You know a character's life is on the rocks when a literary critic (Lee Richmond, to be precise) describes him as the "maladroit, suffering," "pathetic heir" to "the failure of the American Dream." Ouch. It's true that in Seize the Day, things in Tommy Wilhelm's life haven't exactly turned out as planned, and if the great American dream is a vision of upward class mobility, then Wilhelm's life is a nightmare for sure. Dr. Adler may have worked hard and hauled his family up out of the working class, but Wilhelm has dragged it right back down again. No wonder our poor, soon-to-be-bankrupt hero is so blue.
Questions About Dreams, Hopes, and Plans
- What were Wilhelm's hopes and plans as a youngster, before Maurice Venice and the Hollywood fantasy came along?
- How long does Wilhelm hang on to his dream of making it big in Los Angeles?
- What has been the most important dream of Wilhelm's middle age? What's stopping him from making it a reality?
Chew on This
Dr. Adler pulled himself up by his bootstraps when he was a boy, but Wilhelm's dreams and plans were never anything but fantasies. Dr. Adler is right: Wilhelm had it too easy when he was a kid, and so he never applied himself to practical goals.
Wilhelm is an idealist and dreamer at heart, which makes him an easy target. His biggest mistakes have always been to trust in the goodness of others, and to have faith that things will work out.