Le rêve américain

• The American dream is the idea that anyone living in the United States, through their work, courage and determination, can become prosperous.

• America at the end of the 19th century is generally said to be an El Dorado / Paradise For all those envious of wealth who would attempt the adventure of conquering the West.

• The notion of this possibility for any immigrant to succeed from scratch, was strengthened by the territorial extent: the colonial era. We saw in class that the King of England was using the American dream to stimulate immigration and settlement in North America. He boasted of the vastness of the territory, synonymous with almost unlimited opportunities, as well as the easy access to land, which was the aspiration of many peasants in the metropolis. For English Puritans, New England was idealized as the "Promised Land" where they could make a fresh start and build a new society, far from the persecutions in force in Europe. Similarly, today, the motivations are almost identical and still as numerous as before: to become rich in a New World, to represent the symbol of an American pioneer and conqueror. And above all, go on an adventure far from the beaten path and a boring daily routine.

• However, in my opinion this idealistic vision hides the many sacrifices to be made. If this idea was embodied by several personalities or emigrants who returned to invest in their countries of origin (we saw in class the example of Calamity James, magnifying for his experiences as a woman), the American social reality caused many immigrants to disappoint: migrants of the 17th and 18th centuries often found difficult living conditions when they arrived in America. : Attacks by Native Americans, diseases, harsh climate, etc. In addition, in our current company Advances in technology have enabled us to acquire a risk-freey sedentary lifestyle that I am not prepared to give up.

• Would you really be ready to leave your comfortable life for a long, tiring journey away from your family and your habits?

• "I confess that in America I have seen more than America." This famous formula by Alexis de Tocqueville sums up the story of a land that, from the dawn of humanity, inhabited the spirits, inflaming the desire for conquests of the most ambitious. I agree with this idea ; the American dream is, to my mind, an ideal of film that current society puts forward to make people dream and not to be realized.

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