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Obtaining the American Dream

            Obtaining the American Dream Morally?.
             Can a person attain the American Dream while still holding on to one's morals? Using the premise that the American Dream embodies financial success and a comfortable life authors such as Rebecca Harding Davis and William Dean Howells recognize that financial gain is more important then morality This realistic view of the American Dream represents an accurate picture of American society. When people are faced with a decision to gain wealth or remain poor most will make the decision to take the money no matter what the moral consequences. Therefore, attaining and keeping the American dream while retaining one's morals is only an idealistic fantasy. .
             Realism tries to depict life as it really happens and disprove idealistic notions of how life will turn out. Davis uses Realism combined with Naturalism in Life In the Iron mills to show that attaining the American dream for some is only that: a dream. Howells uses realism in The Rise of Silas Lapham to show that life should not be represented through false expectations but through real experiences. People's true actions can also be seen in two movies Dir. Erich Von Stroheim's Greed and Dir. Edgar Selwyn's Skyscraper Souls. These two movies show examples of trading morals for financial gain. There are authors such as Benjamin Franklin and Horatio Alger Jr. who wrote works based on unrealistic expectations for the betterment of society. Franklin's "Autobiography" and Alger's Ragged Dick lay down a framework for moral perfection in order to gain success. The problem is that society is not guided by moral perfection but it is guided by wealth. Thus, these authors" works are not realistic and for the most part will not be followed by individuals of the American society. What individuals will follow is the path to wealth, whether it is morally correct or not. .
             Life In the Iron Mills places emphasis on the harshness of reality for the working class of 1850's.


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Since the spawning of our great nation, the United States of America, there have been conflicting opinions as to what the true concept of the "American Dream" is and what it may mean to each person. ... He actually had two answers for his definition of the "American Dream," one more superficial than the other. ... After conducting my research, I have come to believe that my personal "American Dream" is a dream that I have obtained from those around me. ... The "American Dream" is embodied in each and every American citizen, whatever social or financial class they may be. It has become somewha...

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2. American Dream

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3. The American Dream

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4. Myth of the American Dream

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6. Finding and Living the American Dream

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