We All Have the Opportunity to Achieve the American Dream Essay

What is the American dream? According to the balance, "The American Dream is the idea that the government should protect each person's opportunity to pursue their own idea of happiness. (Amadeo)” also they say that to U.S. citizens usually relate the American dream to the idea of wealth, financially security, freedom, and family. But that is to Americans, so what about people in other countries? According to classroom, “Immigrants in the U.S., however, are more likely to define the American dream as the pursuit of opportunity, a good job, owning a home and in many cases, safety from war or persecution. (Lazuk)” Americans view the American dream as something harder and harder to grasps as time goes on. Immigrants, on the other hand, have more and hope and stay positive and view the American dream as something they have the potential to reach and achieve.

The conception of the American Dream, I believe is different among native-born Americans and immigrants. Everyone desires to become successful in life and many people will stop at nothing to achieve it. In my case, by moving to the United States, I now have the opportunity to live the American Dream, but my definition may differ from everyone else’s. I believe that The American Dream for Immigrants means getting a good education, working hard, family support, willing to adapt to a new environment, becoming a self-made individual, and having a leader. My main purpose in moving here in the U. S. was to attend an American college to gain a first-class education. With hard work and passivation; I am optimistic that I will find success.

Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck is the story about two friends who moved towards the west so that they can find a job and buy a land for themselves in the hard times of Great Depression. The purpose of this essay is to analyze the characters and the idea of American Dream. Main and marginalized characters such as George, Lennie and Curley’s wife will be discussed in connection with the American Dream.

The American Dream is desired by all, yet it is difficult to attain. Owning a ranch, being one’s own boss, and having everything to oneself is what everyone desires. During the 1930’s, around the Great Depression, crops were destroyed and migrant workers were striving to find jobs to sustain a prosperous life. Unfortunately, achieving this dream takes time, effort, and many complications can get in the way. In the novel Of Mice and Men, John Steinbeck demonstrates that one does not have control over one’s path due to obstacles such as discrimination, disabilities, and the class structure in society thus challenging the validity of the American dream.

In the article “The American Dream”, by James Truslow Adams in The Sundance Reader book, he stated that 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 adequately, and too many of us ourselves have grown weary and mistrustful of it. 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 or position." (p.227-228). The American Dream can be achieve also by immigrants if the U.S. government provides opportunities, the environment and resources to pursue their dreams with the hope of better life.

The American dream has been a great motivator for many. It is for every person to have a place of their own, to work and earn a position of respect, to become whatever his/her hard work and determination can make them. The novel Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck unmasks the harsh, and the vicious reality of the American dream. Set in Salinas, California during the 1930s, the book is based on Steinbeck’s experience as a migrant worker when he took a summer off from writing. He writes a novel about the difficult lives of migrant workers in California as he knew the subject from personal experience. Throughout the novella, the migrant workers on the ranch embodies the struggle to live through the Great Depression with dreams and aspirations, however,

Many people have different ideas of what the "American Dream" is and what it takes to make it a reality. The most common and the most accurate idea of the American Dream is for all to have the opportunity to have a chance at living a nice life. This includes all immigrants and anyone else who seems to lack better opportunities often. "The American Dream is the belief that anyone, regardless of race, class, gender, or nationality, can be successful in America (read:rich) if they just work hard enough" (Wulick). The American Dream is also influenced by those that have money and are successful. These people are looked up to as a goal when it comes to a better life. The American dream also includes overall happiness that stems from a

In the novella Of Mice and Men, John Steinbeck portrays the characters as pathetic victims of society, each of them pathetic in their own ways. Yet all of them are lonely, in need of companionship, in need of a relationship and in desperate need to make their dreams come true. Specifically, Steinbeck uses the two main protagonists George and Lennie to convey the theme of the American dream. At the beginning the two men get a job working on a farm together after fleeing from their last jobs at a place called Weed. Lennie is mentally young and has great physical strength that isn 't too controllable. As they work from ranch to ranch, Lennie relies on George for guidance and help. Rather than wasting their earnings, they try to save it in hopes of buying a place of their own and fulfill their dream. For many people during the Great Depression in America, the American Dream was simply that: a dream. Like George and Lennie, with their dream of the rabbits, and their little house where they are their own bosses, most men in that time could never fulfill this.

The American Dream is an idealism that can influence people to attempt to succeed, however some take advantage and find cruel and devastating ways to become entitled to this portrayal of what being an American deserves and means. Just think people will choose to follow those who continue to fail creating poor outcomes, or use them as an example of what not to do or even do it better than them. Success is built on the individual and not as they say what “we can do for the people”. An immigrant's concept of the American Dream is to create a life for example moving to a country that provides higher quality of living rights for the people, this is an absolute idealism that harbors opportunities. America can provide the American Dream to the “tired, the poor, and the huddled masses” but there are consequences and labor required to anticipate longevity and due to the vast majority of people going after the same goal and it only is possible for those who continue to work hard and believe when times get tough.

