In Alger’s story, the idyllic theme of the American Dream being that of going from rags and riches to rich and successful directly contrasts Cruz’s apparent message of the American Dream not really being such a dream after all. Alger says that the American Dream is a wonderful thing- who could ask for anything more? Whereas Cruz says that the American Dream is filled with racism and is only governed by business people who fear being legally prosecuted as racist.
Dick (from Alger’s story) is simply happy to be achieving his dream and making money. Dick doesn’t think of the conditions in which he is hired, other then the saving of another’s life. Dick’s idea of the American Dream is that if you work hard, and take chances, then the dream will come to you. That is what America is all about for immigrants. However, in Cruz’s story, he looks at why he is hired. Cruz says that it is nice, and humans are generally inclined to think the way Dick does, but that is not the case. Businessmen hire immigrants so they won’t be violating the non-racist law. Cruz says that the dream isn’t really a dream (unless you think racism could be included in a dream). Cruz says that it doesn’t necessarily matter how hard you work, it’s if the company needs someone of a different race so as not to look racist.
However, the ideas are similar in that the American Dream can be difficult to look down upon. Cruz says that it is excruciatingly difficult to say that the American Dream is a bad thing, when he has so much money due to the American Dream. They both agree that the American Dream is good in that immigrants gain money and a better life, however Cruz simply notes the conditions that the immigrants are hired, which makes it a negative idea.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
No comments:
Post a Comment