It is a difficult dream for the European upper classes to interpret adequately, and too many of us ourselves have grown weary and mistrustful of it. 'The American Dream is that dream of a land in which life should be better and richer and fuller for everyone, with opportunity for each according to ability or achievement. In his book The Epic of America he wrote: The phrase “American Dream“ was first mentioned in 1931 by the historian and writer James Truslow Adams. But in reality the American dream is a lot more than that and its history leads back over 2 centuries. If you think of the American dream you always connect it with individualism, materialism, progress, success through hard work and freedom. After that I will analyse the main characters of “Tortilla Flat”: Women, Torelli and the paisanos. Then I will show the western frontier in the book, which is also part of the American dream. Afterwards I will give a short summary of the plot of the book and an overview of the historical background. First of all I will explain what the American dream really is. In this research paper I will analyse the main characters of “Tortilla Flat” and compare them to the American dream. That is why “Tortilla Flat” provides a good contrast of the proponents and opponents of the American dream. But there are also characters in the book, which believe in the American dream and who strive for wealth and reputation. For them friendship and freedom is more important than wealth and therefore they represent the counterpart of the American dream. The book is about a group of societal marginal figures, which do not have any interest in becoming rich and famous and they take their life as it comes. One of these literary works which deals with the negative aspects of the American dream is “ Tortilla Flat” written by John Steinbeck. Many literary works deal with the positive and negative aspects of the American dream. A lot of settlers and immigrants believed in the American dream but they failed to fulfil their dreams and did not have a better life than before. But the American dream does not only have positive aspects. This is the myth of the selfmade man, the myth of the American dream. A land where you can fulfil your dreams, where you can become rich and famous if you work hard enough for it. Since the discovery of the American continent America is known as the land of opportunity.

The American dream is one of the most famous features of the American society.

Tortilla flat steinbeck