Ａｍｅｒｉｃａｎ Ｄｒｅａｍ ａｎｄ ｉｔｓ Ｅｎｌｉｇｈｔｅｎｍｅｎｔ ｏｎ Ｍｏｄｅｒｎ Ｃｈｉｎｅｓｅ Ｓｏｃｉｅｔｙ

温荣芬

Today some hidden trouble exists in modern China. Some people, including some college students, care too much about loaves and fishes. They believe in Mammonism and think material is superior to anything else.

American Dream is a belief that is commonly supported by most American people. By showing the development and influence of American Dream, the author hopes to give some revelation to modern Chinese people, thus some unnecessary efforts can be avoided.

The origin of the American Dream can be traced back to the early 17th century. Generally speaking, people going to America can be divided into two types: one type includes those who wanted to escape from the political and religious persecution of the Old World and to seek freedom of religious beliefs in the New World; others are the ordinary Europeans who dreamed of fortune and better living. Both kinds of people believed that the New World is a place of wonder where their wildest dreams can come true(Tao 1).

With the support of a strong belief, immigrants built their homestead. They live in the roughest shelter, and furnishings were as simple as they could be. People ate food cooked in simple and primitive ways and clothing was rough(Zhang 51). They were positive and ambitious. Benjamin Franklin was the representative of the American Dream for his autobiography.

In the modern society, the American Dream has become the pure pursuit of material prosperity that people work hard to get bigger cars and fancier homes. A good job, a house and a car you like form the main content of the American Dream. To avoid peoples complaints, the government beats the drum for the belief that “If you try, todays poor may become tomorrows moneybags”. People are haunted by these words. Thus the American Dream became a perfect tool to appease people. (Toni Piech)

It seems that the American Dream has different connotations and different effects on American people in its different developing stages. It affects peoples mental world greatly. The American Dream is more a kind of value or belief than a dream. It shows peoples common cause of pursuing success and happiness. It is the dream of all the people in the world, not only the Americans. Maybe it can be called the World Dream rather than the American Dream, since everyone in the world dreams of self-betterment, wealth, and success. Chinese people are no exception. A look into the developing processes of Chinas social values will show people a condensed “Chinese Dream”. People aspired after a better life, and the aspiration helped them to achieve it. This resembled the American Dream in its early period.

The negative effects of a value may emerge as the countrys economic situation changed. On one hand, the rich blindly pursue substance comfort in spite of the actual situation of China. They had already forgotten their responsibility after they got rich first. On the other hand, Some rich people are not only sybaritic but also domineering. Although the rich people have a lot of money, many of them may lead a very void life.

A countrys development needs cultural and ideological progress. Through the comprehension of the American Dream, Chinese people should pay much more attention to the establishment of a healthy social value, to correct unhealthy tendencies and foster healthy social conducts. While taking economic construction as the central task, cultural and ethical progress should never be forgotten. Only by this can Chinese people narrow the gap between localities in terms of development, eliminate polarization and ultimately achieve common prosperity. This is the very intention of the authors writing this paper. The author couldnt change peoples opinion, but only hopes to draw their attention to the spiritual world, not let it lagging too far behind the material life.

Works Cited:

1.张奎武.英美概况(下). 长春:吉林科学技术出版社,2001.

2.陶洁. “序言.”美国文学选读.北京:高等教育出版社,2001.

3.Geoff Ward.The writing of America: literature and culture identity from the Puritans to the present. Cambridge:Polity Press,2002.

4.程爱民.美国文学阅读教程. 南京:南京师范大学出版社,1996.

5.究竟什么是美国梦

作者单位:广东金融学院外语系