The Deception Of The American Dream Analysis

The Deception of The American Dream
The unemployment rate has climbed ten percent in the last five years, that means there are currently 9,237,000 people unemployed in the United States. Which raises the question, is the American Dream real? The American Dream is the ideal that every US citizen should have an equal opportunity to achieve success and prosperity through hard work, determination, and initiative. Some may argue that out of the 318.9 million people residing in the US, only a small fraction of people are unemployed, homeless, or starving. Therefore, many believe that this ideal is possible and within grasp, but the truth is, the great dream is dead. The American dream is, indeed, an illusion, with unfortunate circumstances, with
high unemployment rates, and with homelessness on the rise.
The American dream is, unfortunately, a lie. The novella, Of Mice and Men, relates to the subject, proving this to be true. Most of the characters in Of Mice and Men admit to dreaming of a different life. Before her death, Curley’s wife confesses her desire to be an actress. Crooks, bitter as he is, allows himself the pleasant fantasy of hoeing a patch of garden on Lennie’s farm one day, and Candy latches on desperately to George’s vision of owning land. Before the story begins, circumstances have robbed most of the characters of these wishes. Curley’s wife, for instance, has resigned herself to an unfulfilling marriage. What makes all of these dreams a broken American Dream is that the dreamers wish for untarnished happiness, and for the freedom to follow their own desires. George and Lennie’s dream of owning a farm, which would enable them to sustain themselves, and offer them protection from an inhospitable world, represents a prototypically American ideal. Their journey, which awakens George to the impossibility of this dream, grimly proves that the bitter Crooks is right: such paradises of freedom, contentment, and safety are not to be found in this world. Candy can see that certain circumstances have robbed him of his success, for he knows, “‘I got hurt four years ago,’ he said. ‘They’ll can me purty soon. Jus’ as soon as I can’t swamp out no bunkhouses they’ll put me on the country. Maybe if I give you guys my money, you’ll let me hoe in the garden even after I ain’t no good at it. An’ I’ll wash dishes an’ little chicken stuff like that. But I’ll be on our own place, an’ I’ll be let to work on our own place,’” (Steinbeck 60). This confirms that Candy has a dream of living on a farm with George and Lennie, without the imminent threat of losing his job. However, his dream is crushed when, on page 92, Lennie kills Curley’s wife, thus cursing Candy and George to live miserably and continue their mediocre jobs, without their small patch of paradise.
There are millions of unemployed Americans that have had their hope crushed when discovering the deception of the American Dream.
The authenticity of the American Dream is even questioned by leaders of congress, such as: Archibald MacLeish, who was an American poet, writer, and the Librarian of Congress. He is associated with the Modernist school of poetry, and received three Pulitzer Prizes for his work. MacLeish knows about the obscure dream in stating, “There are those, I know, who will reply that the liberation of humanity, the freedom of man and mind, is nothing but a dream. They are right. It is. It is the American Dream,” (Stein 141). The author is correct in saying this marvelous ‘dream’ is nothing but a dream. Another man, Jacob Pramuk who is a CNBC news reporter, agrees because he knows, “The U.S. stock markets are worried about a possible Federal Reserve interest rate increase. After its most recent meeting late last month, the central bank's policy committee said the labor market ‘continued to improve’ while posting ‘solid’ job gains,” and that jobs are continuing to be lost. Also, there are more than 100 million working age Americans that do not have a job. Right now, there are more than 9 million Americans that are considered to be “officially unemployed”, and there are more than 91 million Americans that are not employed and that are considered to be “not in the labor force”. When you add those two numbers together, the total is more than 102 million.
Overall, the number of working age Americans that do not have a job has increased by about 27 million since the year 2000. Additionally, there are 237 thousand people that lose their jobs every month. With currently eight million people out of the job, how could the American Dream ever come true?
Homeless people are living with their dreams shattered, sleeping under trees, and begging on the streets for money and food. “We think sometimes that poverty is only being hungry, naked and homeless. The poverty of being unwanted, unloved and uncared for is the greatest poverty,” said Mother Teresa, who ran hospices and homes for people with HIV/AIDS, leprosy and tuberculosis; soup kitchens; dispensaries and mobile clinics; children's and family counselling programmes; orphanages; and schools. She also won the 1979 Nobel Peace Prize. What she means is that not only are people poverty stricken and homeless, they are also pushed away and shunned. There are currently 633,782 homeless people across the United States; however, most studies are limited to counting people who are in shelters or on the streets so the homelessness population is greatly underestimated. In addition, a study of homelessness found that in virtually every city, the city's official estimated number of homeless people was greater than the number of emergency shelter and transitional housing spaces (National Law Center on Homelessness and Poverty, 2012). Also, 4 percent of homeless are part of families and 2 percent are unaccompanied minors. Tragically, an average of 26 percent of homeless people are considered mentally ill, while 13 percent of homeless individuals are physically disabled.
In conclusion, there are unfortunate circumstances, there are unemployment rates rising, and there is a high homeless population, keeping the American Dream from ever coming true.
There are many great people who agree, the American Dream is deceiving and untruthful. And many people have failed in the name of it's lies. Many people are robbed of their chance to fulfill their ambitions, before they even try. Additionally, millions of people have no homes and are jobless, and the only way you’d be able to beat the American Dream is to overcome those other millions of americans. The key word in the definition of success is ‘accomplish,’ but there are only few who have truly had their wishes come true. If you believe in the American Dream, you will be led into false security, and that will be your
downfall.