American Dream

The idea of the American Dream still has truth in today's time, even if it is wealth, love, or fame. The thing that never changes about the American Dream is that everyone deserves something in life, and everyone, somehow, should strive to achieve that goal. And to strive to achieve one's goal, one should have the characteristics of a hard-worker.

Some people do not attempt to obtain their goal and some do, whether they succeed or fail. In a November, 2007, speech Obama talks about his and his wife’s family. Obama makes the point that success requires effort. His father-in-law started living with Multiple Sclerosis at an early age, but he still got up early in the morning and struggled to go to work to provide for his family and allow his wife to stay home and watch the kids. Obama’s father-in-law’s dream in life was to see his kids do bigger and better things. When one looks at the accomplishments of his children, he did an excellent job at striving and achieving his American Dream. In addition to Obama’s speech, “A Red Palm” talks about a man working hard to provide for his family. His everyday goal was to endure more and more tasks, so that his family would have food on the plate, a good education, and electricity in the house. Although he had blisters and was tired constantly, he continued to smile and calculate everything he did at work, in order to know how much he has done to help his family out for the day. His dedication and achievements show that he went above and beyond to accomplish his American Dream successfully (Soto).

Unfortunately, Gatsby was not benefitting from chasing after Daisy, Gatsby’s American Dream. He became a bootlegger and did many illegal activities, but he only did them because he thought Daisy would love him again if he was wealthy and lived an extravagant life. However, he tried too hard to earn her love back that he really pushed her away back to Tom. Although Gatsby did not receive his American Dream, he worked...