Is the American dream alive according to its original definition? As an international student with ambitions to stay in this country, I found myself as a chaser for the American dream, but is it a catch in the dark when I am aware of the difficulties in obtaining a Green Card. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on “Why Violent Video Games Should Not Be Banned”?Get an Original EssayThe original definition of national ethos coined by James Truslow Adams in his book The Epic of America states: “The American dream is that dream of a land in which life should be better, richer and more fulfilled for everyone, with opportunities for everyone according to their abilities or achievements.” Adams continues to say that the dream applies to everyone, regardless of birth or position. This is the major question I asked myself during this semester, and this question was born from different impressions. Everything from the crude readings that presented a segregated past in the United States, to the American friends who consider the dream to be one of the fundamental pillars of this country, to the interview with my father. In my interview, I identified Bruce Springsteens album Darkness On The Edge of Town as the focus of popular culture. The album was released in 1978 and Springsteen repeatedly addresses his view of the United States from a working-class perspective, which can be placed within a broader perspective of the American dream. The American Dream and Springsteen's album are linked to my father and the goal will be to explain and break down the concept of the American Dream, while explaining the respective connections to the dream. Sometimes during my father's childhood, his family was visited by relatives from the United States. The father of the family was a successful business owner and often spoke about the opportunities that existed in the United States that planted the idea of ​​the American dream in my father's head. My father grew up in a lower-middle-class family that couldn't provide much other than food and shelter for him and his siblings. Therefore, the idea of ​​succeeding in America and being able to provide for one's future children to a greater extent than one's own parents made the American dream compelling. However, he graduated from high school with good grades and his parents expected him to continue his studies at a university in Sweden, but my father had a different idea in mind. Unbeknownst to his parents, he had corresponded by mail with relatives in the United States and explained to them his dream of starting his own business and embarking on a new life. The relatives agreed to offer him food, shelter and undeclared work when he could not legally work in the country without a work VISA. In 1978, my father arrived in San Francisco, California, and relatives greeted him with open hands. My father was particularly close to the father of the family called Ben. Ben is originally from Texas and grew up in similar circumstances to my father, but he moved to San Francisco in the early 1960s, where he became a successful entrepreneur. The family's wealth and house amazed my father, who had never seen anything comparable in Sweden, and it made him dream of the American dream even more. For two years, he worked as a carpenter while trying to obtain permission from the United States government to work legally in the country. Obtaining a work permit became more difficult in subsequent years, when in 1965 the government introduced the Hart-Cellar Act which radically limited immigration. Essentially, the lawstates that an immigrant must have either family ties or a special skill to obtain a work permit. Even though my father was related to Ben's family, the ties between the two families were too distant and it was difficult to claim that my father had a special skill when he had not earned a college degree. Ben offered to pay for my dad's college education so they could try again after he graduated, but at the time my dad didn't feel motivated enough to continue his education. In 1980, after two years of trying to get permission to work, my father gave up and moved to Sweden. However, during my father's stay in San Francisco, he attended his first Bruce Springsteen concert and explained that the experience gave him a new perspective on both his music and Springsteen as a person. The concert lasted approximately three hours and Springsteen played his entire album Darkness On the Edge of Town with a total performance of 26 songs. My father described the concert as a 3 hour car ride at 200 km/h. Going on to say that the long, energetic, and passionate performance made Springsteen's message more credible when he brought out a hard-working man who wanted to earn his paycheck. According to the show, my father explains that The Promised Land and Adam Raised a Cain allowed him to identify with Springsteen on a personal level. The Promised Land says, "I've packed my bags and I'm heading straight for the storm" and the entire song is about how Springsteen encounters many obstacles in his life that prevent him from achieving success. My father identified with this part especially when he saw himself in a similar situation. When he left Sweden without a clear idea of ​​what he was getting into, well in the United States, he was unable to succeed because he couldn't get a work permit from the government. On the other hand, in the song Adam Raised a Cain, Springsteen sings about his relationship with his father and how he feels alienated from the rest of the children, but also how society has failed his father. When my father explained to his parents that he was implementing his plan to move to the United States, his father considered it a betrayal of the family, especially since as an older brother he was supposed to contribute to the well-being of the family. He had also seen how his father had worked hard during his childhood in the local factory, but even though he worked long hours day after day, the salary would allow the family to support themselves each month. Essentially, seeing Springsteen perform these songs live made the lyrics more authentic to my father. The main reason why my father moved to the United States was an attempt to fulfill or achieve the American dream. When my father first came to the United States, his idea of ​​the American dream was something that anyone could achieve, as long as someone worked hard consistently, then that hard work would be rewarded. This definition of the American dream would change slightly with the help of Springsteen's music. My father referred to Springsteen's songs when they expressed a form of frustration that my father felt because of the dream that didn't seem achievable. This frustration was also directed at Americans who prided themselves on living in a country where anyone, regardless of their background, can come and succeed if someone really wants to. Springsteen nevertheless emphasizes that the American dream seems more easily accessible to certain members of society. Springsteen's album takes a critical view of the social climate of1970s in the United States. The songs on Darkness On the Edge of Town leave listeners with the idea of ​​an artist who feels that his country has strayed from its core values ​​and left much of the population behind. He sings in The Promised Land: “I tried my best to live the right way. I get up every morning and go to work every day. But your eyes become blind and your blood runs cold. Sometimes I feel so weak that I just want to explode. Explode and tear this whole city apart. Take a knife and cut this pain from my heart. Find someone who wants to start something. Middle-class workers do their best to be model citizens. Constant work takes its toll and the feeling of being oppressed ultimately leads to anger. Throughout the album, Springsteen's lyrics focus on middle and working class white men, their problems and their daily lives, while the woman comes in the background. The man is the breadwinner, which gives the impression that the social system of the 1970s is essentially patriarchal. We also drew attention to the growing gap between the working class and the upper class by singing in the song Badlands: “The poor man wants to be rich. A rich man wants to be king. And a king is not satisfied. Until he rules everything. Essentially stating that humans are never satisfied, this statement also interprets the fact that different classes of society live well at the expense of others, making the socio-historical perspective very important. Springsteen paints a picture of the climate in the 1970s as being cold and hard. In an interview with The Guardian, Springsteen said: "I have spent my life judging the distance between American reality and the American dream." Listening to the entire Darkness On the Edge of Town album, it feels like Springsteen views the Promised Land and the American Dream as a fairy tale from the past, while America's reality seems fraught with hardship. Reality doesn't provide a safety net to catch you and no one hears the cry for help. The simple thought of coming together to work for a better world has disappeared, and everyone must achieve it on their own. Springsteen says in The Promised Land: “I've packed my bags and I'm heading straight into the storm. » This means that whether you succeed or not depends on your determination and your confidence in your abilities. According to Springsteen, the problem lies in the lack of employment which, in turn, leads people to commit criminal activities or use drugs. Hopelessness and hopelessness increase and pride and self-esteem abandon them, at the same time the feeling of loneliness begins to haunt them. He states in The Promised Land: "Find someone who wants to start something", meaning that working class men begin to become more filled with anger due to their inability to provide for their families. . This is why many trust God to help them find a job. Meanwhile, others considered it up to them to find a job. Most of Bruce Springsteen's best songs are about those who dream of the American dream – those who struggle against difficult obstacles; sometimes for love, sometimes just to survive. Born To Run is a call to escape to the unknown promised land. Racing In the Streets is about those who hold their heads high and refuse to die, one step at a time. In addition, there are also those who don't believe in the future like in The River. In five minutes, Springsteen depicts an entire life. The storyteller gets his teenage sweetheart pregnant and they marry.