goal, or dream, was to make more money than the competition, to see
who could increase their capital the most. As Alan Trachtenberg ex-
plains in The Incorporation of America, work in the nineteenth century
was perceived as “a field of personal competition, of heroic endeavor”
(5). It is not surprising, then, that when Alexis de Tocqueville trav-
eled to the United States during the 1830s and wrote about his journey
in Democracy in America, he was struck by the American preoccupa-
tion with wealth. In Tocqueville’s opinion, American men struggled
with two fears: that they would not be as affluent as their fathers
and that they would not amass a fortune large enough to ensure their
sons’ futures. Thus, despite their success, prosperous American men
are “almost always disconnected with” their “fortune,” and they are
“constantly haunted by the desire of obtaining wealth, and they natu-
rally turn their attention to trade and manufactures, which appear the
readiest and most powerful means of success” (164).

Alger’s Ragged Dick

In Ragged Dick, Horatio Alger makes this preoccupation with work
and wealth a central part of his narrative about a young boot-black who
manages to redirect his life and find the path to middle-class success
through perseverance, frugality, and hard work. Written just before the
rise of business titans John D. Rockefeller and J. P. Morgan, Alger ide-
alizes the nineteenth-century dream of entering the business commu-
nity, increasing one’s wealth, and steadily improving one’s position in
society. Alger’s protagonist, Richard “Ragged Dick” Hunter, dreams
of moving beyond his lowly position as a bootblack. As he confesses
to his new friend Frank Whitney, “I really wish I could get somethin’

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 else to do. . . . I’d like to be a office boy, and learn business, and grow
up ’spectable” (26). Yet Dick worries that his dream will remain un-
fulfilled. Anticipating a lifetime of deprivation and bootblacking, Dick
expects nothing more than what he has been told, that he will likely
“grow up to be a vagabone . . . and come to the gallows” (27). More,
he acknowledges that his frivolous habits—”goin’ to the theatre, and
treatin’ boys to oyster-stews, and bettin’ money on cards”—hinder his
ability to obtain a better situation (28).
However, nineteenth-century America was hopeful. It was a time,
seemingly, when determination, a good work ethic, and strong mor-
als were rewarded with success and upward mobility. It was a time
when many believed, along with Henry David Thoreau, that “if one
advances confidently in the direction of his dreams, and endeavors to
live the life which he has imagined, he will meet with a success unex-
pected in common hours” (Thoreau 267). Such remarks all but prom-
ise the realization of the dream, if one will only try. In Ragged Dick,
Frank Whitney, who serves as just one voice of morality and hope in
the narrative, echoes Thoreau’s sentiments. According to Frank, “If
you’ll try to be somebody, and grow up into a respectable member of
society, you will. You may not become rich,—it isn’t everybody that
becomes rich, you know,—but you can obtain a good position, and be
respected” (27–28). Frank’s uncle, Mr. Whitney, also possesses this
same hopefulness, and he instructs Dick to “save your money, my lad,
buy books, and determine to be somebody” (49). By following these
guidelines, Whitney claims, “you may yet fill an honorable position”
(49). In each instance, the nineteenth-century dream of respectability,
work, and increased wealth comes as a result of maintaining a good
work ethic, practicing honesty and frugality, educating oneself, and
having a strong moral compass.
Each man who assists Dick, from Whitney to Rockwell, is an hon-
orable, Christian businessman. They have been successful in life,
amassed significant wealth, and seemingly preserved their moral for-
titude. And because Dick, our hero and a hopeful young lad, longs to

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 emulate these men, it is unsurprising that he, too, possesses a simi-
lar work ethic. Like Benjamin Franklin before him, Dick works hard,
lives within his means, and manages to save a bit of money. But per-
haps most importantly, he “was above doing anything mean or dishon-
orable. He would not steal, or cheat, or impose upon younger boys,
but was frank and straight-forward, manly and self-reliant. His nature
was a noble one, and had saved him from all mean faults” (6). Such an
emphasis on Dick’s capacity for conforming to the morals and guide-
lines of nineteenth-century society reinforces the relation between the
dream and virtue. That Alger stresses such character traits and links
them to success is no accident. Intending his stories to teach boys that
success and morality go hand in hand, Alger takes it as his duty as a
writer to “exert a wholesome influence on his young readers” (“Writ-
ing” 126). Thus, he quite consciously emphasizes “honesty, industry,
frugality, and a worthy ambition” in his narratives and attempts to
create “heroes” who are “manly boys, bright, cheerful, hopeful, and
plucky” (126).
Although attaining the American Dream seems a rightful reward for
one’s upstanding behavior during these early years in America, by the
late nineteenth century, men like John D. Rockefeller and J. P. Morgan
transformed the rules of business, and their questionable tactics cre-
ated a chasm between morality and success. Not only did these giants
of the railroad and oil industries redefine how businesses operated, but
they also intimated the separation between ethics and business prac-
tices and the desire to accumulate wealth. As Adams explains, during
these years and into the twentieth century, business “ceased to be a
mere occupation which must be carried on in accordance with the mor-
al code. It had itself become part of that code. Money-making having
become a virtue, it was no longer controlled by the virtues, but ranked
with them” (191). Because of this shift in the relation between business
and ethics, the dreams of Franklin and Alger consequently drifted fur-
ther from the nation’s consciousness. Furthermore, because the acqui-
sition of money was now perceived as a “virtue,” to borrow Adams’s

