Preview

What Is The American Dream Essay

Powerful Essays
Open Document
Open Document
1244 Words
Grammar
Grammar
Plagiarism
Plagiarism
Writing
Writing
Score
Score
What Is The American Dream Essay
The American Dream

We hear the term American Dream referenced many times in our lives, but do we really know what the American Dream is? Is it having more money and more power than everyone else? Is it moving to Hollywood and becoming a famous movie star? What is the American Dream? According to James Truslow Adams, the author of the book The Epic of America, 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, but a dream of social order in which each man and each woman shall be able to achieve the fullest stature of which they are capable of, and be recognized by others
…show more content…
As George says it, "O.K. Someday- we're gonna get the jack together and we're gonna have a little house and a couple of acres an' cow and some pigs." George and Lennie's American dream have all the aspects of the American Dream as it is in the definition and is essentially the original American Dream, to have your own place, “An’ live offa the fatta the land.” as Lennie says. The American Dream described in this story is the one to be your own boss. Lennie,Candy and George want to work for themselves, they want to make there own money and spend it on what they want every once in awhile. They want to have the animals they want like the rabbits, and they want their own place to live in. They want the dream, even though they are technically hobos, but they do not care. They want to be their own bosses so, “When it rains in the winter we’ll just say hell with goin’ to work.” The dream for Lennie and George is the real American dream, they want something better than what they have. Even though they are poor they don’t care, they want to achieve what they are capable of and to them it is having their own little

You May Also Find These Documents Helpful

  • Better Essays

    Since the start of the twentieth century America has attracted people all over the world to relocate and start a new life. For many coming to America was a chance for a better life and new things. They all had something in common, they all had a dream, that dream was the "American Dream". In the present day the desire to achieve the dream hasn't changed. However, the idea of the American Dream, brings up a lot of questions. What is the American Dream? Who defines it? Can it be achieved? Lastly, should everyone have a chance to achieve it?…

    • 1639 Words
    • 7 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Good Essays

    The American Dream to me seems like it’s overused. To me the American Dream is just a made up term for a “normal dream” because all it is is wanting success. The American Dream is just wanting to have a job, have an education, and have a family.…

    • 565 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    The American dream means being free and being able to fulfill your dreams. Like getting a quality education, getting a good quality job that makes you happy, homeownership, starting a family, being able to provide for your family and having the ability to live a life you have always wanted. Families from other countries come here to do just that. The countries that the people may live in may not have those opportunities available to them, so they come to the United States to have a better life. America provides you with so many opportunities. But sometimes justice system gets in the way that.…

    • 997 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    What is the American dream? There is no exact answer as to what the American dream really is. The best way to really put is the main goals and ambitions American citizens have for their lives. The issue with it though is that, sometimes individuals can’t reach their dreams. As stated in the Atlantic “We have more social problems than other countries, and that’s a worse problem than inequality.” (O’Brien 1). Religious discrimination is still a major problem that plagues this country today.…

    • 603 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    What is the American Dream? The American Dream is when he/she gets married, has a steady income, owns a house, and has children. Although some people believe that the American Dream is still attainable, there are many who believe it is not.…

    • 784 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    An American Dream has a multitude of definitions that vary from person to person. Once a person has their dream locked in their mind they must work to achieve it. The American Dream, having a perfect family with a house on a hill and a white picket fence, is still achievable through hard work and perseverance, patience, and opportunity.…

    • 763 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    As Emerson once said, "America means opportunity, freedom, and power." This is probably what many immigrants thought when they came to the USA in order to persue the American dream. To many of those people, that translated into something that would impact then for the rest of their lives. These people sacrificed their jobs, their relationships and connections, their educational levals, and their language at their homelands to start their new life in America and succeed in reaching their dream. So what is the defination of the American dream? Some think of it just as being rich and famous or to have a lot of power. However, my personal definition of the American dream, is the ability to have freedom, being able to get the highest level of education, being successful in finding a honorable job, to have a healthy and happy family, and eventually to have an affordable place to call my own. In otherwords, it's very hard to know when and if you will ever reach it. To…

    • 789 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    To achieve the American Dream has been the main idea of living in the united states. It is possible to get the American dream. Don’t you think? It is possible with hard work and the will to want to succeed and get somewhere in life. But the American Dream is different for different people. People have different struggles to try to successfully achieve their dream. But those who don’t believe in the American Dream can’t see how these things are possible now and in the future.…

    • 476 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Good Essays

    The American Dream is wonderful to dream about and finally reach. It is the soul of the people in America, it is their love, passion, and what they stride for. The American dream is that all Americans should have equal opportunity to achieve their goal in life. “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” (James Truslow Adams, 1). The reasons why I believe it’s possible is because there are some cheap colleges, there are some cheap cars, and houses to start people off. People can make their way up from there to the top. It’s the basic game of life, it’s the survival of the fittest. The only real thing needed to succeed in life is to have a bit of education and to be cunning. The world is full of issues that will take their time to stop you from reaching your…

    • 994 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    According to the definition at Google.com, the American dream is defined as “the widespread aspiration of Americans to live better than their parents did.”(WordNet) This term is often heard or uttered everyday whether you realize it or not. You typically don’t hear “American dream” everyday but you hear about people’s goals and achievements in life. The American dream has many perspectives. For example, the web definition is going to be completely different from a definition of an individual person, a community, or the nation at large.…

    • 616 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    American Dream essay

    • 566 Words
    • 3 Pages

    The American dream is now nothing more than a past dream haunting humanity of what could’ve been. Though man y people are living that dream it reminds us of the dirty tricks they used to cheat others to achieve their status. This so called dream is no longer real it is nothing more than a figment of the past.…

    • 566 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    American Dream

    • 741 Words
    • 2 Pages

    The American Dream is it just a dream or is it reality, can people actually achieve it. The person who coined this idea was James Adams and he said that The American Dream is that “life should be better and richer and fuller for everyone with opportunity for each according to ability or achievement, regardless of social class or circumstances at birth. The American Dream has three sides the good, the bad, and the ugly. So you would think that The American Dream is something that everyone strives for some reach it while others fall short.…

    • 741 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Good Essays

    The American Dream is perceived differently by many. Some may claim The American Dream is being able to move up in society and prosper through work, initiative, and determination. Others may alternatively say it is to be able to say, think, and do what you want or in other words, have freedom. The answers to the question, “What is the American Dream,” vary. I believe The American Dream is a feat accomplished by a minute collection of people that allows them to live how they want and be free from society’s constrictions.…

    • 462 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    The American dream by definition means the idea that every US citizen should have an equal opportunity to achieve success and prosperity through hard work, determination, and initiative. However, it's more than just some definition. Everyone has their own view on what they consider is the “American dream”. Before I was born my mom and dad both came here looking for a better life than the one they had back in Russia. After my parents arrived my grandparents came soon after. From my understanding, my parents idea of the American dream was to able to nicely settle somewhere and have children, so that they could live the life they couldn’t when they were kids. My grandparents came here in their late 50’s so I think they just hoped to be find…

    • 438 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    According to James Truslow Adams, 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." (in his book: The Epic of America, written…

    • 1803 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Powerful Essays