Ge
Jubing Ge
Dr. Steinberg
English Composition 3
Lecture 11
Essay 2 (Revision)
11 September 2014
When the American Dream breaks up:
Should we strive for equality?
The first line in The White Album reads: “We tell ourselves stories in order to live”
(Didion 11). The American Dream, in which “…life should be better and richer and fuller for
everyone, with opportunity for each according to ability or achievement” (Adams), is such a
tale. The government eulogizes the American Dream to cover up inevitable inequality and
thus soothe people’s hatred. Common people, who suffer from inequality, firmly believe in
the myth to ignore the cruelty of reality and thus spare no efforts to succeed. However, when
we think about the hidden segregation of education, the glass ceiling that women suffer, or
the opportunities that money can buy, we can debunk the brutal reality that we are born
unequal. Given the seemingly desperate fact that the American Dream is a lie, is equality
feasible? And should we still strive for equality? We should strive for equality despite the
façade of the American Dream and the impossibility of equality in its absolute form, because
it promotes not only individual and collective success but also societal development.
We should clarify a misconception of equality. To break up the American Dream is not to
deny the significance of people’s equal rights to better their lives, which will dishearten them.
Instead, the break-up of the American Dream makes people understand what challenges they
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face and how things really move on. Such a deep understanding, actually, will inspire better
ways to achieve goals. According to the crime statistics released by the FBI, the correlation
coefficient between crime and unemployment is 0.916, which shows a strong relation (FBI
National Press Office). Some pessimists regard this relation as a vicious cycle. They believe
that crime is a way for the poor to numb themselves and feel desperate about their lives, lack
of economic capability and respect. That’s also the reason why the Harlem kids’ field trip to
Fifth Avenue led by Miss Moore in Barbara’s “The Lesson” arouses controversies among
readers. Her lesson, which exposes those poor kids to the big wealth gulf, may lead to their
hatred and desperation. “The Lesson” leads to a question: given the fact that it doesn’t solve
any problems directly but just makes the poor lose their hope, does the break-up of the
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