Running head: THE AMERICAN DREAM
The American Dream
Karrington Henson
Northstar School
The American Dream
The United states of America was established for one main purpose, " to form a more perfect Union, establish justice, insure domestic Tranquility, provide for the common defense, promote the general Welfare, and secure the Blessings of Liberty to ourselves and our Posterity ( US Constitution). The United States of America has been described many different ways, but the most known description is “that dream of a land in which life should be better and richer and fuller for everyone, with opportunity for each according to ability or achievement..." noted by James Truslow Adams in 1931. America was painted up to be the "perfect
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The two friends George and Lennie dream of their own piece of land with a ranch, so they can "live off the fatta the lan'" and just enjoy a their life. Steinbeck shows how not everyone can achieve the American Dream, and how everyone is not given the same opportunity and rights as everyone else. George and Lennie’s dream of owning a farm would allow them to have a better life for themselves, and it would offer them protection from an inhospitable world, aka the American Dream. Throughout the book, George realizes the impossibility of this dream, sadly proves that the bitter Crooks is right. such paradises of freedom, contentment, and safety are not to be found in this world. With saying this, Steinbeck exposes to readers that the American Dream is just an idea, and that everyone is not given the same chances in …show more content…
Many had heard of the land, America, that was full of opportunities and prosperity. But getting to this land was not easy for immigrants. They had to fight their way into getting on a boats, carrying all of the belongs and family treasures. Thousands of people would cram into the boat just so they would be able to get to the Promised Land. But on the trip there, diseases would be spread around, causing deaths and illness. There was no help for them while on the ship, and if the made it to Ellis Island, they was no help promised. Like Americans today, immigrants had to go through several series of testing. They had to be inspected of health, skill set, and why they were coming to America. Sadly, if they did not met all of the requirements, they would be shipped back to where they came from. Once they passed, immigrants thought they had finally achieved their dream and rights, but little did they know how they would be treated in the near future. They were sent to work in factories where conditions we often un-safe for the workers there. Upton Sinclair work the book, The Jungle, and exposed the horrors of the meat packing industry where many immigrants worked excessive hours for horrible wages. after many years of immigrants having to work in these poor conditions, the work like and factory companies began to improve their safety levels and conditions in their
Because the concept of the American Dream has been around for many years, it is something that is familiar to everyone. It can be agreed that people all have their own opinions and views about it; even decades have their own version of the American Dream. But what about for the 1990’s? What was the American Dream during that era? The American Dream in the 90’s was greatly influenced by three things: the expansion in technology, the thriving economy, and various, pivotal political events; based on those three components, the American Dream can be defined as individual success, such as money, power, fame, and development.
In the novel Of Mice and Men, John Steinbeck shows American dream as an unreachable goal for the characters. Of Mice and Men is a novel based on two childhood friends, Lennie and George, who travel together in search of work. Lennie, the gentle giant, has a mental disability and an obsession of petting soft objects. One day, while stroking a girl’s hair, Lennie accidently kills her. And eventually by the end of the novel, George is forced to shoot Lennie. Steinbeck shows American Dream as an unreachable goal because of a character’s standing in the society, their dreams to be unreal and their dependency on other characters.
There are various individuals throughout the world who believe that the American Dream cannot be achieved by all people. Those who agree with this view believe that our culture contains too many roadblocks and obstacles. Some of these obstacles include prejudice, poverty, and social inequality. Another view on this matter is that others believe that America is the “Land of Opportunity”. They also believe that if you can believe it, you can achieve it. Back in the early 20th century, The American Dream meant something to people; nowadays it is a term that various people loosely throw around. The American Dream is not realistic because it is not attainable to everyone like Cal Thomas presumes and although education, budget cuts and lack of employment may seem of some concern to only a small group of people, it should in fact concern anyone who cares about the status of the economy.
Everyone grows up with the thought of an American dream in mind . Unfortunately that American dream is only limited to the people who are not of color. Sadly the people of color and the american dream don 't match up to well. I feel that this is because it can’t be easily obtained due to improper education and never being given the opportunity to show what they’re made of. Maybe if we weren 't categorized by our living arrangements, or the amount of our wealth, or better yet being presumed as these incompetent animals who aren’t good for nothing. Then we too would be able to achieve our own american dreams ,but as people of color the chances of that are not likely living in a world that feeds us with this improper mindset.
Mostly anything you want to achieve requires time and perseverance it doesn 't just come to you easily. In America we all have dreams we want to achieve, a set of goals for the future. The American dream is in your perception, what you want it to mean for you. It’s what you want to consummate in America where you can 't anywhere else. How you can succeed in life enough to survive and be happy. The reality of the American dream is the essence of any person living in America, immigrant or not. Trying to achieve in life more than their parents did and to be successful with a prosperous life, but many people believe it can’t be achieved, but with assiduous work and determination you can make your
As people immigrated to the United States, legally and illegally, particularly Hispanic workers, they began to look for jobs to provide for their families. They took jobs that Americans did not want: they accepted the low-paying, physically-demanding, and temporal agriculture jobs. Since many did not speak English and were uneducated, some even illiterate, they were easy targets for farm owners to exploit. Immigrant workers were often not paid, had low wages, and because of such conditions, some even died. In addition, they also lived and worked in appalling conditions, some workplaces did not even have suitab...
The American Dream. What is it exactly? Well, it is the ideal that every U.S. citizen should have an equal opportunity to achieve success and prosperity through hard work, determination, and initiative. However, can everyone really achieve it? Yes, anyone can achieve the American Dream with enough hard work and dedication to pursue a good life. In order to maintain the American Dream there are some important ways to achieve it. Such as: a strong work ethic, a good education, and being determined.
