American Dream Ideal

Is the American dream accessible to all Americans or it is just myth in the minds of the American population? American’s have always regarded themselves as exceptional from the rest of the society, and this is clearly reflected in their doings throughout history. Whether it be their belief in Manifest Destiny during the 19th century or their expedition in Iraq just a few years ago. Another thing that makes them exceptional is their convection of their dream, the American dream. This dream is considered the ideal way of living for everyone in which every human, regardless of money, race and age, would be treated equally and given equality of opportunity. However, from the day the first Europeans colonised Charlestown to till date, this dream …show more content…
It’s sorrowful and disheartening that present day America is turing into the past of a developing country. This reveals the high finical gap between the higher and the lower class, and how disadvantageous this segregation is for the poor. As in the caste system, the lower class don’t even have a chance of moving up the social ladder as they are considered ‘untouchables’. This is similar to the American system as the citizens with economic problems are considered equal to their wealthier brothers. Evidence to support this argument can also be found in American literature, for instance Nickel and Dimed by Barbara Ehrenreich. Her assertion in her novel is that wage slaves in America can face major problems surviving in the country due to their low wages and high expenditures. These slaves earn on the hourly bases and thus can’t even imagine of saving up for the future. In her book, Ehrenreich provided statistics that said 30% of the workforce had a job of under $8 her hour, however the minimal ‘living wage’ was $8.89 (pg 3). Its disastrous that the bottom 30% of the population lives below the estimated ‘living wage’. If they can’t earn enough to survive, how will they ever earn enough to prosper and thrive in the society. Thus showing the dream is just a myth as there is no equality of opportunity when it comes to the economic side. Another American lit that assists this argument of inaccessibility is A Raisin the Sun by Lorraine Hansberry. In this book Hansberry writes about a lower class family in Chicago. There struggle for money can be seen when Ruth tells Beneatha, “Shallow – what do you mean he’s shallow? He’s rich!” (249). This exemplifies the families struggle to cross the first barrier to reach the American dream, in which they are almost ready to sell their daughter. This displays the inaccessibility of the family as Younger