These concepts or dreams are the unachievable aims that people set for themselves and their generations to come, so that if they fail to achieve their dreams, at least they can work towards the achievement of a part of it. The words of an American scholar, Joseph Campbell, meant the same, "Myths are public dreams- Because everyone knows that this dream was not meant to become the truth. Americans had an "ideal family" myth in the earlier times, which most of them did follow, that of the man in the house went to work while the women stayed home to raise children and do the house-work, and were successful in achieving a part of it, of which the extent never really mattered, and never should. But somewhere down the road, one generation decided not to work towards the dream of the "ideal family" myth and there entered the devil of individualism and the evil of neglecting families for own personnel needs and selfish interests. But that didn't stop the myth from dying and made people think the ideal family is dying. The myth was the bridge between the ideal family and the real family in the United States but one generation bombarded the bridge and so now there is no way to connect back to the "ideal family" myth or to work for the achievement of the ideal family in the United States. Myths are like bonds of trust, which once broken or destroyed take a considerable amount of stress, strain and time to rebuild.
The ideal American family myth requires commitment from every member to his or her past, present and even to his or her future among the family. But in the essay, "Happy" by Joyce Oates, the commitment is only to the present neglecting the past and future. In the essay, the mother picks her daughter at the airport and takes her straight to a bar for drinks to celebrate, but she neglects the fact that her daughter just got down from the plane and might be a bit tired. Daughter also agrees to the celebration realizing that her mother never really asked her suggestion about drinks after the flight.
However, he promised them eternal happiness if they worked harder and devoted all of their time to him. ... A vast majority of Jones followers believed that he actually was their savior. ... He would not sleep for days at a time and talked compulsively about the numerous conspiracies against him. ... Over 900 people died that day in the South American jungle, almost 300 of them were children. ...
