Old Rogaum's Butchery At Bleecker Street Summary

Turner’s statement ‘since the days when the fleet of Columbus sailed into the waters of the New World, America has been another name for opportunity’(3) advances the view that America became a democratic land open to all as stipulated by the American constitution. It brought about the term ‘American dream’. The American dream was aimed at making America a free and equal society. Therefore, settlers from Europe saw a lot of opportunities for themselves:
The constitution specified the absolute pre-eminence of individual rights for the first time in human history; settlers seized this idea and saw it as a font of limitless opportunities to better their lives and lives of their children. (Van Overtveldt)
Every human being’s desire is to live a fulfilling life. People view such a life in terms of a good job with high salary, quality education in prestigious schools or gaining material wealth. Such is what has made America to

Rogaum’s butchery at Bleecker Street. Being a butcher probably Rogaum’s source of income and a means to support his family. The opening of the story clearly shows what was envisioned in the American dream. There are people from different places of the world thus creating a melting pot of cultures. Old Rogaum’s and his wife’s mixing of German and English in the text shows that they immigrated from Germany ‘I vill der door lock. Du sollst not in kommen. Mark! Oudt sollst du stayen- oudt!” (Dreiser 3). Further, Old Rogaum opposes Theresa’s friendship to Almerting and expresses his desire for Theresa to befriend fellow Germans, ‘He wanted Theresa to pick some nice sober youth from among the other Germans he and his wife knew here and there-at the Lutheran Church, for instance’. (3) This clearly shows that Almerting was of another nationality. Having an opportunity to run a business shows that the American dream of giving one a chance to thrive is well represented. The city is depicted as peaceful and economically