Recipe for the American Dream

Writing 100 October 28, 2009 Essay 2 Recipe for the American reverie Since the establishment of this coun movement, Americans have set their eyes on success. The way we specialize success has changed along with technology. The American Dream is that dream of a land in which purport should be better and richer and fuller for every wiz, with opportunity for each check to ability or achievement. 1 When repeating this phrase discover loud one draws up images of fancy cars, big houses, quality clothes, etc.What Adams fails to mention is that success requires work, furthermore success in terms of fancy cars, big houses and other luxuries require over 40 hours a week of work. The more time one spends at work, the less time one has to spend doing other things. Ellen Goodmans The Company Man, is a prime example of why spending an excessive substance of time working is harmful to a human being. In providing a comfortable life for his family, the main character neglects to have a presen ce in his home. The pursuit of the American Dream calls for an unbalanced lifestyle, which alienates individuals from their families.Very early on, Americans are taught to believe that the more one does, the more one receives in return. It is undeniable that this political theory stems from biblical teachings for whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he also reap. (Galatians 67) This ideology continues to get instilled in every aspect of the average Americans life. The more studying a student does, the better grade the student receives. The more an athlete practices, the better athlete hell become. It is not ludicrous that adults happen this ingrained in their minds as they go into the workforce.The more time and energy worn out(p) on the job, the more money and benefits an employee will receive. Money is an important divisor in making the American Dream become a reality, and Americans experience constant reminders of the need to live the dream, through the media and peers. Livi ng the Dream is not a crime in itself, save what gets sacrificed in the process may prove to be more valuable than most of the objects themselves. Christopher Clausen helps readers to understand in Against lend that the workaholicneglects his family, withdraws from brotherly life and loses interest in sex. (Clausen 673) Phil, the main character in Goodmans, The Company Man works himself to death, finally and precisely at 300 am sunlight morning. (Goodman 629) Before his death, Phil worked six days a week, five of them until eight or nine at night, during a time when his own company had begun the four-day week for everyone but the executives. He had no outside extracurricular interests (Goodman 329), not even his life at home. It is heartbreaking for someone to die leaving their offspring to go somewhat asking the neighbors what their father was like the day and a half before the funeral. (Goodman 630) Phil is so consumed by his job that his children never have the opportunity to connect with him and get to spot him as a person, rather than simply their biological father. His wife admits to missing him all these years (Goodman 629), which come outs his absence as her companion. Phil never grasps the concept of balance, which is understandable considering the Dream he makes a reality never puts balance into the equation. dieing to earn ones bread is something few good deal can escape. Working out of moral vanity is sheer self-deception. 2 It is true that the majority of people work because they are conscious of the fact that they will receive compensation for their time spent working. While it is imperative to earn enough to put food on the table and habilitate on the backs of our loved ones, it is also imperative keep life outside of work in mind. Although working to obtain a comfortable life, without having to live from paycheck to paycheck demands a lot of time from a periodical schedule, there are benefits to hard work besides earning more dispos able income. Some would agree with Voltaire who states that Work spares us from three great evils boredom, vice and need. 3 Work will absolutely remedy boredom, and vice, but people will always have a need for something else. Work satisfies the need of money to provide food, clothing and shelter, but it disregards the need for love, care and affection. Many Americans struggle with finding a balance of work and family. It is far too often the case that individuals choose to result riches, dapple leaving every other aspect of their lives to suffer. It is ironic that Phil and many others like him work to provide the family with a better life, according to American standards, while neglecting everything that makes a life meaningful.A study of Workaholism states that spouses and children of workaholics report feeling lonely, unloved, isolated, and emotionally and physically abandoned. 4 This behavior is reflected in Phils wife and children. His second childlives right her mother and t hey are close, but whenever she was alone with her father, in a car driving somewhere, they had nothing to say to each other. (Goodman 630) Since Phil was absent so frequently, his own young lady feels no connection to him, even when he is present, it is as if she is riding along with a stranger.Phil works his way near the top of his company, but has nothing to show for it. Yes, he earns a great deal of money, but look at what it costs him in the long run. He works like the important people only to have the company president, on the afternoon of the funeral to begin, discreetly of course, with care and taste to make inquiries about his replacement. (Goodman 630) To the company, Phil, and others like him are disposable, like plastic spoons utilise to mix up the ingredients for turning the Dream into a reality.His hard work at the job did not console his wife, nor did it establish a strong kinship with his children. Phils work ethic even steered the youngest of his children away from obtaining a serious job. The youngesthas spent the last couple of years, like a lot his friends, doing enough odd jobs to stay in grass and food. He was the one who tried to grab at his father, and tried to mean enough to him to keep the man at home. (Goodman 630) The male child is traumatized by the way his father lived his life.Work is what causes his father to withdraw from his family, and there is no doubt that the American Dream is what spearheads the separation. The need to ensure the family happiness pushes Phil to working toward the top of his career, eventually causing the detachment. It is very easy to get wrapped up in wanting to procure certain material things for ones family, especially living in America. It is understandable that an individual may want to acquire the finer things in life, but doing so should not take anteriority over any other aspects of life, such as ones family. Once family alliances become solidified in the workaholic fathers absence, spouse s resent having their turfs violated when workaholics do try to become more actively involved in their families. Older children, too, often rebuff the workaholics attempts to reconnect with the family because they feel the reentry is too little, too late, or both. 5 Too much of one thing is never a good thing, there needs to be a balance in order achieve more in life. In attempting to take the ingredients for cooking up the American Dream, one needs to consider adding the spice of balance into the recipe, without it, the Dream is bittersweet.Works Cited Sheet (Adams-Truslow, John). What is the American Dream? The heroic poem America. 2002. 28 Oct. 2009 http//memory. loc. gov/learn/lessons/97/dream/thedream. html (Clausen, Christopher) Against Work Occasions for Writing, Di Yanni & Hoy. Eds. New York Thompson, 2008 672-676. Print (Goodman, Ellen) The Company Man Occasions for Writing, Di Yanni & Hoy. Eds. New York Thompson, 2008 629-630. Print healthcare Training Institute. St udy of Workaholism Part II Spouses and Children of Workaholics http//www. homestudycredit. com/courses/contentWK/secWK16. html Voltaire http//www. uotesdaddy. com/quote/302901/voltaire/work-spares-us-from-three-evils-boredom-vice-and-need 1 Adams-Truslow, John. What is the American Dream? The Epic America. 2002. 28 Oct. 2009 http//memory. loc. gov/learn/lessons/97/dream/thedream. html 2 Clausen, Christopher. Against Work 3 Voltaire http//www. quotesdaddy. com/quote/302901/voltaire/work-spares-us-from-three-evils-boredom-vice-and-need 4 Healthcare Training Institute. Study of Workaholism Part II Spouses and Children of Workaholics http//www. homestudycredit. com/courses/contentWK/secWK16. html 5 Ibid