Fuchs The American Way of Families: Is the Dream Really as Sweet as Apple Pie? :: essays research papers

Fuch's "The American Way of Families": Is the Dream Really as Sweet as Apple Pie? There were a few aspects of Lawrence H. Fuchs's essay The American Way of Families that I found extraordinarily interesting. He discusses influences of the modern American family that I found quite bizarre. Fuch also labels the key component to the American family as being none other than the gratification and pursuit of one's own self being. The most bizarre thing that overcame after reading this piece was that I found myself to be in total agreement with Fuch. That is what scared me. I realized that something that is supposed to be so stable in one's own life is really as "cut and dry" as we would like to believe. In essence, the main premise of human existence is satisfying yourself; at every level down to your basic foundation. We fight to make our own lives better at times even at the cost of others. This holds true in almost every arena of society that I tried to imagine after reading Fuch's essay. The only area of life that this struggle to satisfy yourself above and beyond all does not pertain in my opinion is religion: it is impossible to worship a being and try to overcome that being at the same time. Whether it involves fighting to be on top in the workplace or playing dirty to win a sporting event; almost all Americans have the fire burning within them that compels them to reach their goal or self satisfaction. In reading The American Way of Families, it occured to me that the struggle for pleasing one's own self existed even in the family. I don't think that after reading this piece that anyone can deny the existence of this urge in themselves. The urge exists in every form. No matter how picture perfect the family may be perceived, each member of that household wants to please themselves. In this quest to satisfy the appetite of happiness we often overlook the feelings of others. For instance, suppose that in a family that consisted of two college graduates in the role of parent, were faced with a child (that they brought up with all of their values and good intentions) that suddenly decides that he or she wants to move to Hollywood to become a rock star. It is almost by instinct that these parents will not approve of their child's decision. They do not want to lie about what their child is doing when their friends(who coincidentally all have children in college) ask, "Hey, what's