Degree Year
1973
Document Type
Thesis - Open Access
Degree Name
Bachelor of Arts
Department
English
Advisor(s)
Molly Anne Marks
Keywords
Norman Mailer, American dream, America
Abstract
The American dream has been in existence almost as long as America (as a political entity) has. From the Puritan's desire for the "City on the Hill" to Hunter S. Thompson's recent book Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas: A Savage Journey to the Heart of the American Dream, Americans have been convinced that the individual can transcend earthly evil and decadence, and attain a state of perfection. The American dream is the visionary ideal that is represented in social form by utopian thinking. A personalized ideal would appear easier to attain than a social one because of its apparent relative simplicity, yet this is not the case. Personalization does not simplify the American dream.
Repository Citation
Ettelson, Charles D., "Mailer's American Dream" (1973). Honors Papers. 751.
https://digitalcommons.oberlin.edu/honors/751
