“Anything is possible. A man is what he makes up his mind to be.”
The story handles the nature of assimilation into a new culture, in this case, American society. Being an American goes hand in hand with the American Dream, something Ralph gradually embraces to its extremes. In that, he becomes fixated on reaching a particular goal in the name of success or the “Dream”. The assertion, therefore, illustrates the essence of this idea, the incessant pursuit of success by adjusting your mindset to it. It is a positive mindset however to an extent because as we see through Ralph he abandons familial responsibility by focusing only on the dream.
“He was like a nation in crisis, looking back, and back and back — its history might be ugly, but its past shone perfect.”
The narrative depicts the impact of drifting into paths that are problematic while maneuvering a new culture. For Ralph, he embraces capitalism by pursuing everything that will push him into the next level. However, as the characters delve into their new cultural identities they drift further into turmoil as their relationship suffers. Thus the statement demonstrates how clear the toxic path they chose is to them by now.
