Making Dreams Real

By Fernando Mancera

Hello and welcome to my Blog! Today I will be sharing a little bit about achieving ones dreams and I will use some of the best literature in American history to I lustrate my points. I hope you can get something out of it. Enjoy!

Everyone has a dream, but first, one has to set expectations on themselves as well as on others if they want to achieve them. This essay will mention several texts that provided examples of how different people go about their dreams. This allows for a deeper understanding of how one can achieve their own dreams and what things to keep in mind when going about them. Some of the characters in these texts are Jay Gatsby from The Great Gatsby, Miniver Cheevy from Miniver Cheevy and George Milton from Mice and Men. Through these three characters one learns about what to do and what not to do when trying to reach a goal.

Gatsby, Cheevy and Milton all have a goal, the difference amongst them is how they plan and strategize to get to the finish line. Starting with Gatsby from the beginning of the story when he is introduced one get the impression that he is the kind of person who knows how to get things done. Everything about him, his cars, his house, his parties, suggests that when he wants something he can find his way to get it. Later in the story the reader learns about his past and comes to understand that he comes from a very poor family of farmers and from a young age he was convinced he was going to attain wealth. He set high expectations on himself and did everything he could to achieve them. Something the reader can learn from Gatsby is resourcefulness and confidence. “ The truth was that Jay Gatsby, of West Egg, Long Island, sprang from his Platonic conception of himself. He was a son of God�”a phrase which, if it means anything, means just that�”and he must be about His Father’s business, the service of a vast, vulgar, and meretricious beauty. So he invented just the sort of Jay Gatsby that a seventeen year old boy would be likely to invent, and to this conception he was faithful to the end.”(Fitzgerald) The reader gets the idea that from a young age, Gatsby was creative, he even changed his name in order to refine his image and reach a higher social level. Now that is called dedication.

In contrast, when one reads Miniver Cheevy, the first impression is that Cheevys dreams are unrealistic. “Miniver loved the days of old, When swords were bright and steeds were prancing”(Robinson). Right away the reader can see that his expectations are out of the realm of reality. Another thing that Cheevy was missing to achieve his dreams was motivation, “Miniver coughed, and called it fate, And kept on drinking.”(Robinson), this quote proves that he does not set the necessary expectations to get what he wants, instead he drinks away to dilute his pain. Although Cheevy was not a good reference when learning about achieving ones dreams, it is always important to see the good and the bad. Without the bad there is no good and vice-versa, so it is a crucial part of the learning cycle to see and experience both sides of the spectrum.

Last but not least, George Milton is a driven character. He, like Gatsby, knows what he wants and is forming a plan to get it. “An’ we could have a few pigs. I could build a smoke house like the one gran’pa had, an’ when we kill a pig we can smoke the bacon and the hams, and make sausage an’ all like that. An’ when the salmon run up river we could catch a hundred of ’em an’ salt ’em down or smoke ’em. We could have them for breakfast. They ain’t nothing so nice as smoked salmon. When the fruit come in we could can it- and tomatoes, they’re easy to can. Ever’ Sunday we’d kill a chicken or a rabbit. Maybe we’d have a cow or a goat, and the cream is so God damn thick you got to cut it with a knife and take it out with a spoon.”(Steinbeck), From Milton the reader learns about having a vision. He learns that in order to do anything, before he starts he must have a vision of what he will do, and Milton definitely has one. George Milton also demonstrates that one has to set expectations on others when working in a team. Milton is offered an opportunity and he wisely takes it. A man by the name of Candy offers a way for Milton to arrive at his dream, “ An’ they give me two hunderd an’ fifty dollars ’cause I los’ my hand. An’ I got fifty more saved up right in the bank, right now. Tha’s three hunderd, and I got fifty more comin’ the end a the month. Tell you what�”” He leaned forward eagerly. “S’pose I went in with you guys. Tha’s three hunderd an’ fifty bucks I’d put in. I ain’t much good, but I could cook and tend the chickens and hoe the garden some. How’d that be?”(Steinbeck). Milton, as any smart person listens to the offer and after analyzing the pros and cons, takes it.

It is can be said that when someone wants to turn a dreams into a reality, what is needed is a combination of the resourcefulness and creativity of Gatsby and the vision and trust of Milton. What must be avoided is having unreal expectations like those of Cheevy. By reading and analyzing the texts in this unit the reader learned that the expectations set on others, the expectations set on ones self, and the expectations others set on one, all play a part in getting to where he or she want to go. If he or she dont learn to be self motivated and self disciplined, then time will prove their dreams unreal. If he or she dont learn how to set expectations on others then they will find themselves overwhelmed and unable to take on big challenges. Its all about being true to ones own abilities as well as the ones of others.

Works cited:

Steinbeck, John. “From Of Mice and Men.” Mice and Men.

Arlington Robinson, Edwin Arlington. Miniver Cheevy.

Arlington Robinson, Edwin Arlington. Richard Corey.

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