My Question for Stephanie -- Lit Imagination Blog (go back »)

Sorry, there are no paragraphs when I put it on here. Do you want me to post it on my LJ as well so you can actually read it? I know that website better so I can actually do paragraphs.

In the early 1900s when Kate Simon and many others were immigrating to America, they dreamed of freedom, of health, and of family. Other parts of the world at that time did not have political and religious freedom like America had and many were war-torn countries with limited medical resources. Families were torn apart as relatives ran to America to escape the hardships brought on by war and political instability. In America, they sought refuge and a chance for a new start for themselves and the rest of their family, who would eventually join them in America when the opportunity arose. In her town, the American Dream was one which guaranteed health and safety. When Simon’s brother was gravely ill, their doctor told Simon’s mother, “Take the girl to America while there’s still time. Or do you want to sit with two dead children in this graveyard city?” (Simon 41). Simon’s dream, enriched by the sweetness of her father’s first kiss in America, was of a land where she could be free to be with her father as well as a healthy brother and ultimately achieve stability in her life. But like that of many other immigrants, the reality of Simon’s America did not live up to the dream she and her family had imagined for so long: It was on 98th Street, across from the tall long sinister stone wall on which the Third Avenue El trains came to rest, that I began to know I would never get to America…I lived in America, [but] it was not the America promised me in Warsaw or by the chocolate sweetness of my father's mouth. (46) Since that time period, the definition of the American Dream, especially as seen by foreigners, has changed. While they still come seeking freedom, they also seek a release from poverty and a chance at success and wealth along with the power that comes with having both. Many immigrants seek an education so they can get a job and send their profits back to their families, who stay in the country instead of joining their relative in America. Instead of a dream of escaping from war and political hardships, the American Dream has become a dream of attaining an education and escaping economic hardships.

So my response a little long, but it was a good question! Enjoy!