Typical American By Gish Jen

Ralph and Grover are the characters of interest that I chose to discuss in this essay. They are foreigners who believe that America could make their dreams come true now that they were in the land with unexploited opportunities as they believed. The author refers to them as “imagineers “[Ralph] lay waiting to see what happened. Anything could happen, this was America. He gave himself up to the country and dreamt.” (Pg. 42) What the two teenagers did not realize was that the American dream does not always go the way they wanted and they would end up disappointed and frustrated.

Later in the book, we find that Ralph and Grover contrast in different ways. Grover is a bachelor, wealthy, with skills in women, has a huge house with servants, and he’s a wild and crazy.

Ralph on the other hand is a quieter, mildly successful college dropout, a husband with a wife and two kids and a house in the suburbs who was saved by his sister after running out of college.

The two have one thing in common. They are both in pursuit of the American dream. The chase of the American dream has a lot to do with money and material possessions. Nevertheless, having someone to go home to and a person who cares for you is also important. The chance to propagate your lineage through reproduction so you can keep your seed in the country that you decided to adopt as your home is also part of the pursuit. (Angelfire 1)

The similarity between the two characters has also been stated in that we find that each has pursued the American dream and they have embraced success. Ralph has the family life and Grover has the material wealth, but neither man has both, and each is somewhat disappointed.

Ralph and Grover have different backgrounds with Ralph as an academic although a dropout of college and later becomes a teacher. The other is a businessman and they are both lured to greed in their quest for the American Dream. (Angelfire 1)

Ralph thought his hard work in the university and his efforts to get tenure would be enough to make lots of money, “Marriage, as he’d thought of it, was the end of a story, much like a Ph. D., except that the marriage story was shorter, and less work.” (Pg. 69)

But what his efforts and greed for a better life did was allowing him to move from a rundown apartment in the city to a house in the suburbs. The disappointment of his tenure job of teaching in the university ended he got the chance to get into a new business of selling fried chicken, which his friend, Grover, had just bought, but needed someone else to run. In the quest to increase his returns, Ralph decided to build an extra level where customers could eat from and Grover due to his uncontrollable desire for wealth bought the mortgage which he knew later would be a problem to Ralph. Ralph could pay the mortgage slowly but later cracks developed and he was forced to shut the business down. Grover’s greed for money ended up in ruining their friendship. (Angelfire 1)

Conclusion

At the end of the book, Ralph seems disappointed with his predicament. He realized that it may seem that the American dream is all about money, but it’s truly about family and that you’ll only be disappointed with money, while family will bring you the happiness.

Work cited

BIBLIOGRAPHY l 1033 Angelfire. Typical American Essay Web22 Oct 2013 http://www.angelfire.com/co3/phkicker/writing/typamer.html.