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Summary Of American Dreamer By Bharati Mukherjee

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Two hundred forty-one years. In that small amount of time America forged its self into a vast landscape of different cultures. A combination of numerous cultures mongrelized together to form “We the people” in America today. Due to all the mixing in the pot, an uncertainty about the countries identity arose. For all the beauty that the melting pot brought, it also created a darker side, as aspects of each cultures fought for superiority in the nation. This fight emerges throughout American history and as a new era of deporis rises, the issues are becoming more relevant. In American Dreamer by Bharati Mukherjee, she shares her own experiences as an immigrant and the fight she partook in to have her own American identity seen. Mukherjee’s fight mirrors hundreds of naturalized American citizens who are trying to realize their identity, however it also shines light on native-born Americas struggling as well. The need for a unified American identity produces a nationwide identity crisis.
The idealization of a pure culture creates a strong wave of chauvinism. America became the epicenter for the idealized culture to form, but idealization leaves out the human aspect surrounding it. Mukherjee added to this idealization, dreaming, “’America’ in contrast, exists as a myth of democracy and equal opportunity to live by, or as an ideal goal to reach” (Mukherjee 1997, para.1). Mukherjee’s dream is beautiful and what many people desire out of America, however America is not an ideal; it

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