Myths and heroes, the american dream

Myth and Heroes

> Introduction

The notion I’m going to deal with is “Myth and Heroes”.

To begin with, I’d like to give a definition of this notion: What is a Myth? It’s a story handed down through history and that explains or gives values to the “unknown”. While Hero is a person who is noted for courageous acts or his nobility of character. He is sometimes part of a myth.

To my mind the theme which best illustrate this notion is “The American dream”.

Thanks to this theme, we’ll attempt to answer the question: “How does the American identity has been built through the American dream?”

> Development

I think that it’s important to give a definition of the American dream. So it’s a sort of ideal in which freedom gives the opportunity to succeed thanks to talent and hard work. So we can ask ourselves: is it a reality or a myth? Rêve/Réalité

I - A myth

Many people criticize the idea of the American dream because they say that it is impossible for everyone to be able to fulfill their dreams. It is true that there are still inequalities in class, race, religion and ethnicity. This is preventing people from “living the dream”.

Those people are usually looking for success and a great wealth. But they will obviously need hard work. That’s the main problem, they rarely understand that the American dream isn’t a “magic thing”. They have to be involved, they have to fight for what they want.

That’s why, for them, the American dream will probably be a myth.

II - A reality

We know that the American dream was “born” before the creation of the USA itself. People were leaving their country because they wanted to discover new places so they dreamt of owning land and establishing a prosperous business and hoped that this would make them happier.

But today the definition of the American dream is much different. Most people nowadays hope that they will get married, have two children and live in a three-bedroom traditional home. Rather than looking, as I said, for great wealth or success, people hope to avoid poverty or loneliness. That is were the american dream is a reality.

For example:

Benjamin franklin. He was the son of a poor candle maker and finally became a successful businessman and also one of the founding fathers of the united state (cours à savoir). He made the concept of the self-manmade which is hard work and a solid moral foundation.

Abraham Lincoln. He was from a poor family and spent only one year at school. He was at first a lawyer and then the president of the United state in 1860. He manage to reach his goal thanks to hard work and probably a little bit of talent.

Working girl. Tess is the main character of that movie. She wants to earn enough money to have a good life. She manage to reach her goal even if she was poor.

> Conclusion

As a conclusion I will say that there are two definitions of

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