The American Dream Reflected In American Literature

The American Dream is a national ethos of the United States, which is a belief that anyone, regardless of their social class and the situation they are born into, is given opportunities to achieve their own version of success. It is emphasized that American dream is achieved through sacrifice and hard work, not just by chance. This meant to motivate Americans to attain prosperity and happiness. However, there is an ironic interplay between idealism and materialism in this statement of American Dream; the dream suggests hope, opportunity and equality, but in reality, it is to become rich and of higher social status, which is only

The American dream influences the American people to have the opportunity to achieve success through work, determination and self- motivation. Many Americans were motivated and commit themselves to having their perfect life. However, not all Americans were able to achieve their dreams. Fitzgerald’s rhetorical device affects the American dream that characterizes the morality of people’s social classes and gender.

The American Dream is in the Declaration of Independence stating that we as individuals have the natural rights of life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness, and that these rights are given to us by God. George and Lennie dream of owning a farm and living off the land. Of Mice and Men shows that poor migrant workers working during the Great Depression can’t make it in America and that the American Dream is only an illusion and nothing else since no one can make it. All the laborers in Of Mice and Men dream of life, liberty, and happiness, but no one ever achieves these. Crooks said that "Nobody ever gets to heaven, and nobody gets no land." when he finds out about George and Lennie owning a farm. At the same time, while the dream may never

The American Dream is a concept that we have created which illustrates a perfect life. Growing up, we are taught that we can be anything we dream of as long as we put our mind to it. We view ourselves and our country as the best, since we believe that we can achieve any goal with effort and perseverance. As stated in John Steinbeck’s “Paradox and Dream,” we are strong believers of our beliefs and “seem to be in a state of turmoil all the time, both physically and mentally”. We have made it appear as if the American Dream can be achieved as we are diligent, well inherited individuals that could make anything possible as long as we have the mentality and commitment to accomplish it.

The american dream is an ideal of everyone to achieve the hope of having a better life and making great amounts of money but in that sense they aren’t realizing what things they are leaving back and how much they’ll have to sacrifice or loose to gain that thought of American dream. The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald and “ Harlem” by Langston Hughes both shows how the american dream gives hope but the pursuit of hope demolishes. Which is illustrated by the characters showing the corruption of wealth and their moral values.

During the Great Depression, many unemployed workers moved to California to look for work on the ranches. This was because they had a dream to become successful, which is also called “the American dream”. In John Steinbeck’s book Of Mice and Men, George and Lennie, the two main protagonists, worked on a ranch chasing the american dream just like many other americans who dreamt of becoming successful. They tried to save money to buy their own land and live a life where they were successful. However, they never accomplished that, and like many others, did not realize they would never accomplish it. Steinbeck portrays the american dream through motif and irony to show that chasing the american dream leads to poor judgement of reality.

Over the years, a dream that changed the way the world saw the U.S. was created and it is the American Dream. As the years passed and the U.S. was developing the American Dream as well developed or as many say changed. The American Dream is a term that was introduced in 1931 by James Truslow Adams in his book The Epic of America (Kamp 2). The term “American Dream” started with a meaning that was reachable: “a better, richer and happier life for all citizens of every rank”(3). Throughout the years the term`s meaning changed dramatically. In the 1980`s it changed to extreme success of wealth. Although now the American Dream has changed to the concern of wealth, it started with a happy life for all citizens.

Since the beginning of time in the United States, the idea of the American Dream has had a heavy influence on society. According to Document C, American Dream is defined as earning enough money to be happy, obtaining a worry-free lifestyle, and running in a high social circle. While working Americans still hold on to the hope of the American Dream, individuals from other countries often move to the United States with the hope that they too may have a piece of the pie. Despite the novelty and allure of the American Dream, it is nothing more than false hope. The American Dream is unachievable in the United States because no matter how hard one works or how hard one tries to save money, the American Dream is simply not accessible to those that begin with nothing.

The American dream is an illusion that is deeply implanted in the minds of the people, it sets a bar for life achievement and offers hope to work hard to achieve their dreams. As for Americans, they are raised in a society to where they are expected to make lots money and to have a healthy family. After all in our society success is largely based off positions of power and financial stability.

The American dream is something that we all strive for in one way or another. Whether it’s being equal to the people around you, or having freedom to be successful in whatever you want in life. But for the characters in Of Mice and Men it is the dream of owning land and being independent from everyone else. But the American Dream is not something that is given to you, it includes work ethic, knowing that the dream may be impossible and the sacrifice that may have to be made. These are all things that George and Lennie and other characters in the book have to do to eventually reach the American dream.

James Truslow Adams, in his book which was written in 1931 and called “ The Epic of America” wrote about American dream, that American dream is about being richer and living in better life. Also that American dream is more materialistic, that people work a lot of hours to gain things which they want to have. Such as luxury cars, big houses. They want to be wealthy, rich and have all expensive things and live in a world of money and wealth.

A lingering question to many of the less fortunate in America pertains to the existence of the so-called “American dream.” Does this American dream exist and is it attainable? The American dream inspires many immigrants move to America, hoping to better their lives and those of their families. However, in the novel, Nickel and Dimed, Barbara Ehrenreich’s attempt achieve the American dream deems it not possibly attainable. Likewise, today, in the twenty-first century, the American dream is still not attainable. Ordinarily, no one would go through such physical and mental challenges to achieve a just barely attainable dream, but many of disadvantaged families still do, even today during the twenty-first century.

How has the American Dream changed from the 1920’s to now and how has the theme of the American Dream been supported by works of American Literature. We will see how the American Dream though time did not follow what the founding fathers set out for us in the declaration of independence and when they said, “The authors of the United States’ Declaration of Independence held certain 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". We will see how the American Dream suffers, what an American Dream is centered on, and how, for some, the American Dream is unattainable. In "The Great Gatsby" by F. Scott Fitzgerald, "I Hear America Singing" by Walt Whitman and in "Harlem" by Langston Hughes we see the American dream depicted, as the loss and utter death of a distracted corrupt American Dream, as the love of the American dream, and as the American Dream for Blacks in a time of segregation and discrimination.

The American Dream is most commonly known for freedom and individual success. The differences between time eras and changes throughout society are constantly making the American dream look different. It’s all about the different culture and events that happen. The way Americans react will shift quite a few viewpoints of life.

The picture perfect life that the American Dream promotes is unrealistic and superficial because money is unable to fill the void of happiness or love. Contrary to earlier days, we now life in a time when even a strong work-ethic does not guarantee money, success or opportunities. While many are so ensorcelled by the illusions of the American Dream, we often fail to realize its falsity and constraints. Whether financially or socially, the society coaxes in the unsuspecting American dreamer, only to then spit them out in a wave of despair, failure and hopelessness. As demonstrated by numerous non-conformist individuals, the Dream lies not in the realm of materialism but rather in that of the intangible; often requiring an extreme leap of faith