The American Dream In James Truslow Adams The Epic Of America

The “American Dream,” according to Truslow Adams, is “being able to grow to the fullest development as man and woman.” This ideal is not based on fame or wealth, but on enough to sustain a family and live comfortably, with a steadily rising income and a decent home. It is to be believed that hard work along with the “great equalizer”, education, allows individuals the freedom to determine their own life path, regardless of their background. The idea of the American dream ensures upward social mobility for those dedicated enough to achieve this lifestyle. In spite of that, recent arguments have said that this dream is either dying, or already dead. In his book “Dream Hoarders,” Richard Reeves counters that the American Dream is in fact alive and well, but simply being hoarded by the upper middles class.

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

America still to this day holds on to the idea of the “American Dream”. This is rather surprising in today’s society and the ups and downs that the nation is facing. The dream in the past was more about freedom and equality. Moving through the decades, this dream has morphed into something quite different. Instead of what America means for all of its inhabitants, the nation has become more individualized. Society has moved to interpret the dream of what America can do for the one. Instead of the unified nation, America has been known for in the past, a shift has started creating an inconsistency in who can realize the dream. The myth of the “American Dream” has been hugely affected by increased materialism, the gap in economic status, and the fantasy of “rags to riches” idea.

The American Dream is a commonly known theme among the general population today. It states that with the right amount of work any US citizen can obtain success in their lives. This idea was popularized around 1930 with James Truslow Adam’s book “The Epic of America” bringing about the idea that there is opportunity for everyone in America if they can work hard enough.3 This idea of the American dream however began much earlier than the 20th century. Rather it began in the west in the 1800s as US citizens gained the ability to cross the frontier and begin completely new lives, whether those lives became advantageous or not. According to the American Dream the western settler’s level of work, not race or gender, would determine whether or not he or she became successful. However this was not the case. The American Dream of the 19th century is disparate from the one known today. Unlike Adam’s “American Dream” of the 1930s, this western “American Dream” was heavily skewed towards white male, US citizen obtainment. This was because the main drive of the western frontier was for white male US citizens to profit from the newly obtained land and keep it for themselves thus fulfilling their new “American Dream.” In the mid19th century, economic opportunities existed in the Western Frontier of America, allowing people to go and accomplish their dreams if they had the motivation, but those opportunities were prohibitive for women, nonwhites, or non US

The American Dream has held a special place in the hearts of patriots since the very founding of America in 1776. It has been a subject of many authors who grapple with its attainability, and is a beacon of hope gazed upon by victims of circumstance. The Dream has been interpreted by great minds in various ways, and has been deemed both an evil deception and a great promise of a better life. However, the American Dream has morphed from this promise of opportunities and second chances--in fact, it has become viewed as a cause for societal competition and the reason for decreasing happiness among the American people. As Americans attempt to “achieve their goals,” and “keep up with the Joneses,” they subject themselves to the materialistic cycle of greed. Success, and the goal of the American Dream, has been redefined. To be put simply, the American Dream is now to be richer than one’s neighbor, despite the fact that happiness--and thus, the Dream--cannot be achieved solely through wealth and material goods.

As it is stated in the constitution, “all men are created equal”, however many people feel as if they are not treated equal to their fellow citizens. America is viewed as a land where all things are possible and people can achieve all their hopes and dreams. Although this is a simple concept, how one must work to achieve these goals is much more complicated. Everyone is born into a different situation and the opportunities they are exposed to differ depending on the person. The original idea of the “American Dream” supported the idea that all American citizens are able to obtain a better life than they are currently living; however, that idea is continuously changing and many interpret their own dream in different ways.

We have all heard of this intense rollercoaster ride that we are on called the American Dream. The term was coined by James Truslow Adams in 1931 defining it as “dream of a land in which life should be better and richer and fuller for every man, with opportunity for each according to his ability or achievement.” Since it’s arrival, the Dream has evolved from a pursuit towards “freedom, mutual respect, and equal opportunity” (Shiller) to later one of greed described by Shiller as being “excessively lustful about homeownership and wealth” beginning in the 1960s. Traditionally, the American Dream included features of a nuclear family, that is one with a breadwinning father, a housewife, and two kids, owning a white picket fence home, thriving without financial worries, and a happy family. There has been a shift in focus for the Dream caused by the Millennial generation and in turn they have included features that place an emphasis on equality in all aspects of their lives from family life to the workplace placing their own twist on the Dream. The American Dream has evolved over time to include equal opportunities, college education, and happy family.

