Sullivan 1

Alex Sullivan

Mr. Pace

Honors Junior English

October 11, 2022

American Dream is a Myth

Freedom, power, money, and justice. That’s what America was built upon, but what if

that foundation has devolved and become a roadblock for many Americans? The American

Dream has been one of the most successful advertising campaigns since the landing in Plymouth

Massachusetts. It expresses how someone can come to America to live their best life and to

achieve financial and social success with hard work and determination. However, America has

changed and as a society adaptation is a must. In modern society the American dream is not

achievable because of economics and social status.

There are many obstacles that people face in a lifetime but one thing that is difficult and

takes a multitude of effort to change economic status. This has been true since the American

Revolution, when property was distributed between previous plantation owners and newly

freedmen. Unjust acts were brought upon freedpeople, which ultimately limited their growth of

economic status. However, division of land isn’t even the most concerning problem in today’s

society. A new study has found that the middle class income fails in comparison to the

generation before them: “within this bracket, individuals born in 1980 have only a 45% chance

of outearning their parents at age 30, compared to 93% for those born in 1940” (Lu). The

struggle to make more than the previous generations keeps becoming more impossible for each

future generation and unfortunately, individuals are finding it difficult to make ends meet. This is

demonstrated in the novel, Behold the Dreamers, by Imbolo Mbue, when the characters Jende
 Sullivan 2

and Neni strived for the American Dream during their residency in America, but struggled to

find financial security. They shared similar struggles with others who went to desperate measures

to try to expand their money to get ahead; “By all accounts, no one in Limbe had ever given

money to a money doubler and gotten the money doubled […] And yet people continued to give

to them, falling into the trap of crafty young men who walked up to them on the street and visited

them in their homes, promising quick and high returns on their money through incomprehensible

means” (Mbue 169). People are going to great lengths and getting scammed to try to live up to

the American Dream to fall even more behind in debt and still have to pay for bills and taxes to

meet ends meet. Both the article “American Dream is Over” and the novel Behold the Dreamers

show the economic struggles that hold them back from the American Dream. The rate of

economic growth in America and the unrealistic expectations that it imposes on the working

class makes it impossible for Jende and Neni to keep up with their bills and school payments.

Younger generations including Liomi, their son, who are trying to surpass their parents’ salaries,

will not succeed. It is impossible in today’s society to keep up with the growing inflation with the

little pay that the working American receives, which in turn makes it impossible to get ahead to

fund for a better future.

To achieve such a high economic status, Americans need more than just money. They

require the acceptance of society and affirmation of people’s mental judgments and moral

beliefs. John Cho shared his family’s struggle to be accepted in the American society and how

they gave up their culture so they would appear one hundred percent American. As a kid John

Cho said that, “To that end, my parents encouraged me and my younger brother to watch as

much television as possible, so that we might learn to speak and act like the natives” (Cho). His

parents told him to do the polar opposite that most other parents would tell their kids to do, to get
 Sullivan 3

as much screen time as possible so that he would speak in an American accent. Similarly in,

“Have my Thoughts” by Branden Wellington, he expresses that, “But this is America, a place

where outsiders find it difficult to become a resident” (Wellington). Anyone who is considered

an outsider, in this case immigrants, find it difficult to become a resident because of the

discrimation, violence, and restrictions that are set upon them. Both articles prove that it is hard

to integrate into a society with a clear mindset of how their citizens should look plus act. The

articles also highlight the struggles and questionable methods associated with being accepted into

American society. With your social status based on society’s abstract depiction, many

complications and obstacles like racism, gender inequality, and poverty evolve, which prevents a

person from achieving the American dream.

Economic and Social status gives someone the power to control their American Dream

and to determine what is needed to move up in society. As the country continues to evolve, it is

time to set a new and more realistic idea of the American Dream or make resources more

accessible to average American citizens, otherwise the American Dream will forever be dead.
 Sullivan 4

Works Cited

Cho, John. Op-Ed. 22 Apr. 2022,

https://docs.google.com/document/d/1zLBdFP1oVp5gncapPRWpFJ96SNBxYvTRgYVA

HB0hgCo/edit.

“Is the American Dream over? Here’s What the Data Says.” World Economic Forum,

https://www.weforum.org/agenda/2020/09/social-mobility-upwards-decline-usa-us-ameri

ca-economics/. Accessed 28 Sept. 2022.

Mbue, Imbolo. Behold the Dreamers. 4th Estate, 2017.

Wellington, Branden. “Have My Thoughts: 1st Video Poem.” Have My Thoughts,

http://brandenwellington.blogspot.com/2012/11/1st-video-poem.html. Accessed 28 Sept.

2022.