American Dreams : The American Dream

Many people have come to America for adventure, opportunity, freedom, and the chance to experience the particular qualities of the American landscape. The American Dream is the idea that every United States citizen, including immigrants and residents, should have an equal opportunity to achieve success and prosperity through hard work, determination, and initiative. America somewhat provides access to the American dream, it is more so the citizen who provides access to the dream for themselves. Even though they encountered many trials and tribulations, with persistence, people such as Langston Hughes in “I Too Sing America and Anzia Yezierska in “America and I” they were able to achieve their individual American Dream.

The topic of The American Dream has been brought up on many occasions. The arising issue that still ascends is whether or not The American Dream is alive or dead in the United States. The American Dream has come to the generalization of the personal perspective of any individual. The history of The American Dream has always gone back to the common man thinking of their future generations to come and how he will implant a positive outcome throughout it. Many now believe that the ideal plan of The American Dream cannot even be met anymore. Values and beliefs are now being questioned towards the aspect of upward mobility, the cost of education, jobs, and even affordable housing. Referring to an executive editor and vice president of Time Reporting, he states, “combined with a formidable American work ethic, made the pursuit of happiness more than a full-time proposition” (Meacham, Keeping The Dream Alive). This statement is targeted towards the actual definition of what The American Dream actually meant in various societies in the past. Happiness and a full-time of gratitude were critical aspects towards being met because it was the initial reason for this ideal. Some of the key causes and components that affect the way The American Dream is supposed upon today is the basic principles of economics, education, and a downward spiral. These reasons lead to The American Dream being considered in a diverse way with much complexity. The American Dream was different from the past and

The "American Dream" is an idea that has always been different throughouttime. It changes in diverse forms and in the end involves success. The "American Dream" was a phrase used by the American people and peoplewanting to become American. It was always the idea that you can become a success. This is true in a partial way, but the true "American Dream" is that with somework and determination anyone can build themselves up in the economic classsystem.

encountered by members of every level of society; however, most of all affected by this idealism

The American dream, for most people, is exactly that – A dream. It’s make believe, fiction. It’s what we think American should be like, not what it actually is. The American dream will always be out of reach for common people. The majority of people I interviewed said something along the lines of, “the American dream is to be given a chance to do something or be something you want to be.” This opinion seems to be too optimistic. Everyone wants more than what they have. It’s not enough to be given the chance, you have to succeed. What it takes to succeed is an entirely different aspect of the American dream.

The American Dream is indefinable. There is no one set of words or characteristics that the entire population assigns directly to its definition. With the American population consisting of people of various races, ethnicities, ages, classes, and genders, it seems trivial to even attempt to attribute a single definition to the concept of the American Dream. It is this inability however, to be confined within one single meaning, that allows for the American Dream to govern the desires and goals of the large and diverse American population. And, regardless of all of the heterogeneity within society, the American Dream is generally a goal of all American peoples. In examining this idea, I began to think about the specific meanings attributed to the American Dream for different types of individuals. I broadly outlined the American Dream for myself, to represent the belief in hard work as a pathway to success and raising oneself in society. Consequently, this higher position in society allows for the possession of increased amounts of power. My definition however, neglects to take into account the certain other societal constructs that could possibly have a decisive role in how to both define and achieve the American Dream for the wide variety of people who pursue it.

The "American Dream" is marked as unattainable in John Steinbeck's novella Of Mice and Men. This is mostly shown in the case of George, Lennie, Candy, Crooks, and Curley's wife. These characters all have admitted to thinking about the "American dream" concept, and the freedom to pursue happiness and their dreams.

From the early stages of American literature the dream of success has always been around, even at the very beginning. It has gone on the journey of merely surviving in small amounts of the literature from the native people to thriving in a growing society and being in everything. The dream to myself is becoming wealthy and being successful in everything I do. Today I believe that the dream has become different for everyone, every person has a different dream, a different way they want their life to go.

