In An American Dream, Rojack is bummed out but he doesn't know why. By all counts, this guy's got it made—he's a former congressman-turned-professor-turned-television host, and things are going so well on the outside that he might as well be tiptoeing through the tulips. Instead, Rojack is wandering around New York City in a depressed funk, trying desperately to convince himself that he's happy.
Here's the thing, though: You can only repress feelings of dissatisfaction for so long before they start bursting out in some seriously inappropriate ways. One murder, a fist fight, and tons of lies later, Rojack is just as unhappy as he was at beginning of the book, leaving him to wonder if there's anything out there that can help him overcome these feeling of dissatisfaction.
Questions About Dissatisfaction
- Is Rojack depressed because his marriage is falling apart? Why or why not?
- How does the moon play into Rojack's feeling of dissatisfaction? To jumpstart your answer, check out the moon's page in the "Symbolism" section.
- Besides Rojack, which characters seem dissatisfied with their current lives? Does anyone not seem dissatisfied?
- In what ways does Rojack fight his feelings of aimlessness? Are they successful?
Chew on This
Although recent life events are certainly bumming him out, Rojack's feelings of dissatisfaction are firmly rooted in his World War II experiences.
Mailer uses Rojack's feelings of dissatisfaction to highlight the aimlessness and soul-sucking nature of life in the modern world.