The American Dream is something not only citizens of the United States strive to attain, but an ideal that immigrants and citizens of other countries come to America in search for. Many people, including immigrants associate the American dream with success and good opportunities such as having a well-paying job, owning a home, doing better in life than parents, as well as upward social mobility. The American dream, being a national ethos of the United States, is supposed to represent equal opportunity for everyone, regardless of race, skin color, or social class, to achieve success and prosperity through hard work in a society with few barriers. All of this is rooted in the Declaration of

The American Dream is sometimes just that - a dream. A situation in the novel that portrays this includes the two main characters, George and mentally disabled Lennie. When the two men are introduced as they travel and dream together, their situations are told, “Someday--- we’re gonna get the jack together and we’re gonna have a little house and a couple of acres an’ a cow and some pigs and---An live off the fatta the lan’,” (Steinbeck 14) Due to the Great Depression, their dreams are merely captivating facades. However, the happiness they strive for in this deception is the string holding their friendship in place. George fills Lennie’s head with lies only to make him happy, “We got a future. We got somebody to talk to that gives a damn about us.” (Steinbeck 14) Their reveries also provide them with hopes for a better life, while they continue to struggle in

The definition of the American Dream can be multiple things to different group of people, U.S born citizens usually associate it with themes of wealth, financial security, freedom, and even family. Immigrants in the U.S., however, more likely define the American Dream to be the pursuit of opportunity, a good job, owning a home and in a lot of cases, safety from war on persecution. Immigrants come to the United States for many reasons, but some of the main reasons for their departure of their homeland country is educating themselves, learning the language, and the most obvious one to most people is achieving the American Dream. As you can see, the difference in the definition of “having achieved” this dream from natives to immigration may have stemmed from the opportunities and/or the struggles in their upbringings.

Sipping a beer on the front rugged porch as the sun sets and your hard work sits in front of you in the brisk breeze. This is the American Dream. I’m sure you have heard of the idea that America is the melting pot, it is the land of the free and the home of the brave. American culture has always dictated that here you should work hard so you can come home to your wife that just took a perfectly browned turkey out of the oven. A prime example of this is Scott Fitzgerald’s The Great Gatsby. Gatsby is a man who started from nothing and rose to the top with fame, money, and power. But what happens when everyone is striving for the American Dream? What happens when the dream laid out for you simply doesn’t work? This is the point that John Steinbeck makes in his outstanding book Of Mice and Men. George and Lennie are two ranch workers who migrate their way to California in search of the American Dream. One catch, it’s the 1930’s. The Great Depression had started and life wasn’t as easy for someone starting their way at the bottom. Every man had to fend for themselves, especially people with mental handicaps which weren’t as socially acceptable as they are now. There are so many people through this hard time trying to reach this goal of the American dream, that also has many different forms, in order to make ends meet and find the hope in troubling times. Also their profession at the time necessarily wasn't the highest paying or promoting job, their background made it hard to

The story of “Of Mice and Men” is about two companions, George and Lennie, moving to and working on a ranch in hopes of eventually making and working on their own ranch. The story takes place in California during the 1930s and was written by John Steinbeck. The story tends to focus on the topic of gaining the American Dream and whether it’s attainable or not. The American dream is something that is not attainable in the real world, as it’s all about wanting more and more and eventually your time will run out before you get the chance to “complete” your dream. It’s also about false happiness, and also the “It’s not what you know, but who you know.” mentality of today. Steinbeck uses subtle metaphors and sad sacrifices to show this throughout the duration of the book.

Every morning, people across the globe get up, have breakfast, and get ready to go to work for the day. This is especially pertaining to the United States, where half of the adult population is employed. How this number got so big could have to do with the American Dream, an ideal where every US citizen has an equal chance to benefit from hard work and determination. The American Dream is at the core of John Steinbeck’s Of Mice and Men, where the two main characters dream of achieving success during the Great Depression through the hard labor of ranch working, It is also portrayed in the movie Grapes of Wrath, a movie adaption of another Steinbeck work, chronicling a family’s journey to California in search of work to get them on their feet. Yet as the world advances socially and technologically, some people’s opinions of the Dream have been varied greatly. The American Dream still exists today, but since the time period that John Steinbeck wrote Of Mice and Men and Grapes of Wrath, it has warped into a different idea by way of the ideal end result of hard work, the importance of career, and ideas of independence.