Nowadays, a large number of people migrate to the United States to work and achieve the American Dream. According to the Article “What is the American Dream?” by Kimberly Amadeo, “The American Dream was first publicly defined in 1931 by James Truslow Adams in Epic of America. Adam’s often-repeated quote is, ‘The American Dream is that dream of land in which life should be better and richer and fuller for everyone, with opportunity for each according to ability or achievement.’” There are many people that can have different perspectives when it comes to the topic of the American dream. Even though many people assume the American Dream is dead, it is a very controversial topic. The American Dream may have many different points of views, but it really does exist, after all, it takes an ambitious person to strive for success through hard work, dedication and determination.

Throughout the vast country that is the United States, many people, unique as they are, have one common goal and want that is the same. For lots of those individuals, that goal is just to get around the immense amount of challenges that one day brings upon them. For many, they will do whatever it takes to provide financially for themselves and or their family, in an attempt to build supportable and desirable lives. This concept is known as the American Dream. In Barbara Ehrenreich’s, Nickled and Dimed and John Steinbeck’s Of Mice and Men, the American Dream is an everlasting concept that is perceived differently by both of the book’s main characters. Although these two pieces of writing were written in different eras, the characters

“The purpose of human life is to serve, and to show compassion and the will to help others.” (brainyquote.com/quotes/albert_schweitzer). Service and compassion are American qualities that are vital to a person’s inalienable right to pursue happiness as set out in the Constitution. Yet when society lacks these basic behaviors, the American Dream is unattainable. John Steinbeck’s classic novel, Of Mice and Men, incorporates various characters which create sympathy in readers, characters such as Lennie, Curley’s wife, and Crooks.

Americans have been dreaming since the Mayflower arrived in the New World and the American Dream itself has withstood threats up until this very day to all of its internal characteristics: international peace, health, leadership, wealth, supremacy, and equality. H.W. Brands states in his book American Dreams that “Americans had dreamed since our national birth, and in the twenty-first century we are dreaming still”. Both Brands’ story and Nathaniel Philbrick’s account in Mayflower assist significantly in proving that the American Dream has survived into the twenty-first century. As America is met with different governments, world wars, international conflict, both economic success and failure, and shifts in leadership, the American Dream stays alive through it all. The ideals of this dream evolve with the world and adapt to different cultural, political, and economic changes. Mayflower recounts the beginnings of new settlements on the east coast of America that would change the world and American Dreams tells the story of America after World War II and right up until 2010.

Throughout life everybody has heard the line “Follow your dreams!” This simple sentence has inspired many. This idea of creating a dream and chasing it has inspired the American Dream. The American Dream is different for everybody. It could be getting married, creating a business, or being a hero. It turns out the American Dream is not for everybody. There is always something standing in the way of the American Dream. Race, social status, and the individual are standing in the way between the person and the American Dream.

Picture this: A husband and wife, two kids, a dog, and a nice house with a white picket fence. This was the cliche American dream. It is what most people think of when they think of the American Dream. The definition of American dream is the ideals of freedom, equality, and opportunity traditionally held to be available to every american. Well does it exist? If people work hard enough towards the dream yes, it does still exist.

The American Dream can be defined as achieving the highest level of economic success for an individual and their family. Americans are brought up in a culture where they are told that if they start from the bottom and put in the maximum amount of hard work they too will achieve The American Dream. The dream itself is subjective to an individual's needs but most often includes homeownership, financial stability, job stability, and a better future for the next generation. The Washington Post article by Robert J. Samuelson discussed how the death rates of non Hispanic middle aged whites has gotten significantly worse throughout the years, and as a result men were dying even younger. The causes of death are most often suicide, overdose, or alcohol related. Researchers have attributed these deaths to be a direct result of income inequality and the social crisis. Therefore, I believe the American Dream is killing us. The American Dream is killing those who do not know how to appropriately seek help when faced with unemployment and mental health concerns. The American Dream is responsible for the death of the middle class, the social crisis, and the internal upset when the dream is not achieved.