Unveiling the Essence of the American Dream: A Modern Perspective via Philip Roth's The Human Stain

Abstract

The concept of The American Dream has captivated the attention of scores of people, within and outside of the U.S., generation after generation, for this American Dream is a reality that provides the comfort of a self-sufficient and self-reliant life amongst the highly educated, cultured and like-minded class of people, in one of the highly civilized parts of the world. This ideal and mesmerizing lifestyle has not only encouraged the major white population in the U.S. to strive towards it, but has also earned the attention of the non-white, immigrant communities, many of whom migrate to the U.S. with the hope of making lives better for themselves. The novel The Human Stain by Jewish American author Philip Roth depicts the lives of some such non-white and immigrant characters. While some of them are successful in navigating through a maze of hurdles to experience and relish the reality of the American Dream, there are some who either subject themselves to or are subjected to struggles, challenges and humiliations in the face of their attempt in realizing this dream, with a white supremacist and oft-changing American political scene in the background. This paper attempts to explore and expose the reality of the feasibilities and difficulties behind realizing the American Dream, through the lens of Roth’s The Human Stain.