Gish Jen's novel Typical AmericanA mother drives her three children to soccer practice in a Ford minivan while her husband stays in the office, rushing to finish a report. Meanwhile, a young woman prays that her son gets home from the local grocery store without getting stabbed by the local gang. Nearby, an immigrant finishes another 14-hour shift at the auto parts factory, trying to support his wife and child, struggling to make a place for himself in a new country. Later, a city girl hails a taxi to meet her friends at their favorite club to celebrate her new promotion to the cosmopolitans. These people – the suburban soccer mom, the tired immigrant, the worried neighborhood mom, and the successful city girl – each represent the different realities or fantasies that exist in American society. They all live or work towards achieving what they believe to be the coveted American dream. Some of these people resemble the Chinese immigrant Ralph in Gish Jen's novel Typical American. However, not everyone knows what the American dream really is and whether it is real or not. Ralph sets sail for America without knowing “where or what America is,” but almost immediately after arriving in the United States, he is confronted with the realities of being a Chinese immigrant (Jen 3). Seeing the coastline at the end of his journey across the Pacific, Ralph is fascinated by the Golden Gate Bridge; “This splendor! This radiance... an image of freedom and hope” (Jen 7). Furthermore, upon his arrival in New York, Ralph notes that "the idea of ​​the city still glowed at the time...a place that promised to be remembered as an era...He was impressed...the mundane details of life there impressed too... only he saw them. things” (Jn 8). Ralph'...... middle of paper...... many realities that exist within American society that for the most part do not fit the typical American dream. Even people who are successful to some extent, like Ralph, are often plagued by personal problems that go beyond any measure of wealth or reputation. The lie of the American Dream is that it promises to solve humanity's problems through material gains – it promises happiness through things that are not capable of giving it. Thus, not all followers are satisfied with the great American dream and are left with a reality very different from what was so easily guaranteed. The reality that everyone experiences, whether it's the suburban soccer mom or the jaded immigrant, is that the dream is mostly unachievable. The reality we think exists is just a myth – a true mythological reality. Works Cited Jen, Gish. Typical American. New York: Penguin Group, 1992.