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 word, Americans longed to display their wealth, and they exuberantly
collected objects—homes, cars, art, and boats—that showed the world
just how successful they had become.

The Great Gatsby

For Henry James, this obsession with wealth was one of the most im-
portant and anxiety-inducing aspects of American society in the early
twentieth century. Returning to America after a twenty-two year ab-
sence, James was shocked by the transformation of his native country.
In The American Scene, he gazes anxiously on skyscrapers built seem-
ingly for no other purpose than “to bring in money” and wonders, “was
not money the only thing a self-respecting structure could be thought
of as bringing in?” (73). In this new America, there seems to be no
room for architecture that represents aesthetic beauty, history, and cul-
ture. For James, the new commercial landscape suggests a troubling
fixation on profitability and work, and a sublimation of leisure, art, and
beauty. In addition, James believes that this obsession with affluence
has even penetrated the nation’s home life. Traveling through the na-
tion’s residential areas, he discovers “huge new houses, up and down”
that “confessed to their extreme expensiveness” (10). From James’s
perspective, such homes serve as little more than testimonies of wealth
and affirm that the “expensive” had become “a power by itself” in
America (11).
The American Scene illustrates the extent to which wealth had be-
come a force in American culture in the early twentieth century. This
fixation deepened in the years leading up to World War I, and after
the war the national enchantment with affluence intensified even more.
By the end of the war, the nation had entered a period of tremendous
prosperity: Industry was booming, new roads and technologies had
emerged, there was greater wealth all around, and Americans had a
fresh outlook on life. World War I had redefined America’s sense of
itself and its role in the world, and called into question notions of mo-
rality, convention, religion, and tradition. This is the backdrop that F.

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 Scott Fitzgerald’s The Great Gatsby is set against, and the book pro-
vides one of our most vibrant and forthright portrayals of American life
during this period. The book is also regarded as one of the most thor-
ough assertions of the American Dream in the 1920s, and Fitzgerald
depicts the effects of what happens when individuals pass their days in
an attempt to live this new dream.
The Great Gatsby is populated by characters hoping to attain, or
to at least touch, a life of great wealth. But unlike their predecessors,
who dreamed of affluence as a consequence of hard work and dedica-
tion to a particular ethical standard, many in The Great Gatsby seek
to circumvent the responsibilities and duties formerly associated with
achieving material wealth and success. They seek a world where no
one actually engages in meaningful work, but where money is inher-
ited, is made through questionable or illicit dealings, or is discussed in
books about “banking and credit and investment securities” and which
promise to deliver the “shining secrets that only Midas and Morgan
and Mæcenas knew” (5). In this world, work alone hardly earns re-
spect, as Fitzgerald demonstrates with George Wilson, who owns his
own garage and struggles to make it a success. Meanwhile, Wilson’s
wife, Myrtle, has an affair with Tom Buchanan, who, with his apart-
ment in the city, new car, and no shortage of money, provides Myrtle
with an opportunity, if only momentarily, to escape her lowly, ordinary
life and assume the role of a more affluent woman.
As a man of tremendous wealth and leisure, Tom, who owns a
“white Georgian Colonial mansion,” a boat, horses, and a stable, ap-
pears to personify the American Dream (6). But it is Gatsby, more than
anyone, who appears to have most fully recognized the dream. Born
in a family of modest means and now the owner of a “mansion” de-
scribed as a “colossal affair by any standard,” Jay Gatsby appears to be
a rags-to-riches type of man (5). As a boy, “Jimmy Gatz” wrote down
a list of “resolves” in a notebook. The notes served the same purpose
as Franklin’s virtues, and to similar effect. According to the notebook,
young Jimmy rose at six o’clock, exercised, read, studied “elocution,

