THE AMERICAN DREAM: THE SEARCH FOR PERSONAL IDENTITY
THE AMERICAN DREAM: THE SEARCH FOR PERSONAL IDENTITY

Summary/Abstract: The purpose of this paper is to analyse the way the American Dream is depicted in three novels written by contemporary authors: Brooklyn by Colm Toibin, first published in 2009, Americanah by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie, published in 2013, and Rebela by Sabina de Rochefort, published in 2016. All three novels start with the great hopes associated with their departure for America, yet not all of them end up with finding what the characters expect. Eilis, Ifemelu and Amellia follow a different trajectory with respect to their final reaction to the American Dream. Eilis decides her future is in America, with the Italian husband she had met, while Ifemelu decides that her future lays for her in her native country with Obinze, and as for Amelia, she tries to break free from the influence of Samuel, a rich man who had proposed for her an arrangement to stay with him, trying to gain control of her own life. The paper will use the theoretical frame of the Hofstede’s individualism vs collectivism dimensions of cultures related to the American Dream to show the way it is portrayed in the three novels, as well as the theory of the emotional arcs of stories by Reagan et al (2016). The progress of the heroines is dependent on cultural values and on the way the story is shaped as a pattern, be it rising, falling, evolving in-between the two, and rising again in the end, as a result of their drawing their conclusions and better understanding themselves. The search for the American Dream overlaps with some moments of identity crisis for the characters in the three novels.

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