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Kang, Kwansoo. “Dream and Competition in Golden Boy. ” Studies in English Language & Literature. 38.2 (2012): 1-21. The dream of success and competition were the popular ideas praised by Americans in the 1920s. But with the Great Depression, many people came to doubt these values, and Odets was among them. Odets thinks vehement competition is a war between people without harmony. Everybody wages war against everybody in this competitive society. Square boxing ring is a good metaphor for this competitive society. Odets thinks success and rising to the top is not a moral success, but a moral degeneration. In Golden Boy, Joe’s success as a boxer is gained at the sacrifice of other people, and capitalism is equated with the gangster world. Odets criticizes the system of competition and a false dream of success, but he doesn’t raise his voice against the competitive social system. Odets doesn’t fight against social wrongs, but wants to go back to the good old days prior to a competitive capitalist society. Unlike his other plays, Odets only shows pathos and tragic feelings. (Shingyeong University)