Michael Oher And The American Dream

The Blind Side Michael Oher, once a poor homeless boy roaming the streets, now a nationwide star and NFL football player. Oher was from one of the poorest neighborhoods in Memphis, Tennessee, instead of falling in his mother’s path of drug addiction, Oher went and eventually graduated from high school. An unlikely family took a chance on him by bringing into their home. Oher is the poster child for a self made man and the American Dream. Although society was corrupt, Oher was able to leave the lifestyle of alcohol and drugs that he was raised in and actually make his claim to fame through sports. Michael Oher is the perfect demonstration of the successful American Dream because he had nothing for the first decade or so of his life however

Society mentally broke down everything about Oher until he was rescued off the streets in his late teens. Without the help of the Tuohy family, Oher would have been ended up as another drug addict. Oher never blamed his upbringing on anyone, he is a self made man even in the film Sean Tuohy says, “Michael’s gift is his ability to forget. He’s mad at no one and doesn’t care what happened in the past” (Blind Side). Oher has the ability to live and forgot because if he were to dwell, he would not be the man he is today. Oher works countless hours throughout the film in both football training and in tutoring for all the classes he is failing. Hard work and determination is what allowed Oher to to live out the American Dream. In the conclusion of the film Leigh Anne Tuohy reflects on the life she changed that one night however there are so many stories of children who can leave the projects for example she said, “In the last paragraph [of the newspaper article] they talked about his superb athletic skills and how different his life might have been if he hadn’t fallen behind and dropped out of school. He died on his twenty first birthday” (Blind Side). This shows that people can’t accomplish the American Dream only through hard work but they need an opportunity. America wasn’t purely built on the foundation of hard work but it is also the land of opportunity. People need to be given a chance, a chance to prove

Unlike the Great Gatsby, where Gatsby was able to earn his money through bootlegging and other crimes, Oher was able to achieve his money because he never gave up. The American Dream has changed all throughout history because people were able to achieve is thousands of different ways. Michael Oher’s Dream was hopeful all throughout the movie, even through the terrible living conditions he had. He went to school even when no one was forcing, in the hope of building a better future for himself. Leigh Anne Tuohy never gave up on him even when he wouldn’t talk to anyone about his past for example when she would ask a question and when Oher would be slow to respond Leigh Anne would say, “Don’t you dare lie to me” (Blind Side). Leigh Anne was determined to know the full story of Michael Oher, even if he wasn’t willing to share it yet. She never gave up on him, Oher translated that mentality into his work and school. Oher began to better himself physically and emotionally, he never tried to cheat the system unlike characters like Gatsby. Oher is a selfless person, regardless of the struggles that he had been through. Oher’s terrible childhood was lead on by the corruption of the society he grew up in. When Leigh Anne and Oher go to pick up his clothes, he has to explain to her, “Don’t get out of the car” and “I got