Is the American Dream Dead?

Personally, I do not believe the American Dream is dead. When children are young they look up to adults and explore the options of their futures. Though these dreams may seem unrealistic at the time, some children will followthrough with these dreams and become what they want to be in life. In Fences by August Wilson, Troy's son Cory strives to play football at the college level, when his father won't let him, because he was unsuccessful obtaining his dream, Cory goes for it anyway. That is the mentality of the American Dream, to go after what you want despite that people around you tell you you'll never be able to achieve a specific goal.

My parents for example, grew up in Millinocket, Maine where there isn't much of anything unless of course you want to work in the now closed mills. In an interview with my parents, they both exclaimed; "While we were growing up, we knew that we were eventually going to have to leave our hometown in order to make a living." My father who went into the logging business up in Millinocket out of high school knew that in order to achieve his American Dream of becoming a master electrician that he would have to move to southern Maine to achieve this. So, that is exactly what my parents did. Shortly after my mom graduated high school, they packed up and moved down here. My mom and dad both worked very hard to save enough money to build the house that I am still living in today. My parents accomplished their American Dream by moving out of a dying town and becoming prosperous down here.

So to me the American Dream is not dead. I am soon moving on to the next step in my life by going to nursing school and becoming what I think i want to be for the rest of my life. Though it is still far away, I am one step closer to my American Dream concluding that to me the American Dream still lives in every single American, whether they chose to go after it or not is up to them.