The Corruption and Failure of the American Dream in the 20th Century

Abstract

The American Dream has been shaping the daily lives of the American people constantly. It is a socially constructed idea, the perception of which can affect people either in a positive or in a negative way. My thesis examines how people’s lives are affected by the American Dream, particularly in two decades in history: the Roaring Twenties and the 1980s, to which many refer as the Decade of Greed. In my thesis, I attempt to analyze two films, The Great Gatsby (2013) and The Wolf of Wall Street (2013), to explore how the validity of the American Dream was challenged in these two periods of the USA.