The American Dream: an Illusion Or Reality

The American Dream is a belief that many Americans and migrants in the United States reach for. It is believed that everyone should be able to live in comfort and success; it also includes the upward movement in the society’s social status. This dream can be attained through tough labor and endure the obstacles, such as job opportunities and start new in an unfamiliar land, that may make it laborious to achieve. But regardless of social class or the circumstances of birth, everyone is born equal so everyone has the right to an equal chance to reach their own American Dream.

Everyone has their own definition of success, this means that each and everyone has their own view of what living the American Dream looks and feels like. For example, in the novel Of Mice and Men, written by John Steinbeck, the main protagonists’, named George and Lennie, version of the American Dream is owning and living in a farm, and also tending rabbits. This view might still be relevant for certain people, but, in the current state of the world, people have become more ambitious and dream without considering how they are going to achieve it. This makes the American Dream more of a myth rather than an achievable goal.

The over-ambitious thinking is not the only factor that makes the dream more of a myth especially for the migrants from other countries, but there are also other factors such as ethnicity and attitude, etc., should also be counted in due to the present prejudice the society have for certain types of people. Race or ethnicity is one of the things that make it difficult or impossible for a person to achieve this dream. This is because certain stereotypes have been marked for certain groups of people, which affects the judgment of the public towards those certain groups. For example, Asians have the stereotype that all of them are smart and that places a higher expectation on them than the others, which puts them under a lot of pressure from the public. This causes them to fall into anxiety and/or depression, losing hope in attaining the dream. And as we all know, some companies would prefer a specific set of people, which gives others fewer opportunities, this hinders them into attaining their American dream.

Another factor that should account for is the attitude of the person towards meeting the goal. It all depends on the person and how he/she reacts towards the hurdles to living successfully. But, today more and more migrants fall into depression causing them to lose hope to fulfill their dream. This is due to all the frustrations, rejections, and unfair opportunities these skilled migrants face in the money-making world, where they are less likely to be picked for a job even though they are more qualified for the job because of their ethnicity and the language barrier. This is another factor why the American Dream can be considered a myth for most people.