The American Dream: Multicultural Literature

The American culture, as we know it today, is distinctly unique from all other cultures of the world. However, it is hard for the recent generation of America to realize that our culture is individually distinct because of the fact that it is a mixture of all other cultures. At some point in history, all of our ancestors were immigrants to this country, and it is also easy to forget how much of our society is based on what immigrants brought with them to this country.

The early settlers of America helped to define what it is to be American. One can even take the first Thanksgiving as an example of what early settlers did for this country. The English settlers, or ‘Pilgrims’ as we know them today, were able to work with the Native Indians and thus learn how to better survive and live off of a foreign and alien land. This story is a prime example of how Americans were able to work together with a completely alien culture despite their cultural differences. This is indeed the perfect example of the ‘Melting pot’ that is America; to be able to accept and work together with other cultures and put aside cultural differences, to better our society for everyone despite where they originated. Without the early settlers of America, there would be no American Dream to look forward to. The immigrants literally created the American Dream. The American Dream was the dream that all immigrants carried with them the hope for being able to work for a better life despite one’s place within society. It was the dream of opportunity that wasn’t given in other countries. Our government itself was created because immigrants wanted to be able to possess freedom from the persecution of government and not be a controlled bourgeoisie society. As James Truslow Adams wrote in the Epilogue from The Epic of America: “It is not a dream of motor cars and high wages merely, but a dream of social order in which each man and each woman shall be able to attain to the fullest stature of which they are innately capable, and to be recognized by others for what they are, regardless of the fortuitous circumstances of birth or position.” (Rico and Mano, 2001, pg. 15-16.)

It is easy for Americans to give much accreditation to the early settlers of America and what they gave to our society. However, in recent generations it is much more difficult to give any recognition to what immigrants contribute to a society that now thinks they are distinctly their own. So what do recent immigrants bring to benefit our culture? Most of us think they are a nuisance just trying to take all the riches of our country and take over