Personification Of The American Dream

The American Dream is “a dream of social order in which each man and each woman shall be able to attain to the fullest stature of which they are innately capable, and be recognized by others for what they are, regardless of the fortuitous circumstances of birth or position” (Adams, 1931). It is the guarantee that with hard work and passion anyone can achieve upward mobility regardless of their origin. Many Americans believe in this promise, hoping that one day their first circumstance will not dictate the outcome of the rest of their lives. However the American Dream can be elusive without any real he American Dream eludes The novel Ragged Dick; or, Street Life in New York with the

are ideals used to define the American Dream. The American Dream promises immigrants and citizens a chance to pursue a better life, which is portrayed throughout the novel Behold the Dreamers . Behold the Dreamers , by Imbolo Mbue, follows the lives of Jende and Neni Jonga, an immigrant couple from Cameroon, who live in Harlem in hopes of providing a better life for their family. Throughout the Jonga’s journey, Imbolo Mbue proves that the essentials of hard work, education, and strong families are not enough for achieving the American Dream. Jende and Neni came to America in hopes of a brighter future for their family, but come to face with reality and are forced to make an impossible choice.

In a country that is based around the idea that you can be anyone and do anything, one would think that most Americans all want the typical “American Dream.” Many would agree that when we think American Dream, we think fancy yachts, designer clothing, and big buildings, but is that really what the dream is all about? By definition, the American Dream is defined as, “the idea that every U.S. citizen should have equal opportunity to achieve success and prosperity through hard work and determination” (“American Dream”). It is the idea that someone that comes from the very bottom can make their way to the top through determination and persistence. But what is considered to be “the top” is hard to

From the beginning of Nickel and Dimed and Scratch Beginnings, the question posed is the same: “Does the American Dream still exist in the modern America?” And while liberal and conservative commentators will openly contradict each other and argue the viability of making it from almost nothing in this modern age, all that is hearsay. Ehrenreich and Shepard, the authors of Nickel and Dimed and Scratch Beginnings respectively, tried to go beyond what the commentators were doing and prove whether the American dream was still alive by embarking on their own separate case studies. And while, it is imaginable that anyone can rise from rags to as, Shepard stated “slightly better rags,” the how to do this is the item in question. To the American public

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.

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?

For centuries in this country people have believed that through hard work, talent and ambition anyone can acquire great wealth and success regardless of their social class and background, a concept later named “The American Dream” in 1931. However, people have been questioning whether this idea of rags to riches really is attainable to all who work for it, or if it is merely a fantasy and a myth. In his novel The Great Gatsby, F. Scott Fitzgerald uses symbolism to illustrate the death of the American Dream.

The latter never had to work or face adversity in order to achieve his wealth, and instead reaps the benefits of others’ work—in complete opposition with the Dream. Further, it is no coincidence that Jurgis makes more money than ever when he decides to live dishonestly and give into the corruption of the system, a common theme of the book. This effectively demonstrates that the fundamental American values perpetrated by the Dream, such as honesty and goodness, are just idealistic rhetoric that only serve to reinforce the class structure, rather than provide mobility through it. As Grandmother Majauszkiene tells it, the only way to succeed and advance one’s social status is to enter the web of corruption and prosper on the backs of the next generation of immigrants. This concept is fundamentally divergent to the Dream forwarded by

turned into a very wealthy man, but did he live the American Dream? Money is actually

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.

enough, but does that really happen? There have been cases where people have lived the American dream like William Randolph Hearst, who was an American newspaper publisher and was famous for the nation's largest newspaper chain that he built and his castle where anyone who was someone went to party. Even though he achieved his dream not everyone is able to do this.  Hearst is very similar to the fictional character Jay Gatsby who was able to become wealthy, through illegal ways, which he used to have these extravagant parties that gained him the fame that later led to a brutal ending. In both novels, The Great Gatsby written by F. Scott Fitzgerald and Their

In 1931, James Truslow Adams built the foundation of the modern American Dream when he said, “Life should be better and richer and fuller for everyone, with opportunity for each according to ability or achievement.” Over the past century, people have been striving to achieve the rich and prosperous life that Truslow refers to in hopes that they find happiness. Unfortunately, that is not always the case. While wealth is often equated with happiness and security; however, The Great Gatsby and Into the Wild illustrate that searching for happiness through the acquisition of material wealth is chasing an illusion, because amorality and corruption often follow wealth. Jay Gatsby, Chris McCandless, and Tom Buchanan exemplify the misconceptions of the American Dream, because they are unhappy despite their material wealth.

As time has went on the meaning of the American Dream has altered. When Adams trademarked the term the American Dream, the idea of it was for people to become “better and richer and fuller,” (Adams 412), but now as 20th century inventions have been introduced to society the dream has changed. People want what others have and what is portrayed as glamorous and prestigious. A prime example is Gary Soto’s recollection of his childhood obsession with wanting to be like the families he saw on the television saying, “I very much wanted to imitate [the families from Leave It to Beaver and Father

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.

An excellent example of the American dream and its rags-to-riches concept is that of Jay Gatsby. Jay Gatsby, legally known as James Gatz, grew up on a farm in North Dakota, rather than into wealth in San Francisco, as he claims in the novel. Gatsby’s dream of being wealthy flourishes when he meets Dan Cody, a wealthy copper mongul. Gatsby starts out as a poor farm boy and transforms into a wealthy sophisticated man. Gatsby’s rags-to-riches success story makes him the embodiment of the American dream (Murphy 1). He has risen from being a poor farm boy and having nothing to having a huge luxurious house, servants, and a large social circle and he achieves this goal in a matter of a few short years, having returned from the war penniless (1). Gatsby works very hard