Dream Of 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.

“One of the generalities most often noted about Americans is that we are a restless, a dissatisfied, a searching people,”(Steinbeck America & Americans) John Steinbeck stated this when discussing the topic of the American dream. He believes that numerous Americans are chasing after a dream that is nearly impossible to reach. John Steinbeck expresses his belief on the American dream through a general negative attitude toward the American dream and the failed dreams of his characters.

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.

American Dream: Noun, the ideals of freedom, equality, and opportunity traditionally held to be available to every American. That is the definition of the American dream according to Dictionary.com, but the American Dream is more than a definition, but a way of life for many. Millions of immigrants come to our country in search of this “American Dream” including my grandparents but more and more are disappointed. So does the American Dream exist? Has it ever existed or has it all been an illusion?

The American dream is what makes people from all around the world to want to move to America. The American dream is what makes America wonderful. The American dream has been categorized as an equal opportunity to attain success through hard work. The end result of the American dream for the universal people is for that character and their loved ones to be living contentedly for the rest of their lives. However, this is not the same apparition that every individual has of the American dream. The American dream differs from many different social classes of people in America. Comparing the picture of the American dream between the upper-class, middle-class, and lower-class can result in different situations. All in all there are many different discernments of the American dream for discrepant social classes yet every American in their lifetime will want to achieve their version of the American dream.

Another career that I have interest in is being a surgeon. To become a surgeon an individual must complete four years of medical school, two years of internship, and two years of residency (The College Board). This is a huge disadvantage to this career. An advantage that this career has to offer is that being a surgeon you are able to manage a team of

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.

Knowledge and experience are key to life as well as a career in orthopedic surgery. The educational path to becoming an orthopedic surgeon is long and difficult because it requires a high scholastic aptitude, mechanical ability, a high degree of manual dexterity, and excellent three-dimensional visualization skills (Career in Orthopaedics). Naturally one would expect such characteristics for such a prestigious career in the medical field. The educational path to becoming an orthopedic surgeon starts in high school. “An aspiring orthopedic should start preparing in high school with AP and international baccalaureate courses in science and math, plus related extracurricular activities such as volunteering at a medical center or blood drive” (Brick). The end of high school marks the beginning of eight challenging and competitive years amongst the brightest students around to be admitted to medical school and then succeed and graduate medical school.

After I earned my bachelor’s degree I would next need to attend medical school. The cost of medical school is extremely high and I would probably go in debt, the cost of 4 years of medical school which is what is required to be a surgeon is about $150,000. That includes everything but food and drinks, your books, room, and tuition. But not all medical schools are that expensive, some schools are as low as $20,000 a year. But if you can’t get in- state tuition at that school then there are others for $31,000 some for $41,000 and so on.

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.

The American Dream is the thought the United States had never ending chances to live one's dream no matter where one would come from. During the Great Depression, the American Dream is to own land, to rise out of one’s current situation, and to not have to worry about money. In the novel Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck, three characters have individual dreams that directly relate to the American Dream. George and Lennie want to own their own farm. He wants to not have to work 11 hour shifts and be able to come home to a nice house. Candy wants to work on George and Lennie’s farm so he has a guaranteed job. As soon as he cannot be a swamper, he will be fired. Candy wants the sense of security knowing he will always have a job. Curley’s

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.

I had anatomy and physiology teacher in high school that made a pretty good impression on me. I had good grades in that subject so he appreciated me, and gave me the opportunity to work in the summer as an orderly in the hospital. Cleaning instruments for surgery and things and cleaning the operating room. I think in the back of my minded, without me knowing, I wanted to be a surgeon eventually. I went straight from that school to medical school, I had to take a pretty serious examination to enter medical school. When you pass it you are admitted to medical school, and I did. So it was a six-year medical school its not like here where its four years. Over there its longer so you sort of don’t have to go four years for college. It was difficult times; it was not easy. I remember some stuff that was kind of rough, but I put in effort and I eventually succeeded. I did it in six years and then one year of internship before I came to the United States.