In the novel, My Antonia, by Willa Cather, everyone seems to be trying to pursue the American Dream. While they all have different ideas of just exactly what the American Dream is, they all know precisely what they want. For some, the American Dream sounds so enticing that they have traveled across the world to achieve their goal. They work hard to fit in and succeed, but, as in the case of Mr. Shimerda, are not always successful. One girl who was chasing the American Dream was Lena Lingard, a small farm girl from a poverty-stricken family. Lena had one thing on her mind: money. To her the American Dream was wealth. She wanted freedom from worry about where her next meal would come from, or how she would pay for a new dress. Lena began her journey to wealth by becoming one of the many hired girls in the town of Black Hawk. There she was apprentice to a dressmaker and before long began to show great potential. She soon began making money with her newfound talent, and used this money not to help herself, but to benefit her family. Lena spent her free time buying clothes for them, and paid some of their bills. She also went to many dances over the summer months. With all of her beautiful dresses, many of the young men began to notice her as they never had before. Soon Lena began to get a reputation that many hired girls got, that of a brazen hussy. Everyone thought that she would wind up marrying the wrong man and ruin her life, but Lena had different plans. She did not listen to anything that they said about her. As soon as she could, she got her own dress shop in Lincoln and thrived with it. After a while she moved to San Francisco and did even better. She did not let the stereotype of the hired girls get in her way of the American Dream. She was determined to reach her goal and with all of her hard work she did just that. Some families traveled a great many miles to try to win the American Dream. The Shimerda...
