Part 1 -- Aurora(Jialu) Yang -- The Essence of American Dream is an illusion to the poor

💬Welcome to Aurora's Blog😃

👉Part 1

The American Dream only gives the poor an illusion to fight for and let them eventually become victims of the era. The definition of American Dream uses idealized hypothesis to narrow the distance between people and people👬👭. However, it neglects the original hierarchy of the society which is the impassable gulf for the poor. That is why it is an illusion and cannot be achieved completely.

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Under that social background, the sacrifice of the poor are meaningless. They just be hurt by the surroundings and cannot escape💨. These depressive perspectives😢 has been shown in the novel, "Of Mice and Men", written by John Steinbeck. The novel starts with a hopeful prospect😀 that George and Lennie tired to earn their own land, but ends with a sorrowful outcome😭 that George shot Lennie to protect Lennie be accused by deliberate murder. There is a symbolic quotation near the end which has implicit meanings. 

“As quickly as it had come, the wind died, and the clearing was quiet again. The heron stood in the shallows, motionless and waiting. Another little water snake swam up the pool, turning its periscope head from side to side.” (Steinbeck 95)

The following part are three symbols in the quotation： 

• “the pool”💧
• “snake”🐍 
• “the heron” 🐦

"The pool" stands for American Dream. It attracts "snakes" one by one, which represents the people at the bottom of the society, to pursue that beautiful future. However, at last, they cannot avoid the fate be eaten by "the heron", the big environment. Here reflects the reality that the vulnerable cannot survive in the process of seeking for American Dream. They do not have ability to resist the cruel reality, because of the disparity in their strength. By exposing this fact, the writer discloses the dark side of American Dream in a realistic way. 

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

The powerlessness of the poor when they pursuing for their stable living environment also exists in today's society. A piece of news posted in January 2, 2020 in Toronto Star reveals this reality.                                                             

click on it👇

https://www.thestar.com/business/analysis/2020/01/02/the-conundrum-affordable-housing-poses-for-the-united-states.html

The whole content is about the housing problem🏡🏠 that low-income families is facing in America. Having a fixed residence is another manifestation of the American Dream, but to the poor, there will always be difficulties to block them realize that. Affordable housing is a method that help them to achieve this goal, however, from the news, the short supply of affordable housing let the rental prices go up. In another words, this policy brought more living burden to those families which have been targeted to relieve. In this case, the affordable housing became the illusion as same as the generalized American Dream to the working class. To those people who are really in need, these promotional slogans are just an empty promise which let them suffer more.