American Dream As a Myth

Erica Rideout

HUMN240-F1WW
Professor Deborah Rosenstock
July 7, 2012 The myth of the American Dream does not have to be taught or learned. Growing up in America, it is imbedded in our minds at a young age that America has it all. American is the land of opportunity and allows its citizens to work hard and gain an uncapped amount of success. However, it is more apparent that this “dream” has transformed into a myth over the several years since its creation. Once upon a time, America was seen as the place to gain opportunity and success. However, as times continue to change, this vision of the dream continues to slip out of American’s hands and more into the mind as a myth. The major component of the myth of the American Dream is a simple one. America is the land of the free and home of the brave. Our American ancestors have fought for freedom and gained it allowing fellow Americans endless opportunities that can lead to great success. These opportunities do not just end with Americans; they are extended to all nationalities that come to America with hopes of living the so called American Dream. Although the American Dream may just be a myth, it definitely gives people hope. Most times, that hope is enough to lead to the drive and determination necessary to reach some level of the American Dream. There are several artifacts that help display the myth of the American Dream. Two artifacts that I have chosen are relevant to views of the American Dream. The first is a quote from a book by the worldwide known rapper, Tupac Shakur. Shakur wrote:
“Did you hear about the rose that grew from a crack in the concrete? Proving nature's laws wrong, it learned to walk without having feet. Funny, it seems to by keeping it's dreams; it learned to breathe fresh air. Long live the rose that grew from concrete when no one else even cared” (1999). In this powerful quote from his book The Rose That Grew From Concrete, Tupac makes it obvious that even if all odds are against you, hope can help overcome anything. Very similar to the myth of the American Dream and how nothing can transform into anything with the right amount of hope; more of a “rags to riches” story. “Though its most familiar guises are ‘Rags to Riches’ and ‘the Self-Made Man,’ the American Dream has not been a dream of merely material plenty. . . . It has been much more than that. It has been a dream of being able to grow to fullest development as man and woman” (Gallagher, 1998). For centuries, many people have come to America with nothing besides hope of achieving success and living the dream. The myth of the American Dream is obtainable, and some people are indeed living that dream. A second artifact that depicts the American Dream as a myth is the movie Goodfellas. The movie is about Italian Americans living in America that use the mafia to gain status and achieve their level of the American Dream. The mafia has been made to look like a glamorous and plentiful lifestyle, however, in Goodfellas, it ends with the main character never achieving that level of the American Dream. Unlike the first artifact where the myth of the American Dream gives positivity and hopes of achieving the American Dream, the movie Goodfellas shows the negative side of trying to achieve the American Dream. According to Brownstein, “in this environment, upward mobility becomes tougher” (2009).The strong desire to achieve the American Dream as in Goodfellas led to illegal means while trying to obtain it. The sheer greed of reaching the Dream often can lead people to do illegal things to achieve it.
As in Goodfellas, crime and greed did not lead the main character to the American Dream. There are two myth patterns that are illustrated by the two above artifacts. The American Dream is more of a sense of hope that a person can make something out of nothing, and is attractive to contemporary audiences. A good story about how someone worked hard, had faith and hope, to achieve a high level of success is much more appealing than one who reached success through illegal activities and skating by. Reading stories of rags to riches, or obtaining some level of the myth that is the American Dream gives others hope, and it is enlightening. The tale of the main character in Goodfellas is not as attractive to contemporary audiences simply because he was trying to live the American Dream through criminal activity within the mafia. The presence of the myth of the American Dream does not change how I will view movies. I know that they simply are only movies and are put together to create a good story. Some movies will glamorize drug dealing or mafia activity as ways to gain success, such as the movie Goodfellas. Other movies will glorify hardworking people coming to America and making it big, while some will show that it is impossible to live the American Dream. Regardless, movies will not change my views of the American Dream. Working hard at an honest living and having hope will pay off. I might never be a millionaire but as long as I have hope that my opportunities in America are limitless through my hard work, hope, drive, and determination, I will continue to strive for my own version of the myth of the American Dream.

References
Brownstein, R. (2009). Is The American Dream A Myth?. National Journal, 18.
Gallagher, E. (1998, March). The American Myth of Success: A Film Guide. Retrieved from http://www.lehigh.edu/~ejg1/doc/successfilm.html on July 7 2012.
Shakur, T. (1999, February 3). The Rose That Grew From Concrete. MTV Books.