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Essay by PaperNerd ContributorHigh School, 12th grade October 2001

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The American dream is an idea that varies a great deal from person to person, but it is this idea that each American strives to achieve. This dream comes in many ways and incarnations; two of the views present in my work are from the book titled Flowers for Algernon by Daniel in others. You will see in the following what my American dream means to me. One of the most important ideas that a person fantasizes about is their job. Some people dream of having a perfect job that they love and enjoy. These so far are the physical dreams that race throughout my mind on a daily basis, but what is more important then all of this is Keyes, and the view of my own personal dreams and wishes. They are similar in a few ways but also different the emotional aspect that needs to make my life complete.

        In the book, Flowers for Algernon, Charlie had what many of American citizens would consider the American dream. Starting with barely anything, he strives forward to become one of the most "successful" humans. However, although excited with the idea at first, this did not later make him internally a happy person. This ended up causing his inevitable downfall as a human being. This book shows that with even the typical American dream of intelligence and success is not a factor of true happiness. Because of this it can be said that true companionship and love ends up being the most valuable commodity known to human kind.

        Both views of the American dream have their similarities and their differences. The basic similarity between my view and the book's view is quite simple in nature. Both of the viewpoints stress the presence of wealth and an overall financial stability. What happens to be the biggest difference between these two ideas is the important factor of some type of companionship. In my view point I stressed the fact that I want to be with the woman of my dreams, while in "Richard Cory" it did not seem very important of a factor. I can say this because if it was not much of a factor he could of tried to find companionship, but he chose to pursue wealth more then love or other the key emotion of happiness.