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Samantha Dever
Jessica Clark
Writing
December 1st 2014

This is what Dreams are made of?

Sitting at Christmas dinner listening to my almost 90 year old grandparents

stories is something that will always keep our family laughing together. However, Ill
never forget an interesting point that was brought up by my cousin, while hearing
descriptions of the perfect little house our grandparents brought up my father and
his three siblings in, imagine that image was still the American dream today!?
What is the American Dream? Whatever it is, is it truly a depiction of the United
States national identity? To my grandparents, the epitome of American couple in
the 1950s, the American dream is living in the suburbs in a colonial house with a
white picket fence, red door, blue shutters, with a few children chasing around their
golden retriever on a perfectly cut green lawn. Whether one considers this a
dream or not, there is no argument that to achieve this type of lifestyle, you need
to make a relatively high salary. And after all of these materialistic things, or image,
are you just guaranteed happiness? Absolutely not. In addition, does this specific
idea of the American dream apply to all races and ethnicities? Is this the idea that
everyone should strive for when arriving in the United States of America? Or, does
this idea of the American dream only apply to white Americans? This category of
whiteness creates an other in the national identity, giving other ethnic groups
implications in their sense of belonging. I believe the American Dream not only has
racial dimensions, but that it is also built on the notion that having a job is more
underlined than having a life. Generally, a job is a paid position of regular

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employment. However, the American dream suggests a job is employment that has
enough salary to classify as middle or upper class, and implies the assumption that
you will have a life. To me, having a life is simply maintaining health and happiness.
A deep look into the semiotics behind the American dream shows how the
correlation between a job and a life was formed.
A code is a combination of semiotic systems that function as general maps of
meaning, belief systems about oneself and others, which implies views and attitudes
about how the world is or ought to be (Definitions of Semiotic Terms). Does this
mean that what we desire as our future is something that is taught to us culturally,
which ultimately forms a national identity? This, sadly, can create stereotypes. As
Hall describes, stereotyping reduces people to a few, simple characteristics, which
are represented as fixed by nature (Hall 247). He also suggests that we assign
people to the membership of different groups, according to class, gender, age group,
nationality, and race (247). This develops the ideology of othering: when one social
group distance, or asserts, themselves over another by construing the latter as being
fundamentally different (London). This concept of othering applies to the American
dream when referring to whiteness, and that white privilege is what has formed
the idea of the American dream. This association between the American dream and
whiteness places the other, or different ethnic groups living in the US, in a position
to straddle the boundaries of the United States national identity and otherness.
Contrary to my grandparents description of the American dream mentioned
above, I believe my generations idea of the American dream has nothing to do with
living in suburbs with a perfect house. Therefore, making it a stereotype. The

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dreams of young people today consist of paying off college loans in a timely matter,
getting a job that complements the degree studied, be able to afford healthcare, and
more. If all of these components were to be completed, a lifestyle with more
happiness would come about. So, does that make these components more worries
than dreams? A few generations ago, these aspects were not looked at as the
American Dream because of that idea if you play by the rules, youll move ahead.
This is a faith that was dedicated to this country. Part of these rules is getting a
college degree. To my grandparents, having a college degree didnt have the value it
has today. Decades ago, if a man or woman couldnt afford college, they could get a
steady job with decent pay. Then, overtime they could buy a house, live a
comfortable life, and retire contentedly. Today, without a college degree, a young
person could not easily achieve this lifestyle choice. Also, for many, receiving this
degree is not easy. Studies show that blacks and Hispanics mostly attend openaccess and community colleges, while white studies increasingly are clustering at
selective intuitions (Bureau of Labor Statistics Data). This makes that one step for
the American dream even harder for other ethnic groups in the country, which may
shift their idea of the dream as something completely different, and creates the
concept of othering. On top of that, even if the degree does exist, the job market is
nothing how it use to be. With a 10% unemployment rate for college graduates,
looking for a job contributes to a lot of stress, which is contrary to the American
dream happiness.

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One might argue wholeheartedly against this view on the American dream. It
can be debated that it is not at all based on economics or academics, but rather the
spirit of the country. After all, in the Declaration of Independence it reads, We hold
these truths to be self-evident: that all men are created equal; that they are endowed
by their Creator with certain unalienable rights; that among these are life, liberty,
and the pursuit of happiness. That being said, many still look at the American
dream as something that can be achieved by anyone, specifically emphasizing the
rags to riches dogma.
The semiotics behind the American dream clearly shows that it is a
stereotype derived from the importance of academic and economic success,
assuming a happy and healthy life will come with it. It is clearly a code of behavior
we are taught from our national identity, and this creates a dominant sense of
othering. Developed by people of all social classes, the original idea has been skewed
from a generation gap over time.

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Works Cited
"Databases, Tables & Calculators by Subject." Bureau of Labor Statistics Data. N.p.,
n.d. Web. 29 Nov. 2014.
"Definitions of Semiotic Terms." Definitions of Semiotic Terms. N.p., n.d. Web. 16 Nov.
2014.
Hall, Stuart. Representation: Cultural Representations and Signifying Practices.
London: Sage in Association with the Open U, 1997. Print.
"O Is for Othering." An AZ of ELT. N.p., n.d. Web. 01 Dec. 2014.