The American Dream Expressed Through The Pursuit of Happiness

920 Words2 Pages

In the Oxford Dictionary, the American Dream is defined as the traditional social ideals of the United States of America: Life, Liberty, and the Pursuit of Happiness. People have the right of life and liberty, but happiness is not a right. Happiness can only be given by the amount of effort a person gives. People who have determination to devote their Life and exercise their Liberty to the accomplishment of discovering their talent and use what they like doing to achieve a goal. The film, Pursuit of Happiness, shows the American Dream being achieved by the main character, Chris Gardner, by working hard and using his talents. Chris Gardner in The Pursuit of Happyness goes through overcoming obstacles which shows that the American Dream is possible through faith, perseverance, and a focus on family values. The American Dream was portrayed through Chris Gardner by him overcoming obstacles by having faith. Faith in individual effort can be achieved through Chris’s own “American Dream” ("The Pursuit of Happyness", IMDb). In the beginning, Chris showed faith by trying to sell the bone density scanner in order to achieve his American Dream. Even do doors were shut in front of him while selling the scanners, he never gave up. When his scanner was stolen, he did not just leave and say whatever. Chris actually tries to retrieve the scanner again because he had faith that he can sell the scanner. Also, how the economy was at that time, having faith helped him achieve the American Dream by working hard. As James Bowman said “Economics, misjudgment of the market continued its products backlog, nearly so difficult to sustain the lives of Gardner” (Bowman, "The Pursuit of Happiness"). Chris Gardner became homeless, his wife left him, and collea... ... middle of paper ... ...helps him not to give up. He takes hard actions during his struggle, but he had faith that everything will be okay. Everything will be okay as long as he works hard. In the end, Chris Gardner hard work helped him reach his overall goal, happiness. Works Cited Bowman, James. "The Pursuit of Happiness." The American Spectator. N.p., Sept. 2010. Web. 19 Apr. 2014. Evensvold, Marty D. "The American Dream: Stories from the Heart of Our Nation." Library Journal Dec. 2001: 200. General OneFile. Web. 20 Apr. 2014. Weddle, Peter. "The American Dream." The American Dream. N.p., n.d. Web. 18 Apr. 2014. “The Pursuit of Happyness”. Dir. Chris Gardner, Quincy Troupe, and Mim Eichler. Rivas. Perf. Will Smith. Sony Pictures, 2006. DVD. "The Pursuit of Happyness." IMDb. IMDb.com, n.d. Web. 18 Apr. 2014. "The Pursuit of Happyness." - Rotten Tomatoes. N.p., n.d. Web. 18 Apr. 2014.

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