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 poise and how to attain it,” and “electricity,” among other subjects
(110). He also resolved to avoid activities that wasted time, such as
“smoking or chewing,” and to save money and “Be better to parents”
(110). Before he was twenty years old, he spent a year “beating his way
along the south shore of Lake Superior as a clam-digger and a salmon-
fisher or in any other capacity that brought him food and bed” (63).
That Jimmy had presumably followed such a schedule and worked in
such a capacity” suggests that, before he became “Jay Gatsby,” Jimmy
subscribed to a more conventional notion of the American Dream.
It is a dream that Gatsby’s father, Henry C. Gatz, continues to be-
lieve in, and he is sure that his son has attained his riches through hon-
est and meaningful work. Gatz claims that Jimmy “had a big future be-
fore him” and that he would have “helped build up the country” (107).
But, as the narrative reveals, neither that dream nor that boy would sur-
vive. Gatsby associates with those who make their money by “fixing”
sporting events and engaging in questionable, if not illegal, business
practices. As a result of his “work,” Gatsby now owns a home that is
“a factual imitation of some Hôtel de Ville in Normandy, with a tower
on one side, spanking new under a thin beard of raw ivy, and a marble
swimming pool, and more than forty acres of lawn and garden”; he
has a closet full of fine clothing; he employs numerous servants, and
he owns a Rolls Royce, a hydroplane, and a number of boats (5). His
outlandish parties provide others with a space where they can leave
behind their inhibitions, dance to a live orchestra, and revel in a world
where champagne flows freely. In such a life, as Fitzgerald suggests,
the connection between work and a strong moral standard is shattered.
Though there may be material wealth and financial independence, the
price is too high.
But these dreams are not the only ones represented in The Great
Gatsby. Fitzgerald also suggests that early twentieth-century Ameri-
cans were nostalgic, that they longed for something that they had lost.
Henry Gatz dreams that his son will use his work to make a contri-
bution to the world and make it a better place. Such a dream reflects

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 Franklin’s aspirations and reasserts the relation between work and
morality. Yet Gatz is a part of the last generation, and that dream ap-
pears to have passed. For Gatsby and narrator Nick Carraway, too, the
dream is steeped in nostalgia; it stems from something that happened
long ago. Gatsby aspires to be rich—not necessarily because he longs
for material wealth in and of itself, but because he wants to make an
impression on Daisy, to win back her affections and to recapture their
romance. For Nick, the dream is associated with something other than
riches. He confesses that he “wanted the world to be in uniform and at
a sort of moral attention for ever,” a remark that suggests a desire to
return to the type of order that existed before this moment of chaos and
irresponsibility (3).

Death of a Salesman
After nearly a decade of such dreams, the year 1929 approached and
brought with it the stock market crash and, after that, the Great Depres-
sion. In 1941, following the attack on Pearl Harbor, America entered
World War II. Once again, our participation in a war caused a shift in
the nation’s manufacturing and financial sectors and transformed the
workplace, and it altered the nation’s cultural and social environment.
In the aftermath of the war, while other nations struggled to regain their
stability, America emerged as the supreme world power, both militarily
and economically. Moreover, action by the federal government such
as the passage of the G.I. Bill (the Servicemen’s Readjustment Act of
1944), an increase in the minimum wage, and the National Housing
Act 1949 helped to give birth to a large middle-class that dreamed of
upward mobility, home ownership, and cars and appliances that would
make Americans’ lives more comfortable.
In literature, writers such as Zora Neale Hurston, Tennessee
Williams, and John Steinbeck made these Americans and their dreams
the focus of their narratives, and the wealthy elite faded into the back-
ground as more writers began to emphasize the middle and lower class-
es. In 1949, Arthur Miller’s Death of a Salesman appeared, placing at

