One of my favorite stories, including the movie and the book, is Little Women. I have both read the book and seen the movie multiple times. On the surface, Little Women easily demonstrates the American Dream—the common dream of becoming incredibly rich, moving to New York to become a writer, etc. However, what I find most interesting when thinking about the American Dream in Little Women is the one concerning spiritual wealth. When discussing the American Dream in this class, one of the focuses was material wealth. However, in Little Women, the family has somewhat failed in this value of the American Dream. The March family lost their fortune in poor business investments and, as a result, struggled to afford many things. The family lives near incredibly wealthy neighbors and has rich friends. As a result, the four sisters of the March family battle with temptation and feel poor.
Throughout the story, through many life-changing events, the March sisters learn that some things are more precious than any luxuries money could buy. For example, after losing one of the sisters to an illness, the family becomes thankful for being happy and able to afford food. What I most like about this is how relatable it is. My mom grew up in an incredibly wealthy and well-known family in Spain. To give you an idea of her family, her cousin is married to one of the princes of Bulgaria. However, after growing up in this lifestyle that was so focused on material wealth, my mom decided this was not the life she wanted because she valued other things. As a result, at eighteen years old, my mom came to the United States and left everything behind.
Being a young girl and hearing of my mom’s family often angered me. I wanted to live in a big city and have my family be able to afford anything I desired. However, as I got older and learned about the darker side of what occurred in the world my mom’s side of the family lives in, I have come to value so much more. I am proud of my mom for the life she made here despite all the material wealth she already had. I grew up in a family that valued love, being healthy, and spending as much time together as possible, much like the March family in Little Women. Therefore, the story of the March family in Little Women and of my mom demonstrates a different kind of American Dream, the one of spiritual wealth.