Michael DeSanta is living the American Dream because the American Dream can be anything for anyone, it is not set in stone. Benjamin Franklin’s Autobiography has a definition of the American Dream that many consider correct. It is the most common definition of the American Dream. “Life, Liberty, and the Pursuit of Happiness.” Is Michael living the American Dream despite his crimes, copouts, and sins? I believe he is, because of the nature of the American Dream itself. I believe that the American Dream is open for interpretation. Each person can choose how he/she wants to strive for the American Dream. Some choose to live a life of good in order to strive for the American Dream, and others choose to lead a life of crime because they believe it will get them to where they want to go. It is their choice. On the contrary, many people believe that Franklin’s Autobiography was to be taken quite literally to mean, “The autobiography presents the actual achievement of the American Dream as a revolution of independence over living a life of dependence. Franklin portrays his rise to statesman, ambassador, and Founding Father as a thematic transformation from slave-to-fate to the sovereign of his own destiny.” This makes it seem like the American Dream only applies to the revolution of independence circa 1776, but we know this is not completely correct because it doesn’t include the Benjamin Franklin’s vision of “American striving… to achieve a dream based on a national identity driven by hard work and honesty.” But it has been over two hundred years since the Autobiography and we have seen how much has involved in these years that the definition of the American Dream has changed with time. It would be hard to find a person that has been honest every step of the way in their life. It simply is not possible. Furthermore, we can assume that Michael is very dishonest, but when it comes to his family his intentions are pure. In the storyline, there is lots of evidence that suggests Michael does these heists and crimes for his family. The amount of times he’s gone out of his way to save them under threat of death proves that he does care for them. He saved his daughter from drug dealers on a yacht and he saved his son Jimmy from thieves despite him trying to sell his boat for cash. He endured it all and worked hard for his family. So, whatever he did, however criminal, he did for his family with his only intention being to save them. When he went under protection of the FBI, he was trying to make amends to save his family and live a normal life. But everything resurfaced because his goal, his American Dream was to rob banks and make money. It was a passion of his that he tried to suppress for a while and it came bursting out. Because in the back of his mind all he wanted to do was follow his passion and following his passion in turn directly led to him venturing on to achieve his American Dream. Michael describes himself as a “washed-up crook”. But when he reverts back to his life of crime, he connects with his family again “in a way he was unable to while wallowing in self-pity.” In this case for Michael personally going back to committing crimes was the best thing to do because that was who he truly was. He was following his passion and was able to reconnect with his family because he wasn’t under the oppression of boredom anymore. Specifically, for Michael’s case, his American Dream is to commit crimes which allow him to make money and connect with his family. Obviously, the American Dream is never ending but that describes it for Michael in a nutshell.