The American Dream The American Dream is a national ethos of the United States. The American dream could be anything; it could be reaching financial success, receiving an American passport, gaining freedom, or attainment of rights. Every American has a dream, and that dream is the American dream. Throughout recent years an American dream has become a widely popular central theme in American Literature and is presented in novels such as The Great Gatsby, Death of a Salesman, and A Raisin in the Sun. “I Have a Dream” speech by Martin Luther King Jr. is considered the most prominent rhetoric in the world. King Jr. expresses the effect of injustice visible in the United States during the 1950’s and states his opinion to the public. King Jr. utters “I have a dream that one day even the state of Mississippi, a state sweltering with the heat of injustice, sweltering with the heat of oppression, will be transformed into an oasis of freedom and justice.” Black people were treated like animals in all southern states. Martin Luther King Jr. emits his voice on the ongoing fight for Black rights, this was his American Dream. Holden Caulfield, in The Catcher in the Rye, by J.D. Salinger, is a teenager that is opposing the idea of becoming an adult. Holden wishes that he would not be forced to grow up and face situations which adults deal with. Holden says “… I keep picturing all these little kids playing some game in this big field of rye and all. I have to catch everybody if they start to go over the cliff. I’d just be the catcher in the rye and all… but that's the only thing I'd really like to be” (Salinger 173). Holden’s American Dream is to become a catcher in the rye, a person who shields or saves children from facing adult problems. Hold... ... middle of paper ... ...or inorganic in the universe, grows beyond his work, walks up the stairs of his concepts, emerges ahead of his accomplishments”(Steinbeck Chapter 14). A man is willing to build anything to fulfill something he wants. A man is going to do whatever he needs to satisfy his desires. The journey is treacherous and in California there are trying to find respect, equal pay, and equality throughout the people. The American Dream is a very diverse subject in which anyone can desire whatever he wants. People could try to do anything to fulfill that fantasy. American Literature from all time periods have a sense of an American Dream in it and it is established through the protagonist in the story. The American dream might not always be fulfilled in the end of the story but a dream is a dream. The American Dream is waiting to be fulfilled in all of the American people.
"The American Dream 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. It is a difficult dream for the European upper classes to interpret
The American Dream is a thought that everyone has at some point. Some are bigger than others and some are harder than others, but everyone hopes to accomplish their American Dream. In Of Mice and Men, John Steinbeck shows that the American Dream is a myth, not a reality. John Steinbeck shows the American Dream being a myth through a few of the characters in Of Mice and Men. For example, Lennie, Curley’s Wife, and Candy all have American Dreams, but they also have some obstacles that stop them from completing their American Dream.
The American Dream is an idea where a perfect freedom is given to all people, no matter social group or race. Many people have a definition of what is an American Dream. Americans are viewed as a person who can do the unlimited things. People's freedoms and discoveries have been recorded over time in the form of a poem or story.
Dreaming is a big part of all our lives. We all dream to someday do something with our lives. For this reason many people come to America to be better off than they were in their native countries. The American dream is the hope people have coming to America. They hope to be wealthy. They hope for no more struggling. The American dream is well and alive in this day and age and will always be because people will always have the hunger to prosper. The American dream cannot be reached without hope and without hope all is lost.
What is The American Dream? “The American Dream 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. It is not a dream of motor cars and high wages merely, but 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 and position.” (Adams) This quote is from James Truslow Adams, a historian, who coined the term “The American Dream”, in his book “The Epic of America”, published in 1933.
The American Dream is the idea of achieving success from hard work and dedication. In Death of a Salesman and The Great Gatsby, Willy and Gatsby both suffer from the degradation of their idea of the American dream.
What is the American Dream? Is it fame or fortune? Franklin Roosevelt explained the American Dream as freedom of speech, freedom of religion, freedom from want, and freedom from fear. The American Dream is the idea of becoming successful through work, although, this is not always achievable because people in America are not always treated equally, and not everybody has an equal opportunity to reach the American Dream.
The American Dream is something that anyone no matter their background, social standings, or ethnicity can improve their life through hard work.
The American Dream is an idea that anyone can live in the United States through hard work and live happy successful lives. There are many obstacles that would stand in the way from achieving the American Dream. Fear, money and education/training, families changing in size, disability, race and gender, are some of the hurdles that many Americans face as they try to achieve the typical American Dream.
What is the American Dream? There are a myriad of aspects to it, but one general idea: the ideal life. It is making a lot of money, being respected, and triumphing difficult situations. The American Dream has been pursued by many, but only few make it all the way.
The United States prides itself as country that offers everyone the American Dream, but to many, the dream is a nightmare. The American Dream is the ideal that every citizen of the US deserves equal opportunity to be successful and happy through hard work and determination. The Catcher in the Rye by JD Salinger has an optimistic view on the American Dream, while To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee offers a more cynical perspective. Although the dream is idealistic, many claim they have become successful through it.
So what is this fantasy all about? One would most likely describe it as being rich and famous, some would imply to have a lot of power; nonetheless, the personal definition of an American dream is the capacity to have a personal freedom, being able to get the highest level of education, being successful in finding an suitable job, to have a vigorous and happy family, eventually to have an reasonable place of living and dependable personal transportation.
The American Dream has changed; it is no longer the same as it was fifty or even one hundred years ago. Today, people not only search for prosperity and wealth, but they also search for happiness, equality, and determination. The American Dream is for everyone, not just the rich. The term “The American Dream” is a term used to describe the American way of life in general. It is a noun stating “the idea that every US citizen should have an equal opportunity to achieve success and prosperity through hard work, determination, and initiative.” Dreams are not limited to just one social class, everyone has a different version of the American Dream but they all work together in a community to create an organized, working society. A dream is a cherished aspiration, ambition, or idea that is open to anyone.
Another example of a contradiction Steinbeck uses in his essay that I have personally witnessed is, "We spend our lives in motor cars, yet most of us - a great many of us at least - do not know enough about a car to look in the gas tank when the motor fails." I observed this when my grandma's car "broke down" once. She had her car towed to the mechanic, and after about a week of it being examined, the mechanic called my grandma and told her that the only problem with the car was that it was out of gas. If we were living the American dream, would my grandma be so lazy as to have her car stop running and never look at the gas gauge? Would she have spent hundreds of dollars getting her car "fixed" when five dollars would have been suitable for gas? The answer to both questions is no.
The American Dream was and always will be something that makes America great. It allows those with aspirations to make them come true. In America alone needs is a dream and the motivation to carry out that dream. Ambition is the driving force behind the American Dream. It allows any one that has an aspiration, a desire, a yearning, to carry out the individual dream. It knows no bounds of race, creed, gender or religion. It stands for something great, something that every one can strive towards. A dream can be a desire for something great. In America, the American Dream allows dreams to become realities. According to Webster's New World Dictionary, the American Dream is defined as "An American social ideal that' stresses egalitarianism and especially material prosperity". To live this dream is to succeed. It allows anyone, rich or poor to have the opportunity to succeed. It is the ability to come from nothing and become so me thing. To succeed at any thing you do, you must have patience and persistence. It requires hard work, persistence and a desire for something better. To have these qualities and the desire and ambition to carry the moutis part of the American Dream.