The paper studies the novel A Wrinkle in Time by using literature analysis method and asks the question about what is the meaning of American Dream in the present age, and then it quotes the sentences in A Wrinkle in Time, refers to some magazines and finally gives the answer, which is about love, tolerance and persistence, which also discusses the origin and development of American Dream in American literature. The paper includes four parts: Firstly, it introduces Madeleine L’Engle and her work A Wrinkle in Time together with the significance of the paper. Secondly, it studies the origin and development of American Dream, and the evolution of American literature. Thirdly, it states the fulfillment of Meg’s American Dream, which contains how to find Meg’s father and save Meg’s brother. Finally, it is a conclusion.

   The paper tells readers astonishing powers of love, persistence and faith by studying American Dream in the novel A Wrinkle in Time, which praises Meg’s excellent virtue. It not only creates a mythical story, but also inspires imagination of readers through writing skills of the author. It’s positive meaning lies in the fact that it praises personal qualities and characters, all of which are the necessary conditions for success. The paper combines American Dream with Meg’s dream which is written in A Wrinkle in Time and puts forward the theme of contemporary American Dream including love, persistence and faith.

II. The American Dream

2.1 The Origin and Development of American Dream

   Declaration of Independence in 1776 clears that we hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable rights, that among these are life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. (qtd. in Chen Chao 37).

   The history of American Dream is longer than the U.S., which dated back to the 1600s, it was just then that people began to have all of hopes and aspirations for a new world for European immigrants. In December, 1620, the ship May Flower took the first puritan immigrants from Britain and arrived in Plymouth Bay Colony. These puritans tried to escape the religious persecution from homeland, because they longed to find a new world as a spiritual pilgrimage in which they could seek freedom for themselves. They believed that one could be saved only by faith in God. People hoped to be the select one, so they worked hard and won success to prove their selected identity. They learned serving Christ, who appeared to be elected by God. Actually, the first permanent colonial settlers were sent there and they aimed to find the fortune to help their government with investment, and the permanent colonial settlers took the ship Virginia by the Great Britain together with thousands of immigrants from Europe. John Smith’s work A True Relation of Virginia described the adventure in the New Continent and the accumulation of huge fortune.