American Dream

Last Thursday I finished the book Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas. Pretty much, it’s about a guy named Hunter S. Thompson who is a journalist sent out to find the American Dream. He is accompanied by a man who is referred to as his attorney. His story is about the Mint 400 which is a race, although that’s not really key to the story. The story starts off with Hunter and his attorney driving to Las Vegas, and both are high. It starts off right with a laugh as the two encounter a hitch hiker who is eventually sacred away. I thought this book was really funny because its completely random, due in part to the massive amount of drugs that seem to be ingested throughout this story. This book is really just a compilation of stories that all seem to go wrong yet right at the same time. The journey for the American dream takes them to Las Vegas, yet I hardly think that’s where it truly is. The beauty about this book is that you don’t, at least I didn’t, get the meaning of it until you reflect back on it. This guy has no plan other than go to Las Vegas. Nothing in his life is planned further than the next day, yet things always seem to work out for him. He is not rich nor terribly famous and his only concern in life seems to be whether or not he will have enough drugs to get him through his days. He challenges authority and presses his limits like the part in the book when he goes to a police conference after he has bailed out on a hotel bill and is in current possession of illegal substances. He even has the audacity to tell a completely ridiculous story to one of the cops involving a decapitated women. And it is this randomness that gives the story its message. Hunter S. Thompson is living the American dream. it may not be the American dream the people usually imagine, but nonetheless it is the dream. he lives everyday of his life to fullest. He experiences more things in one week then most do their whole loves. The fact that he doesn’t plan and acts mostly on impulse gives his life the fun it is full of, and keeps him from the worry that most people experience. He doesn’t sweat the small stuff, and keeps moving on to the next big thing, and that is the American Dream.