America after centuries of colonization, developed into an industrialized America. Holding up to 5 million immigrants throughout the nation looking for a better way of life, in hopes to leave poverty behind them and look forward to better economic opportunities. Out of This Furnace, walks us through the challenges the Kracha's family face in the steel towns and the ever evolving political consciousness of native born and immigrant workers. The book starts with George Kracha who sets out to America with enough money to get to his destination, before he would reach the American shores he squanders his money on whiskey and beers in hopes to impress a young birthday girl who is married. Although he was not unfaithful to his wife, he was left to walk from New York to Pennsylvania (p.5).
Due to the lack of social mobility, up the economic ladder, America is no longer the land of opportunity. The first reason why America is no longer the land of opportunity is that the lack of jobs in this country. America is no longer the industrial power it once was and as a result there is no longer a need for employees as there once was there for there is no need for workers. If there are no jobs for people to have in the first place then there is no promotions or any other sort of moving up financially and in wealth. Someone may say that there is still a good number of jobs in America for incoming employees; however this is false because students coming out of college in America can’t find jobs because of this lack of jobs.
Six years later, he worked his way up to become secretary to the local superintendent of the Pennsylvania Railroad. By 1865, Carnegie was so busy managing the money he had earned in dividends that he left his job at the Pennsylvania Railroad. He entered the steel business in 1873 after touring a British steel mill and witnessing the awesome spectacle of the Bessemer process in action. By 1899, the Carnegie Steel Company manufactured more steel than all the factories in Great Britain. Andrew Carnegie is considered hero for some people, but for some people the doubt continues today, and this because everyone has their own perspectives.
Laura Masteller H106 Block 8 Critical Book Review The Jungle is a novel that focuses its story on a family of immigrants who came to America looking for a better life. It was written by Upton Sinclair, who went into Chicago and the stockyards to investigate what life was like for the people who lived and worked there. The book was originally written with the intent of showing Socialism as a better option than Capitalism for the society. The main arguments in this novel are the horrible conditions in the meat packing industry, and the treatment to the immigrants. The annihilation of Jurgis’s family at the hands of the economic and social system demonstrates the effect of capitalism on the working class as a whole.
He saw the differences in the awards that awaited the white, educated and trained work force and society of America. It was a vast contrast to the opportunities that awaited the poorer newly freed slave families of late 1800's. They faced poverty, discrimination and turmoil. Even though they were free, there was still the feeling that they were not as equal as white citizens. Dubois choose not to use his race as a crutch but instead chose to face his adversity by becoming well educated, hardworking, by voicing his opinions through various publications and dedicating his life striving towards excellence.
I came across a story of a man whose homes’ value had gone down but his rate went up and he could no longer afford it nor could he get out if his ARM loan. He says the loan officer he had worked with helped him when he was getting the house and was very friendly. The bad thing about his experience with the loan officer was that he wasn’t given details or good information about what the ARM loan was and how it worked. The man was just happy to have a lower interest rate and thought it would stay that way for a while. That is not how his story ended up though.
The immigrants of today come to seek a better life, start or expand businesses, start their families, and quite often, some immigrants come to America just to have their children be born American citizens. In Jurgis’ case he just wanted his family to have a better life in America, which is why he moved them from Lithuania to Chicago. Today, a meat packing plant isn’t a very admirable job, but back when the United States was in its peak of
The Great Gatsby is centered around a character trying to reach his american dream by evolving his lower class title into a social elite. In the novel, Jay Gatsby becomes rich, however, is still not accepted by the high social classes. Fitzgerald uses the character of Gatsby to convey the inability to break through classes. Gatsby’s American Dream is to be accepted by those around him as something more than just new money. His dream is never really achieved.
Not once does F. Scott Fitzgerald uses the words “American Dream”, but it is inevitable that he shows the impossibility of achieving happiness through the American Dream because the American Dream is just a form of trickery to get people to crave greater things in life. In The Great Gatsby, one of the
George and Lennie seek their American dream. They want to get a free, hopeful, and rich life. Yet their dream collapse because the law of the jungle society. Steinbeck is pessimistic, and he thinks workers will not achieve their poor dreams. They can only live in poverty, and their American dreams never come true.