Themes of Cruz and Alger

The piece called Stephen Cruz is about a Mexican man who had never really questioned the American Dream. He was fortunate enough to attend college, and become very successful in obtaining many jobs and climbing up the economic ladder. Cruz was convinced that, “if you worked hard, you could make it,” and, “the American businessman was omnipotent and fair.” Eventually Cruz started to realize that race was a factor and that the American dream was not based on education, hard work, or opportunity, but through fear and power. Cruz was one of the few people in the minority to overcome the racial barrier and become successful in life. Even though Cruz was successful, he came to the realization that the American dream is more elusive, and that, “the dream is being governed by a few people’s notion of what the dream is.” He was disappointed in the workplace and the American dream. In the piece called Horatio Alger, conveyed that we all have a shot at reaching our true potential through hard work, and persistence. Dalton talks about the Alger myth and the realities of racial equality. He talked about how there are some people who because of racial inequality that discourage people of race to possess a job and some opportunities.

The similarities between the two pieces are that both authors talked about the factors of race and how they affect opportunity and economical advancements. However, even though the authors share the same view on race, they have different views on how the American Dream is actually achieved.