The American Dream In Chris Gardner's The Pursuit Of Happyness

Register to read the introduction… Chris Gardner stated, "You got a dream, you gotta protect it... If you want something, go get it. Period." ("The Pursuit of Happyness", IMDb). What Chris stated is basically the definition of perseverance: steady persistence in a course of action, a purpose, a state, especially in spite of difficulties, obstacles, or discouragement. Chris Gardner had nothing left. His wealth is shown not as money, but only relationship he has left, father and son relationship. Christopher’s goal is to provide a better life for his son. The actions he takes during the difficult times helps him achieve the American Dream (Evensvold, "The American Dream: Stories from the Heart of Our Nation"). For example in one of the scenes, Chris opens his wallet, and has a five and three ones. That equals a cab ride for the company executive, but it may be all Chris has left for a day’s worth of meals for his kid. Chris hesitates before handing over the five, and the executive plucks it out of his hand gratefully (The Pursuit of Happyness). This small moment may be the most painful one in the movie because the executive has no idea of the harm he is doing. However, the man eventually remembers to give the five dollars back, even though by that point, Chris does not need it so badly (Weddle, "The American …show more content…
("The Pursuit of Happyness", IMDb). In The Pursuit of Happyness, Chris Gardner puts in effort to obtain his happiness. The American Dream theme perseverance was shown because Chris was overcoming obstacles and he gave effort to obtain his happiness. (Evensvold, "The American Dream: Stories from the Heart of Our Nation").Chris Gardner smiling said, “It was right then that I started thinking about Thomas Jefferson on the Declaration of Independence and the part about our right to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. And I remember thinking how did he know to put the pursuit part in there? That maybe happiness is something that we can only pursue and maybe we can actually never have it. No matter what. How did he know that?”("The Pursuit of Happyness", IMDb). He obtained happiness because he took action through the obstacles he was going …show more content…
The film, The Pursuit of Happyness, show not what Chris Gardner has, but what he is trying to get. His goal is to achieve the American Dream by pursuing happiness. Chris happiness is through his son. The faith his son provides, helps him not to give up. He takes hard actions during his struggle, but he had faith that everything will be okay. Everything will be okay as long as he works hard. In the end, Chris Gardner hard work helped him reach his overall goal,