The American Dream is not a function of ability and achievement, but a dying illusion. America is not truly the land of the free, but an ignorant classist society. Gregory Clark, an economics professor at the University of California, Davis, stated that “America has no higher rate of social mobility than medieval England or pre-industrial Sweden … That’s the most difficult part of talking about social mobility - it 's shattering people 's dreams” (qtd. in Evans). The United States has an incredibly outdated economic system that does not allow disadvantaged citizens opportunities regardless of how hard they work. People get stuck in their social status and are not able to stray out of it, which affects their further generations. Additionally, immigrants coming to America in hopes of prosperity are likely to have even less luck than immigrants of the pass and widen the gap of social inequality. Clark continues to state, “The truth is that the American Dream was always an illusion. Blindly pursuing

The American Dream is often one of the most well-known benefits of living in America. It is the push factor that has driven millions of foreigners to flock to the so-called land of opportunity. Originally, the American Dream was established by a clause in the Declaration of Independence. It reads, “We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness” (Declaration of Independence par. 2). The original American Dream, as laid out by the founding fathers, was freedom from religious persecution and the right to live a happy life. That simple idea has undergone a significant metamorphosis and now the American Dream is much more complex. It has turned into a deep avaricious dream. This transformation has been noted in contemporary literature, especially in the novels Reservation Blues by Sherman Alexie and The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald. These pieces of literature can be read as a larger commentary on the mutation of the American Dream and how it is now more of a negative desire for greed and material. Both Fitzgerald and Alexie surmise that the American Dream has been twisted and corrupted into an uncontrolled desire that has become unattainable for many and that the pursuit of the dream has become dangerous.

For years upon years, we have heard the concept of an “American Dream” repeatedly. In school, at home, and there’s probably several who have mused about it on their own during their time by themselves. It seems that, also, several have concluded that the Dream is dead: gone, disappeared, poof into thin air. Some argue that it’s nothing but a pack of lies our predecessors were fed to believe that perhaps America had a better future lingering just around the corner, or that it’s changed much from what it was ‘back in the day’. The American Dream has remained unchanged since the Great Depression, but the nation we are today may slowly be killing it. In John Steinbeck’s Of Mice and Men, the Dream is to have that equal opportunity for success, the same as in Bobby Jindal’s and Ellen Powell’s articles, but it seems that inequality may be killing the American Dream.

America historically owns the reputation of being the land of opportunity, and for generations immigrants have fled to the United States to experience the freedom and equality our government lays claim to. At the root of this reputation is the American Dream, the belief that with hard work anyone can succeed based solely on his or her merits. While definitions of success vary, the American Dream defines it as the ability to become a "self-made man," thereby rising to a more-than-comfortable state of living. The American Dream is believed to be blind to race, sex, or socio-economic status and at a first glance, seems to be almost Utopian. Conversely, repeated examples and statistics of the lower-classes, those continually facing the harsh

When people think of the American Dream, most think of the good that arises with it. They don’t consider the hardships and obstacles one must overcome. Many immigrants come to America in hopes of accomplishing their dreams and aspirations, and if they can’t, maybe their children can. Haspel debates how “The U.S. has changed drastically in the last several decades. The middle class, which was the heart of the American Dream, is dwindling, and the disparity of wealth among social classes continues to grow.” (41) This defends the popular phrase “The rich get richer while the poorer get poorer.” In essence, the American Dream can be viewed as the aim to climb the economic ladder. As the economic gap between the different social classes grow, it becomes harder for certain groups to see the American Dream as an attainable goal. The American Dream entails a variety of opportunities, and it is hard for minorities to grasp such opportunities with limited resources. Haspel also debates that “Another issue contributing to the decay of the American Dream is the country’s changing family

Many years ago today, the United States of America was the prime example of prosperity and opportunity. It established America with the idea that its citizens would be guaranteed life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. Today, it is true that people have liberties and are free to pursue happiness. However, in recent years, in the worst recession since the Great Depression. Unemployment, growing economy inequality, and medical care have skyrocketed. Despite the odds, the American Dream is still a goal that many people strive for and hope to reach. In fact, an essay written by Brandon King, The American Dream: Dead, Alive or on Hold? He says, “the American dream is a dream in which life should be better and richer and fuller for everyone, with the opportunity for each according to his/her ability and achievement…” (King 610-611). Therefore, the problem with the American Dream lies not within the dream itself, but within the means people pursue to attain this dream.

“The American Dream” is advertised as being the act of a person having an idea, goal, or as the saying suggests, a dream, and then them spending time, energy, and money to make it come true. However, if you haven’t realized it yet, there’s a reason they call it a dream because it hardly becomes a reality. More and more people are realizing this so called “dream” is nothing but a hoax, and that the promises America assures and guarantees such as equal opportunity and equal success are nothing but pure manipulation. Furthermore, the American dream no longer stands by the virtue of discrimination and prejudice, overwhelming debt, and failed establishments.

The American Dream is surely based on the concept of “Life, Liberty and the Pursuit of Happiness” but it is above all, a matter of ambition. James Truslow Adams, an American writer and historian, in 1931 states: "life should be better and richer and fuller for everyone, with opportunity for each according to ability or achievement”, which not only points towards a better standard of living for Americans but also denounces a degree of greed in the US society. Ambition not only “killed the cat” but killed relationships as well in texts like Sister Carrie and Death of a Salesman. While the American Dream was supposed to be a collective success at its initial stage, ambition, along with a pinch of greed and materialism were perfect ingredients