Money, fame, and promiscuity are the three main components of the American Dream, and what better way to get to that level than through music? The truth is, almost any other profession has a higher statistical chance of achieving this goal. Musicianship is a nearly impossible career plan to survive with. An artist will spend incalculable hours learning and mastering their craft, only to be oppressed by the community. No matter how much time or money a musician spends on his/her creations, the world will typically find a way to avert their success.
The American Dream. This concept is well known as the picture perfect family, nice house and the white picket fence. As well as succeeding and excelling in life and making the future generations lives better than the current one. This concept has contributed much of the immigration from as early as 1931 to present day. However, many immigrants immigrate to the United States in order to escape oppression as well as uprising and turmoil which may reside in their home country. Though society often places people none the less immigrants into categories from social class, heritage, and prejudice they share a common thread of hope as well as facing obstacles in their journeys and once they arrive to the states. An example of this common thread of escaping their homeland in order to pursue new experiences and hopeful new life yet experiencing different hardships are shown when looking at both the Mexicans and the Irish.
To do what makes oneself happy. The American Dream is represented in many different ways and every person lives and chases a different version of the American Dream. Chris McCandless lived his American dream by walking alone into the wilderness of Alaska. The song written by Toby Keith, “American Soldier”, shows the price some pay for their dreams and ours to come true. Jay Gatsby died trying to acheive his dream and get the girl he loved, but died happy because he had pursued her until his death. The band All Time Low wrote a song called “The Reckless and The Brave” that brings a new light to how we go about achieving our dreams. So I believe that the American Dream is all about doing what will make you the happiest in the end.
The American Dream The American dream has always been a talk amongst the American culture. When people speak of it, they often think back to the 19th century. The American Dream can be thought about when learning information on the Declaration of Independence which states that “all men are created equal, that they are endowed with certain unalienable rights that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness”. This was written by Thomas Jefferson.
The American Dream, it’s something as old as America itself and continues to live on. However, what is the “American Dream” exactly? It’s something that has changed over and over, and has been disputed over for centuries. First, it was to become the perfect society and person through God as defined by the Puritans (the first settlers in America), the it shifted to being the peak of moral and intellectual perfection with the Rationalists, who were revolutionaries such as Benjamin Franklin. The Transcendentalists are a group undefined by an era in time, for they were present in all stages of America’s history, and continue to be present. They had more modern views such as self reliance, and individualism; a continual theme we see today in what people describe as the American Dream. Besides that however, one wouldn’t see much resemblance to our country’s past ideals. Today the American Dream is all about money. As a nation we idolize people who have seemingly overcome huge life obstacles by themselves in rags-to-riches stories, and then we question why we can’t do the same. We ask ours...
He has always had a dream to own a little place with a couple of acres; for him and Lennie to just have a peaceful life and “live offa the fatta the lan’” (Steinbeck 57). Requested yet again by Lennie, George is telling his usual story about the little place when Candy, an old ranch worker with a missing hand, overhears. George is conceptualizing his vision to Lennie, “We’d jus’ live there. We’d belong there. There wouldn’t be no more runnin’ around the country and getting’ fed by a Jap cook” (Steinbeck 57). Both George and Lennie are extremely surprised when Candy buts in to their conversation and shows a great interest in offering to help George and Lennie get there, by contributing whatever he can in terms of money and help. Candy tells George in order to persuade him, “S’pose I went with you guys. Tha’s three hunderd an’ fifty collars I’d put in. I ain’t much good, but I could cook and tend the chickens and hoe the garden some. How’d that be” (Steinbeck 59)? George thinks it through, and the reader can tell that he believes his dream suddenly became much closer within reach. Steinbeck adds a sentence to express the emotions of that moment, “They fell into a silence. This thing they had never really believed in was coming true” (Steinbeck
What is the American Dream, and who are the people most likely to pursue its often elusive fulfillment? Indeed, the American Dream has come to represent the attainment of myriad of goals that are specific to each individual. While one person might consider a purchased home with a white picket fence her version of the American Dream, another might regard it as the financial ability to operate his own business. Clearly, there is no cut and dried definition of the American Dream as long as any two people hold a different meaning. What it does universally represent, however, it the opportunity for people to seek out their individual and collective desires under a political umbrella of democracy.
The ‘American Dream’, as was once known has ceased to exist in the United States and it could just be something that is not guaranteed anymore. We are merely allowed just the pursuit of happiness, as stated in the Declaration of Independence “Life, Liberty, and the pursuit of happiness”. We are told that all men are created equal and independent of one another, but are we really? In the movie The Pursuit of Happyness Chris Gardner goes from rags to riches displaying what it means to live the ‘American Dream’ as an African-American male in the United States. The story line ultimately suggested that you need to have a certain amount of money and stand in a certain class to be deemed successful in life as an African-American. The Pursuit of Happyness illustrates through the examples of Chris Gardener that anyone has the chance to achieve happiness if they devote a great amount of effort and time. However, in today’s world our socioeconomic factors define our meaning of happiness. Society realizes that the key to happiness is not actually determined by how much money you have, once you finally obtain wealth, money will just keep raising our bar of happiness. On the surface, this dream appears to the best thing people hope for offering the chance to better themselves, and accomplish success despite of some one’s race, religion, or family history. What Chris Gardner went through is a struggle made by socioeconomic factors which played a huge role in his ideal image of the ‘American Dream’. Money meant success to him and this is where my sociological lens becomes significant to my primary text. As an African American male, Chris Gardner, in The Pursuit of Happyness overcomes the socioeconomic factors he faced by defeating the odds and la...