Balance as Central to The American Dream: Analyzing 'Boys in the Boat' and 'Sister Carrie' Anonymous 11th Grade

“The American Dream should require hard work, but it should not require 80-hour workweeks and parents who never see their kids from across the dinner table. The American Dream should entail a first-rate education for every child, but not an education that leaves no extra time for the actual enjoyment of childhood. The American Dream should accommodate the goal of homeownership, but without imposing a lifelong burden of unmeetable debt.”(David Kamp, writing in Vanity Fair)

The American Dream is the dream of class mobility by making it big or dominating in a specific field. Though it is difficult to achieve, balance is important to the American Dream. In the books, Boys in The Boat: Nine Americans and Their Epic Quest for Gold at the 1936 Berlin Olympics and Sister Carrie, both protagonists, Joe and Carrie, journey to achieve the American Dream and they try to balance being self-reliant and being supported.

Joe's balance of self-reliance and communal support throughout his journey to achieving the American Dream leads to Joe being successful in achieving his dreams. Joe’s self-reliance was very physical and was a large part of his upbringing. After his family left him, he began to provide for himself. “Over the next few weeks...