Research Paper Sample about The American Dream

Americans are typically considered to be extremely industrious, self-driven, and motivated. The American dream is the belief that anyone, in spite of wherever they were born or what status they were born in, has the ability to achieve their own version of success in a society where upward mobility is feasible for all. The American dream is believed to come true through sacrifice, risk-taking, and hard work, instead of by means of chance. In spite of the fact that each narrative depicts the importance of labor, Irving’s historical accounts of Rip Van Winkle and Knickerbocker suggest that glorifying the American dream is not always the case. Rip displays great devotion and dedication to his work, however, without any apparent hope that it will yield a significant return, whereas Benjamin Franklin believes that one will be free by saving money and working hard, and it is in fact hard work that offers meaning to a man's life.

Rip Van Winkle is happy to work, however, only when he voluntarily offers his work to others. He does not work voluntarily for the purpose of his own benefit or that of his family. Although he freely helps his neighbors, he refuses to cultivate his own land that, if well maintained, may bring a profit and a life for his family. Rip Van Winkle distinguishes between self-employment and productive or profitable work. Rip is the clearest example of those who work without profit. He is happy to assist within gardens and farms that are not his; as a result, his land is seriously degraded. He will hunt squirrels or fish all day; although he is busy, he is not productive. “The great error in Rip's composition was an insuperable aversion to all kinds of profitable labor.” (PAGE NUMBER) The idea that Americans, like Rip Van Winkle, may not be working out of necessity to advance and be productive, but rather out of generosity, interest, or the easy pursuit of joy, was perhaps refreshing to Irving and his readers, who would have felt the increasing pressure of their growth-obsessed culture. 

Irving was using Rip to highlight the contrast between earlier values and the increasingly intense focus on work for the purpose of profit that was to become the trademark of the nation. When Rip wakes up twenty years later, he comes back to a totally different village than the one he left. This new America is now a free and independent nation, and Rip is no longer subject to the king. “But there was one species of despotism under which he had long groaned, and that was — petticoat government. Happily, that was at an end; he had got his neck out of the yoke of matrimony, and could go in and out whenever he pleased, without dreading the tyranny of Dame Van Winkle.” (526) After the Revolutionary War, the American dream was born, and Rip did not fit into those standards, but he was able to bypass them, at his age, and continue the life he lived before the war. Unlike Franklin, it was not hard work and money that set Rip Van Winkle free, but his time away, and idleness.

Franklin seems to value work above all else. He worked as hard as he could to achieve success on his own, without letting obstacles stand in his way. Having attained success and wealth, he neither rests nor sinks into idleness. He thinks men have to be employed at a task, no matter how small, to truly feel a sense of worth; it is, as a matter of fact, hard work that gives meaning to a man's life. It is work that, of course, brings wealth and reputation. Franklin's hard work is more important than his humble origins, which allowed him to rise to the pantheon of great Americans.

Ben Franklin was a man who kept to a schedule, worked hard, and was timely. Rip Van Winkle was unaware of these characteristics since he chose a life of isolation and free choice. What separates the United States from other countries is its citizens' attitudes toward bettering and assisting their country's growth. One person, like Ben Franklin, decides to make a difference in the world, while another, like Rip Van Winkle, chooses to live a simple life.

In Washington Irving's Rip Van Winkle, Irving ridicules the Great American Dream in his story. Irving characterizes Rip as a lethargic man, and from my understanding, his character is the antithesis of Benjamin Franklin. He was a rich, ambitious, hardworking, and meticulous man who was one of the Founding Fathers. Whereas Rip lacks motivation, success, and structure in his life. Benjamin Franklin is an individual representation of what the Great American Dream portrays, but his success is parodied by Rip’s leisure lifestyle.