Schafer 1

Alex Schafer

Mrs. Field

English 406

7 February 2011

The Nightmarish Effects of Economic Status

While America has been depicted as a land of opportunity for centuries, much of the

support for this idea is based upon idealistic views. Although the American Dream does exist for

some, it often evades others due to factors such as economic status. Low economic status can

damage one’s chance of achieving the American Dream by forcing him into crime, providing

unequal opportunities, and increasing the gap between the rich and the poor.

Poverty often urges people to commit crimes in order to obtain financial assets. These

crimes, more likely than not, will end up putting individuals in worse situations than they were in

before. An impoverished person is much more likely to commit a crime than a wealthy person.

With a lack of financial support, one may be willing to do anything in order to survive.

Christopher Wildeman and Bruce Western support this idea in their article “Incarceration in

Fragile Families.” Wildeman and Western state that the “changes in imprisonment rate—

commonly called mass imprisonment or the prison boom—have been concentrated among those

most likely to form fragile families: poor and minority men with little schooling”(Wildeman and

Western). A good example of this comes from In Cold Blood in the form of Floyd Wells.

According to Capote, “He had attempted several careers, as soldier, ranch hand, mechanic, thief,

the last of which had earned him a sentence of three to five years” (Capote 159). Wells is a

victim of hardships such as divorce, and has a history with the military. Without a viable source

of income, Wells resorts to crime in an attempt to further his financial status. This crime may
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have permanently damaged his chance of achieving his American Dream. Wells becomes a

victim of the Nightmare while trying to achieve the Dream.

Some individuals are provided with unequal opportunities due to their initial economic

status. Unable to afford higher education, the need for income often forces individuals to assume

lower income jobs, prohibiting them from climbing the financial ladder. Evidence of this comes

from the University of California, Berkley’s article “The Effect of Parental Work History and

Public Assistance Use of the Transition to Adulthood.” According to the article, children who

are raised in households with below average income are much more likely to remain

impoverished in their adulthood. This parallels In Cold Blood in the form of Dick. When

describing the life of his son, Dick’s father says that he was “An outstanding athlete—always on

the first team at school.” He goes on to say that Dick was “A pretty good student, too, with A

marks in several subjects… After he graduated from high school—June, 1949—he wanted to go

on to college… But we couldn’t do it. Plain didn’t have the money”(Capote 166). Dick seems

to be a promising individual, but he is unable to achieve his full potential without financial

support. Without funds to go on to college he is forced to work a low paying job, which may

have ultimately pushed him into crime. Even if financial aide or scholarship is available, it is not

likely that this could cover all of his education. Poor economic status can have other effects on

education than a lack of funds. Evidence of this comes from “Educational Relationships and

Their Impact on Poverty,” in which the authors claim that their research explores the idea that

impoverished children “are disadvantaged in their potential to learn by the extent and quality of

their social networks and educational relationships”(Wikeley…). The idea is that children raised

in impoverished conditions see less value in education due to the attitudes of surrounding adults.

This under appreciation makes the impoverished children get less out of their education than
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someone of a higher economic status generally would. Initial economic status can be a major

contributing factor to an individual’s success in their later life. With major business growing, it

is more difficult for individuals to achieve their full economic potential and break the binds of

poverty. The same opportunity is no longer available for an entrepreneur to have a “rags-to-

riches” story. According to Luke S.H. Wright in his article “The Death of the American Dream,”

which expresses the ideas of Hunter S. Thompson, major corporations have caused “the housing

bubble and crash, the inflation in the price of the commodity of oil that resulted in $4 per gallon

gasoline,” and other economic occurrences that have damaged the financial status of the lower

class (Wright). The power of major corporations has aided in the formation of a gap between the

rich and the poor, and it continues to grow. According to the Census Population Report, the

percent of Americans that are in poverty is increasing over time. The relationship between the

Clutters and Dick and Perry serves as a good analogy. In In Cold Blood, the Clutters stand for

something that Dick and Perry cannot achieve. They are a well-to-do family with an established

farm. Dick and Perry have struggled and lead unfulfilling lives while the Clutters have been

very successful. Dick and Perry commit they will likely never achieve what the Clutters have.

Further support for the idea that a gap is growing between the rich and the poor comes from

Daniel A. Sandoval’s article “The Increasing Risk of Poverty Across the American Life Course.”

In this article, Sandoval discusses the idea that not only the poverty rate is increasing, but also

the likelihood of someone experiencing poverty at some point in his adult life (Sandoval). This

increase may be due to the new ideas of social norms. Individuals want the nicest things

regardless of if they can afford them or not. People take out loans that they will not be able to

pay for when the money is due. This is also supported by banks that will give loans regardless of

economic status. The gap growing between the rich and the poor is fueled by the desire for a
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better lifestyle. This desire ultimately forces individuals into poorer situations. The American

Dream has existed as an idealistic notion that has tempted immigrants to America for years.

With limited financial support, many will be unable to afford necessities for success, crime will

tempt others, and with a growing hiatus between the rich and poor, a greater economic challenge

will exist. Little financial help comes from the wealthy; some of the policies that put individuals

in financial trouble in the first place are established by the wealthy. The increasing poverty and

difficulty in bettering one’s self financially will force dreamers to face their Nightmares.
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Works Cited

Capote, Truman. In Cold Blood: A True Account of a Multiple Murder and Its Consequences.

New York: Vintage, 1993. Print.

"Poverty in the United States." Congressional Digest 89.10 (2010): 298-300. Academic Search

Complete. EBSCO. Web. 28 Jan. 2011.

Sandoval, Daniel A. "The Increasing Risk of Poverty Across the American Life Course."

Demography 46.4 (2009): 717-37. Academic Search Complete. Web. 6 Feb. 2011.

Wikeley, Filicity, Kate Bullock, Yolande Muschamp, and Tess Ridge. "Educational

Relationships and Their Impact on Poverty." International Journal of Inclusive

Education 13.4 (2009): 377-93. Academic Search Complete. Web. 1 Feb. 2011.

Wright, Luke S.H. “The Death of the American Dream.” The Virginia Quarterly Review 85.4

(2009): 196-199. Academic Search Complete. Web. 26 Jan. 2011.