Al capone or alphonso caponi or even scarface was an example of this dilema incarnate. Born on january 17 1899 in brooklyn newy rok he was one of seven children to gabriel and teresa caponi who came to the united states from italy in 1893. Like many chidren in america at the time “Capone was taught that the main purpose of life was to acquire wealth and that the United States was the land of opportunity”(notable biographies). Howevr he had discovered the prejudice within america and the difficulty to succeed. He was “Angered by the gap between the American dream and his own reality, Capone began to engage in criminal activities as a way of achieving success in what he saw as an unjust society”(notable biographies). Capone had entered the crime business when he met a gangster named jonny torrio,. In 1919 when the us approved of the 18th amendment in order to avoid a murder charge, al capone fled brrooklyn for chicago . whereupon he joined the he moved up the ranks of the five points gang he joined and became assisstant to the gangs leader, johnny torrio. This was until torrio fled the country and capone was in control of the bootlegging bussiness in the city. Al capones rise to the top is a classics story of how the american dream was seen as useless, whereby someone like capone