The American Dream
The American Dream is the universal goal people living in the United States want to achieve. For some people, The American Dream is owning a house and having a picture-perfect family, for others it is gaining fame and fortune because of their hard work and talents. Unfortunately for Troy Maxson and his family in Fences, achieving the American Dream is not as easy as it seems. The story of the Maxsons family proves that living and striving for the American Dream is not all it is portrayed to be. The American Dream can be interrupted or slowed by life’s sacrifices, race problems, and ultimately death.
The American Dream, “at its core, claims that all those who work hard and play by the rules have an equal chance to succeed”, but this is not necessarily true. Some people do not play by the rules and still succeed. For example, Troy Maxson has immoral and lazy ways of getting what he desires. In order to pay for what he wanted, Troy stole his brother’s disability checks from the government. On the other hand, there are people who actually work hard and chase their dreams fall short. In Fences, Rose, who works to keep her family together is constantly done wrong by her husband and Cory, who tries to pursue football, is forced to keep his job and forget his dreams despite his…show more content… The fifties were a tough time for African Americans. They had many more obstacles to work through in order to achieve their dreams. They endured riots, marches, protests, and segregation, which set their progress back immensely. In Fences, Troy Maxson and his co-workers at the garbage facility endure the problem of not being able to get a pay raise until Troy is finally granted permission to drive the trash truck. Troy has to work twice as long and hard to keep up with his white
