The Hollowness of American Dream in Three Selected Novels

This research work explores the origin of the American Dream, its vanity and its consequences in three selected American novels: Upton Sinclair's The Jungle, Jack London's The Iron Heel and John Steinbeck's The Grapes of Wrath. The first chapter is an introduction to the definition of the American dream and a historical outlook of its origin and development with a focus on its social and economic promise in the twentieth century. A brief glance on the literary career of the three American authors and their novels from a socio-political perspective exposes the hollow dream and its main features. In the second chapter, there will be a discussion of The Jungle from a racial and economic angle through the character of Jirgus and his Lithuanian family. In the third chapter, there is an examination of London's The Iron Heel from a political viewpoint. This novel depicts the struggle between the capitalist class and workers. The fourth chapter discusses the American Dream from a social and economic point of view through the family of Joad.