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 the center of action Willy Loman, a man who can hardly be called a
hero but who seems instead to be an everyman, an individual possess-
ing a set of universal traits that nearly everyone can relate to (Fuller
243). The play opened to tremendous success. One reviewer, John
Mason Brown, claimed that it “provides one of the modern theatre’s
most overpowering evenings” (207), while another correctly predict-
ed that the play would be “performed over and over for many years”
(Schneider 258). In addition to providing theatergoers with a memo-
rable night out, the play speaks volumes about the American Dream
in the twentieth century; it provides insight into our motivations and
explores the reasons why Americans sometimes fail to achieve the
dream. As critic William Hawkins put it, Death of a Salesman “is a fer-
vent query into the great American competitive dream of success, as it
strips to the core a castaway from the race for recognition and money”
(202). By examining Willy’s notion of the dream and then juxtaposing
that with other assertions of the dream in the play, we begin to under-
stand not only the dangers associated with having the wrong dream
but also the timelessness of the relation between honest work and the
attainment of the dream.
If having a home, a car, and a few modern comforts signify the real-
ization of the dream, Willy, for all intents and purposes, has achieved
it. Yet, even though he is one payment away from home ownership,
Willy continues to pursue his version of the dream. Unlike those who
overvalued material wealth, Willy’s dream is not at all associated with
possessions or the accumulation of capital. Rather, he yearns desper-
ately to be someone important, to be seen as a mover and shaker, to
be perceived as a man of consequence. According to Willy, “The man
who makes an appearance in the business world, the man who cre-
ates personal interest, is the man who gets ahead” (33). He “always
felt that if a man was impressive, and well liked, that nothing” could
prevent his rise to the top (97). For Willy, then, success and likeability
are inextricably linked. His dream is steeped in a desire to be liked, to

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 be impressive and to have a presence. But this dream is problematic,
for Miller clearly demonstrates that in Willy’s line of work, or in any
money-making business, success is measured by one’s ability to pro-
duce sales and increase profitability. As a lackluster salesman with a
delusional sense of self, Willy is destined to fail.
Following Willy’s funeral, his son Biff asserts that Willy “had the
wrong dreams” (138). In Biff’s opinion, Willy’s belief in the relation
between success and one’s reputation was misguided and perhaps even
foolish. For Biff, the dream is associated with working with one’s hands
and being “outdoors, with your shirt off” (22). As one who values man-
ual labor and who sees work as an opportunity to create something,
Biff maintains that Willy was most successful, and happiest, when he
worked with his hands: “making the stoop; finishing the cellar; putting
on the new porch; when he built the extra bathroom; and put up the
garage” (138). In Biff’s opinion, there was “more of [Willy] in that
front stoop than in all the sales he ever made” (138). Though Biff’s
dream hearkens back to those who looked westward and dreamed of
building a nation, it seems out of sync with the rest of society, and by
the end of the play, Biff seems no closer to realizing his dream than
he was in the beginning. But, in his assertion that Willy’s dream is
misguided, Biff is not alone. Every truly successful male character in
the play demonstrates the unsoundness of Willy’s dream. Bernard, a
neighbor, made the “best marks in school” (33), follows the rules, and
eventually becomes a successful lawyer who is on his way to “argue
a case in front of the Supreme Court” (95). Charley, Bernard’s father,
appears to be an honest, profitable businessman who understands how
business really works. In Willy’s opinion, neither man is “well liked,”
yet Miller portrays both Bernard and Charley in a way that suggests
that they have found success and respectability. They have achieved
the dream, while Willy and Biff spend their days chasing after dreams
that seem entirely unattainable.

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 Conclusion
Although the American Dream has evolved and has, at times, seemed
elusive, it nonetheless remains an important aspect of our national cul-
ture and ethos. In Back to Work (2011), former President Bill Clinton
evokes the American Dream as he considers the relation between gov-
ernment and the economy. It is not necessary to recapitulate his ar-
guments here; instead, what is relevant in the context of this study is
Clinton’s assertion of the dream. For Clinton and, indeed, for many
Americans in the twenty-first century, the dream is understood in these
terms: that “no matter who you are or where you’re from, if you work
hard and play by the rules, you’ll have the freedom and opportunity to
pursue your own dreams and leave your kids a country where they can
chase theirs” (ix). Clinton’s dream also reflects the most pressing con-
cerns in our twenty-first-century world. He imagines an America that
is once again prosperous, and he imagines a day when the nation ex-
periences what he calls “American Dream growth,” an economic and
industrial boom characterized by “lots of new businesses, well-paying
jobs, and American leadership in new industries, like clean energy and
biotechnology” (x). Although Franklin, Alger, Fitzgerald, and Miller
could not foresee a time when green energy would become a part of
the American Dream, there is a clear connection between their asser-
tions of the dream and Clinton’s understanding of it as the promise of
opportunity, not only for the individual in the present moment, but for
the future as well. Although the dream has been transformed by chang-
ing business ethics, wars, and other events, its essence remains with us
even in the twenty-first century, and it is to be hoped that it will live
on, not only in our literature, but in our lives, for another two hundred
years.

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 Works Cited
Adams, James Truslow. The Epic of America. Boston: Little, 1931. Print.
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