Readers Response

The Zoo Story

Throughout history we have perceived the "American Dream" to be that place where life is better and there is an abundance of opportunities for success. An individual who wants to accomplish the "American Dream" is someone who strives for money, love, success, happiness, and/or health. Although we each have our own idea of what the "American Dream" is, we are all ultimately searching for that "perfect life." Peter is an average, middle-aged American man who is conservative and completely ignorant beyond the world of his little marriage. After reading this story, it is evidently seen that Peter's life is to some extent close to the "American Dream." He has the successful job as an executive publisher and a wife whom he has two loving daughters with. This does not mean that he is living the "American Dream." Peter is not necessarily happy with his current situation that is why he leaves home every Sunday to be alone. His unhappiness is evident when Jerry teases him about if he wanted a boy and he responds annoyingly saying, "I wasn't going to say that" (491). Peter then thinks about it and concurs with Jerry saying "That is the way the cookie crumbles" (491). It showed that he still has needs and wants when he declares that he would have liked a boy and a dog, but it seems that the women in the house get their way by having a cat and two parakeets. Though he is a successful man earning eighteen thousand dollars a year, he does not have his life the way he wants it due to his female dominated household.