LANGUAGE CIRCLE: Journal of Language and Literature, 15(1) October 2020 p-ISSN 1858-0165 Available online at http://journal.unnes.ac.id e-ISSN 2460-853X 201 Prosperity as an American Dream: A Study on Ben Fowlkes’S You’Ll Apologize If You Have To Maulita Ridha Hafshah Universitas Brawijaya maulitarh@gmail.com Melania Shinta Harendika Universitas Brawijaya harendika@ub.ac.id Abstract You’ll Apologize If You Have To (2015), a short story by Ben Fowlkes, portrays the struggle of an American in pursuing his dreams. The primary data of this research is the narration and dialogues uttered by the characters: Wallace, Kim, Molly, the Old Lady, and the Green-Jacket Man. Those data are classified based on the American dreams (Adams, Franklin, Jefferson, Livingston, & Sherman, 2014; Cullen, 2003; Mailer, Thompson, & Wolfe, 2009), specifically those related to material wealth. The result of this research reveals that in their daily life, the characters have their perspectives on seeing America as the land of dreams. Generally, they dream of a better life and happiness. However, this short story also portrays American dreams as a paradox because not all Americans have the privilege to achieve those dreams. Keywords: American Studies, quality of life, boxing, better life INTRODUCTION A short story can be the portrayal of humans in society because it might contain the metaphors shown by the characters (Barrett, 2009; Franssen & Kuipers, 2015) as it is also found in Ben Fowlkes’ You’ll Apologize If You Have To (Boyle, 2015). The main character is Wallace, a professional boxing athlete, which is also told as a hardworking person and a loving father of his daughter, Molly. He lives alone in a condominium in San Diego, USA, and lives his life for boxing. This short story begins with the fighting of Wallace in Florida when he had to fight a Brazilian fighter, Cavalo. He had to deal with his loss, and he started to doubt himself. Despite giving up, he struggles to get his dream. The author, Ben Fowlkes, lives in Missoula, Montana. He is a senior author of a martial art sports portal, MMAJunkie.com. He also covers on USA Today for professional boxing since 2006 for some media outlets such as Sports Illustrated, CBS Sports, AOL Sports, and many more (Gems & Pfister, 2009; Perkins, HAHN, LUCAS, & KEEGAN, 2014a; USA BOXING, 2017). America is the land of dreams. Everyone in America has such dreams to pursue. Martin Luther King Jr. said in his speech that the dreams of America are all men are created to be equal, full of blessings from their Creator without boundaries on having and getting the rights, such as life, liberty, and pursuing happiness (Luther, 1964). Happiness may mean many different things, some people might be happy if they can get the material wealth, as seen also in this short story. You’ll Apologize If You Have To tells the struggles on fitting the American dreams, especially on pursuing happiness. The objective of the study is, to figure out the paradox of pursuing happiness in Ben Fowlkes’s You’ll Apologize If You Have To because all of the characters have their definition of happiness. This study is also a part of a thesis by Maulita Ridha Hafshah entitled American Dreams Depicted in Ben Fowlkes’s You’ll Apologize If You Have To. METHODOLOGY The sociological approach is appropriate in this current study because it examines society and its relations (Tischler, 2007). After all, literary works are the product of society. In this case, sociology is