American Dream Plays Hard to Get
“When I was 5 years old, my mother always told me that happiness was the key to life. When I went to school, they asked me what I wanted to be when I grew up. I wrote down ‘happy’,” John Lennon. Happiness is what everyone wants; it is the genuine American Dream. However, the various definitions of happiness make it unclear as to how to pursue it. Some people see it as reaching the top and having the most sumptuous items, others as having more than enough money to support their family. When in fact, this is not the case because materialistic items do not give one happiness. The American Dream is unattainable because people envision it as having materialistic things instead of being content with what they have. …show more content…
This is what most American people strive for. Yet, it is never given any thought as to how these people became millionaires. Many of the people who make it to the top spend countless hours away from home, stop embracing their hobbies and the things that they enjoy, or betray loved ones to put themselves at a higher ranking. Due to all of this effort in propelling themselves up, they leave behind everything that makes them happy; thus, leaving them with all of their goods, but no longer having any purpose or pleasure. They put all of their effort into reaching this dream, only to realize it is not what they had truly desired. This idea of having the American Dream, but still not being content is reflected in the poem, Richard Cory, by Edwin Arlington Robinson. He states that Richard Cory is rich and admired by all of the townspeople, displaying that he also has it all. However, at the end he pulls out a gun and “put[s] a bullet through his head.” Although Richard Cory and others have achieved the materialistic aspect of the American Dream, they have not fully obtained the real dream of living a happy …show more content…
These are the people who are on or below the poverty line, which is 14.5% of the American population (huffingtonpost). In the book Nickel and Dimed, author Barbara Ehrenreich wrote about her quest to determine if those who were a part of the 14.5% were stuck with no chance out. In the end, her findings pointed to this being true and that starting ground, which is money, background, and property such as a house or vehicle, is everything. Ehrenreich meets numerous homeless people who did not have a very good starting ground and she finds that she, as well, needs start-up money in order to buy herself a living space. With this being said, if one does not have a wealthy family or cannot go to college, they most likely will have a minimum wage job. These jobs only pay for the bare necessities. Without help from others, it is challenging to buy a house or vehicle. As a result, one would not be able to transport themselves to work or rest easily; both leading to getting fired. These dead end jobs set up yet another vicious cycle, however, it is different in the sense that they can never attain more items, while others can never get
“When I was 5 years old, my mother always told me that happiness was the key to life. When I went to school, they asked me what I wanted to be when I grew up. I wrote down ‘happy’,” John Lennon. Happiness is what everyone wants; it is the genuine American Dream. However, the various definitions of happiness make it unclear as to how to pursue it. Some people see it as reaching the top and having the most sumptuous items, others as having more than enough money to support their family. When in fact, this is not the case because materialistic items do not give one happiness. The American Dream is unattainable because people envision it as having materialistic things instead of being content with what they have. …show more content…
This is what most American people strive for. Yet, it is never given any thought as to how these people became millionaires. Many of the people who make it to the top spend countless hours away from home, stop embracing their hobbies and the things that they enjoy, or betray loved ones to put themselves at a higher ranking. Due to all of this effort in propelling themselves up, they leave behind everything that makes them happy; thus, leaving them with all of their goods, but no longer having any purpose or pleasure. They put all of their effort into reaching this dream, only to realize it is not what they had truly desired. This idea of having the American Dream, but still not being content is reflected in the poem, Richard Cory, by Edwin Arlington Robinson. He states that Richard Cory is rich and admired by all of the townspeople, displaying that he also has it all. However, at the end he pulls out a gun and “put[s] a bullet through his head.” Although Richard Cory and others have achieved the materialistic aspect of the American Dream, they have not fully obtained the real dream of living a happy …show more content…
These are the people who are on or below the poverty line, which is 14.5% of the American population (huffingtonpost). In the book Nickel and Dimed, author Barbara Ehrenreich wrote about her quest to determine if those who were a part of the 14.5% were stuck with no chance out. In the end, her findings pointed to this being true and that starting ground, which is money, background, and property such as a house or vehicle, is everything. Ehrenreich meets numerous homeless people who did not have a very good starting ground and she finds that she, as well, needs start-up money in order to buy herself a living space. With this being said, if one does not have a wealthy family or cannot go to college, they most likely will have a minimum wage job. These jobs only pay for the bare necessities. Without help from others, it is challenging to buy a house or vehicle. As a result, one would not be able to transport themselves to work or rest easily; both leading to getting fired. These dead end jobs set up yet another vicious cycle, however, it is different in the sense that they can never attain more items, while others can never get