The American Dream has been something idolized and sought after for many years. Generations have flocked to the shores of America to try their luck in finding it. The American Dream is the ability for each and every person to follow their dreams, ideas, and the pursuit of happiness, despite obstacles that come their way. Holden Caulfield from J.D. Salinger's The Catcher in the Rye, Maya Angelou and her autobiography I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings, and Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.'s Letter from Birmingham City Jail are prime examples of this, as they all go after what they want and believe to be right.
Holden Caulfield, the main character of The Catcher in the Rye by J.D. Salinger, believes that the American Dream is a phony and fake idea. To him, his American Dream is being as different and less phony as possible. People tend to act as if they are happy and successful in order to fit in with the rest of society and their peers. Holden shows this by saying, "If there's one word I hate, it's grand. It's so phony" (138). There is a reoccurrence of his hatred for this word in the book, showing that he thinks people exaggerate how great life is, making them fake. Despite his hatred for phoniness, even he becomes phony in order to fit in by saying, "I'm always saying 'Glad to've met you' to somebody I'm not at all glad I met. If you want to stay alive, you have to say that stuff, though" (114). Caulfield realizes that in order to fit in with society's norms, one must act a certain way. .
In Maya Angelou's autobiography I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings, the American Dream is being able to find oneself and what makes each person happy, in spite of the obstacles that try to stop them. She said, "Instead, pursue the things you love doing, and then do them so well that people can't take their eyes off of you" (261). Maya Angelou believed that nothing was more important than achieving happiness.