The American Dream: A Damaged 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.

To America, the American dream was not living in a huge, fancy house, but to have a “house, a yard, maybe a TV and a car too – nothing fancy, no palaces like the gringos built – just four walls and a roof” (Boyle 29). The typical immigrant does not come to American with the intentions of becoming wealthy. They come to American to have a better opportunity in life. To be able to own a home, work and have a family. According to The New York Times, “The phrase “American dream” was invented during the Great Depression. It comes from a popular 1931 book by the historian James Truslow Adama, who defines it as, “that dream of a land in while life should be better and richer and fuller for everyone.” “In the decades that followed, the dream became a reality. Thanks to rapid, widely shared economic growth, nearly all children grew up to achieve the most basic definition of a better life — earning more money and enjoying higher living standards than their parents had.” Learning that us Americans are likely to achieve the American dream shows that it is all that much more difficult for immigrants and even more so for illegal immigrants. T.C Boyle, in Tortilla Curtain, attempts to show the separation between the American dream of the community of immigrants and the American dream of the whites.

All around the world the United States of America is viewed as a place of freedom and equal opportunity for all people who settle in the country. Immigrants, especially from second or third world countries, view America as a chance for them to start over and a live the lavish lifestyles they are accustomed to hearing. However, this belief that everyone in the United States lives how they want to and has equal opportunity is false. Immigrants from countries all over the world face many different issues as they settle in the United States. Although these problems may vary, the message is the same; the American dream is a lot more difficult to achieve than previously thought. Although every immigrant is different in the problems

David Kamp's 2009 Vanity Fair article "Rethinking the American Dream" focuses on the general perception of the ‘American Dream’ and how it has evolved throughout our nation’s history. It clearly states that as the average American household's lifestyle has become more and more consumer-oriented, the original spirit that invigorated and united its people from the age of western expansion to the Great Depression has begun to fade. The dream has been dampened as the vision of "success" has become more focused on gaining material/getting rich quick, rather than working hard all throughout one’s life to attain what they want and desire.

The definition of the “American Dream” by James Truslow Adams, “life should be better and richer and fuller for everyone, with opportunity for each according to ability or achievement” this means that no matter your social class, dilemmas, or circumstances at birth one will overcome and make their dream come true. This is a misconception brought upon by us in order to bring more workers to justify a social class clearly. Many immigrants come to the US thinking there will be a better life for them. It is the place where dreams come through. They know it will not be easy and are willing to put the hard work and

Immigrants into the the states were given the same promise of the American Dream as the citizens already there. This dream was meant to release them from a previous suppression and give them the opportunity to better their life. They had the right to work towards this better life with fairness and without discrimination. Once a group had taken full advantage of the dream and substantially improved their own quality of life, they were able to destroy this opportunity for others. The dream that was once “held to be available to every American” became difficult to achieve. The problem was that individuals were looking out for only themselves and forgetting to take into account the welfare of their nation and fellow citizens.

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?

“There are those who will say that the liberation of humanity, the freedom of man and mind is nothing but a dream. They are right. It is the American Dream” (Archibald Macleish). The American Dream is not always seen the same way for everyone. But, for most it's, “an equal opportunity to achieve success and prosperity through hard work, determination, and initiative”(“American Dream”). Although the ideal way to achieve success is by one's sweat and toil, some believe that by just coming to America all their hopes and dreams for their lives will come true. Someone who has these thoughts usually later finds out that success doesn't just fall into their hands, and this is how they fall short. After looking at several different resources it has

The American Dream should stop being just a dream. It shouldn’t be limited to only those born in this country. Immigrants shouldn’t have a rougher time coming to America. They shouldn’t have additional battles but they should be handed opportunities like the rest of America is offered. What if you were an immigrant? Wouldn’t you want someone to be fighting for your rights and

Immigrants migrate to America because they too have dreams. They take life chances by leaving their country to America for the opportunity to achieve an enriched life for their families (Schaefer, 2015). In the video, “Immigrants Success Creates Abundant Opportunities for Many Others”, entrepreneur Sally Safe an immigrant, came to the United States to open a restaurant. He succeeded by opening 400 Subway franchises and employs 4000 people, which Safe was able to economically help his employees to be stable with a job with benefits and paid vacation. Safe states, “United States allows you to do what you want to do”, so he stayed “willing to take a chance”. Coming to America supported Safe to go after his dream. Also, he was able to contribute back to society by supporting a non-profit organizations for those to find jobs in the food service and he also supported the shelter for battered women.

“And when I speak, I don't speak as a Democrat. Or a Republican. Nor an American. I speak as a victim of America's so-called democracy. When we open our eyes today and look around America, we see America through the eyes of someone who has been the victim of Americanism. We don't see any American dream. We've experienced only the American nightmare.” –Malcolm X. The American Dream is the idea that every person should have an equal opportunity to obtain success through hard work, prosperity, and determination. Recently though, this American Dream isn’t functioning as expected. While some believe that America still provides access to the American Dream today by allowing the opportunity for people in America and those who immigrate to achieve

The American Dream can mean a number of different things to number of different people. Over the years this ideal has evolved and its definition will continue to change for many more years to come. What has not changed is the desire to achieve this dream. For decades now, people from all over the world have immigrated to the United States with hopes of obtaining this dream. However it seems that, to many immigrants the American dream has a very different and more modest definition. To many foreigners it means having the basic necessities in life and giving their children opportunities and life they ever had. Immigration can be a good and a bad thing. On one hand the overall standard of living is better but on the other hand it is almost

Some have created a false “Amercian dream” to help produce enthusiasm within the American working class. These false dreams pushed them to work harder in hopes of a better life. They could have been promised citizenship, more pay, a sense that something unobtainable is obtainable, false hope. The American dream to an immigrant is to be able to feed, clothe and educate their children. They don’t want the corruption they may have fled their country for. We advertise worldwide that we are the land of the free. We have songs dedicated to our freedoms and anthems we proudly proclaim. Why would we try to influence our dreams onto someone else who may or may not want more than us. The American dream is perceived within our own mind. We allow the media to tells us what is going to make us happy. The new cars, houses, phones are made into absolute necessities as soon as they are released when in reality we have what we need to get by. Products Americans buy today are not made to the quality they were fifty years ago. Fifty years ago things were made to last and could be fixed. Marketing has changed to be more of being happy today and forgetting about

The phrase, the American Dream is a national ethos of the United States and the idea that clutched many immigrants came to US in a deep emotional level. Having left their own countries means they left not only their friends and family, but everything that identifies who they are. However, whether or not they left their countries because of poverty, war, or civil or religious oppression, they believed that in America, they could achieve a better quality of life if they work hard enough. It was their reason and motivation to move. I, as an another immigrant who explored many countries and settled in the US, can understand how they feel about the Dream. However, in the last decades, American attitudes toward this idea has been reframed as the