The American dream is formulated around the term "success." Everyone has their own American dream but each dream builds on the desire of success for a better life. It has fueled the hopes of immigrants and Americans for generations. However, over time the American dream has developed a negative status. The ideal American dream has escalated putting it out of reach for many people, yet, the struggle for success and thus the dream continues. Ethnic American authors incorporate the cultural struggles of obtaining the dream into their stories by exposing the difficulties and injustices encountered along the way.
The American Dream
What is the American Dream?
The term "American dream" was first introduced by a historian in 1931; however centuries before this term existed, immigrants and observers understood the concept. Pilgrims and Quakers sought freedom for their religious beliefs. Indentured servants looked for a life beyond the class system they had been forced to endure. Owning land and having opportunities only available to the wealthy spurred immigrants forward to a better life in America. In America, if one worked hard, one could achieve.
In the early 1900s, James Adams was a popular writer, who wanted to write a history of the United States and what he saw as the "American dream," for a general reader. In his narrative, Adams declared that the American dream was not just a desire for affluence but closely linked to material comfort, an abundance America, not just an economically secure life but an abundant life.
There are a plethora of expecations attached to the American dream, which are passed down generation to generation. Each generation
it becomes harder to carry on tradition and resist falling into the manipulating ways of the American dream.
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