The American dream is a goal that is attainable with time, hard work, and perseverance. Four percent of people who are born into a lower class rise to the top to become the top one percent of America’s earners. It is called the American dream because it seems that it is impossible to reach but if someone strives for it they can achieve it. The American dream is difficult, but possible, to attain, as exemplified in The Great Gatsby through the protagonist Jay Gatsby and by Daniel J. Mitchell’s article in the New York Times.
In The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald the American dream is portrayed through the eyes of Jay Gatsby. He is a man who comes from “shiftless and unsuccessful farm people—his imagination had never really accepted them as his parents at all. (Fitzgerald 105).
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Gatsby is the definition of “rags to riches”, he came from a farmer family in North Dakota and rose to the top defying all odds. Gatsby shows the American Dream is attainable with hard work and perseverance. In Jay Gatsby's teenage years he took advantage of an opportunity that would end up changing his life “at the age of seventeen and at the specific moment that witnessed the beginning of his career – when he saw Dan Cody's yacht drop anchor”(Fitzgerald 104). Gatsby saved Dan Cody’s yacht when he sailed all the way out to tell that a storm was approaching. When Cody realized what Gatsby had done he offered him a job and taught him how to become a successful businessman.
The American dream is not just found in books and movies but, also in real-life scenarios and situations. Many people do not believe in the American dream, while it may be true that only a few percent of people make it, people who do not achieve the dream do not work hard enough and give up on their dream. The American dream is alive and well “from the small businesses in every town to the energy entrepreneurs that have created so many jobs”(Mitchell 2015, January 1). If four percent of the lower class of the American population rises from the lowest class the the highest class that is still 13 million people achieving the American dream. It is called a dream because not everyone will make it only the people with time and dedication will accomplish the American Dream. Daymond John is a businessman who started his career when he was just 10 years old. He grew up very poor and when his parents were getting divorced he took multiple jobs one of which was handing out flyers for two dollars an hour. Daymond kept on pursuing his dream and eventually started his own company in his mother’s house. Daymond is a go-getter and he decided to start making wool beanies and selling them, after they all sold he “went back the next hour and sewed more”(John 2016, February 25). His Company FUBU would end up becoming a Multi-billion dollar company worth more than 6 billion dollars.
While books and films often provide the inspiration for pursuing the American dream, it is the perspiration over time mixed with dedication and perseverance that—mixed with a little luck—makes dreams a reality.
Citations
- Elkins, Kathleen. “From Waiting Tables at Red Lobster to a $300 Million Fortune: the Rags-to-
- Riches Story of Daymond John.” Business Insider, Business Insider, 25 Feb. 2016, www.businessinsider.com/daymond-john-rags-to-riches-story-2016-2.
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Essay on Why Is the American Dream Not Attainable.
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