Throughout the history of mankind many civilizations have fallen because of the government being too power hungry and too controlling. For a country or civilization or whatever the case may be to be successful they need rights and freedoms. The best way for a country to preserve and protect the rights of the people or for them to live the American dream is to restrict the power of the government. We see examples of this in ‘A Raisin in the Sun’, obviously, ‘The Declaration of Independence’ and ‘The Pedestrian’.
The best example of civilization preserving their own freedoms is the United States and the Declaration of Independence. This is because the constitution specifically gives and lays out the rights of the people. It is not a hidden message or a hidden meaning it is straight to the point and clearly states the rights of the people and the power of the government. For example, things like the 2nd Amendment which gives the people the right to bear arms has protected many citizens from unfair treatment by the government. “It protects freedom of speech, the press, assembly, and the right to petition the government for a redress of grievances”, to some people this is all that matters and that alone is giving people an equal opportunity. People want to live that American dream and the writers of the Declaration of Independence (Jefferson, Adams, Franklin, etc.) understood that and wanted the people of their country to be equal and have equal opportunity. Democracy is another very important factor to the success of the United States, countless other countries and civilizations have fallen because they wanted to have an all-mighty leader or gave the people too much power. The reason this type of government is so successful is because the people feel important and like they matter, they have undeniable rights and for these reasons they do not want to fight against the government and are perfectly happy with the current freedoms and government.
‘The Pedestrian’ is a strange example of the American dream but either way strange or not it is a good symbol and has a hidden meaning. The man in this novel is being harassed for doing an everyday average thing simply going for a walk. This is looked at as a threat because he is not mindlessly following the government like a sheep. The reason this is an example of the American dream is because the man feels he has the right to go on a walk through the night if he so chooses. This is actually a perfect example of how controlling the government can be when the people do not have basic rights. While being able to go on a walk is not exactly on the level of the American dream it is the same basic idea. When the robot car is talking to him, he says things like, “Just walking Mr. Mead”, and follows up with “But you haven't explained for what purpose” (Bradbury) this is showing just how oppressed and stripped of rights these people are. It is things like the constitution that protects the people of the United States and gives them their basic human rights. If you are being harassed just for walking down the street, then you are obviously not being given the unalienable rights that you deserve.
The third text is ‘A Raisin in the Sun’, this is a very good example of the American dream and basic human rights. This is because this text goes over things like women's rights, equality, the American dream and many more in the background using things like the plant to symbolize hope etc. all while tackling the issue of racism in the forefront. Beneatha is a very good example of just about all of these things put into one. “Well – I do – all right? – thank everybody! And forgive me for ever wanting to be anything at all! FORGIVE ME, FORGIVE ME, FORGIVE ME!”. This is around the time that they were ridiculing her for wanting to be a doctor, she is just trying to live her dream as an African American woman in the 1950's. She has all of the things previously mentioned, the American dream, hope, equal opportunity, basic rights and more. It is because of her that this novel is such a good and accurate representation of people fighting for equal opportunity and a perfect example of the American dream. This is because without hard work you cannot succeed in a capitalist society without being a hard worker and the whole family is honest and hard working. They are willing to sacrifice for the ‘American dream’ and put in the hard work like when Ruth says she will work 20 hours a day. They just want to be treated equally for their equal behavior and principles.
The American dream is something that people all over the world come to the United States to experience. We see that people will move from all over the world to live it out and enjoy their own basic civil rights. Very good examples of this can be found in the texts ‘The Pedestrian’, ‘A Raisin in the Sun’, and ‘The Declaration of Independence’. The authors of these novels and plays had very specific things in mind while creating these texts they wanted to go over heated American topics such as racism, equal opportunity, and far many more. At the end of the day, you have to treat people as humans and give them their undeniable rights to preserve a free and stable government. If you are oppressing your people, they are more likely to revolt against you leading to the fall of freedom and your civilization.