Living your own American Dream

            The “American Dream” is the concept of “making it” in the chaotic world that we live in today.  It gets its name from the country where it is said that everyone can work hard and achieve their dreams.  However at what cost do so many people pay to live the “American Dream?”

            I think many sacrifice a lot of themselves in order to achieve what they conceive as the “American Dream” for themselves and their loved one.  Usually, this sacrifice comes in the price of their culture, heritage, and sometimes even their identity.  In the case of the character of Jasmine, I do not think that this has happened.  I do not think the monster that is Americana has swallowed Jasmines cultural identity.  She makes many comparisons to herself about how her new home, Iowa, to her old home of Punjab.  Most of the time these comparisons are about similarities that she notices between the two lands, for example the land, or the farmers.  However she also notices how certain aspects of her life have improved because of her surroundings.  For example she comments on how she is jealous of her Scott’s nice teeth because he had the luxury of dental care, something she was never privileged with before (pg. 19).  Because of these reasons I think that Jasmine has almost begun to grow in a different fashion because of her translocation to the states.

            I think because the fact that Jasmine is able to see and reflect on how everything has changed and how everything is different make her grow positively instead of negatively.  I think the fact that Jasmine moved away from New York also shows this fact.  In my opinion, New York epitomizes many of the aspects that define America.  I think that most people that get swallowed up by Americana are living in these big cities, and get caught in the day to day grind and forget what made they did that made them them.  I think living in a smaller city has kept Jasmine away from the busy city, and lifestlye that most Americans live their whole lives.  I think in this sense, she can achieve her own version of the American Dream, as well as keep her cultural identity intact.