Argumentative Essay: The American Dream

Words: 1580
Pages: 7

The American Dream

Being from a little village on the north west side of india, my father didn’t have all the luxuries nor the necessities many people take for granted today. He would have to walk nearly 10 to 12 miles everyday just to go to school and home. Once he got home he would study for school and then help out his father in the fields. After years of filling out applications the indian government notified my grandfather that one person from his family could go to america and after ruminating on who he would select my grandfather came to a decision. Due to my father's dedication to both his personal and familial success my grandfather believe he would flourish the most in what they believed to be the land of opportunity and success
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They see america as a flashlight, a way to navigate out of the dark void and into a land of light. For each unique carrier of the flashlight there is a unique perspective on the land full of light, for some it is economic prosperity and for others it is the beauty found within the simplicity of life, and that is the american dream. From everything that I have discussed and read in class I have found that there are 2 real arguments against the achievability of the american dream one being that it is not possible to come up from the bottom of the social stratification engraved in american society which is presented in Ehrenreich’s book “Serving in Florida”. The second argument is that when people get rich and start to succeed they start losing the feeling of happiness and fulfillment as shown in Fitzgerald novel “The great Gatsby”. The thing is I have personally seen many different people come up from literally nothing to a life of pure happiness and prosperity for example my father, my uncle, family friends and more so if you tell me you can not come up from nothing I see that as a lie because I have seen it with my very eyes. Also people's perspective today seems to be skewed when it comes to happiness and riches which is why people end up with extravagant lifestyles but filled with depression and a feeling of being