When asked, a 45-year-old man defined American Value’s as “hard work, integrity and love”.  When a 13-year-old girl was asked the same question she responded with “life, love and liberty”; even with a 32-year age gap values remain the same, just as they do over longer periods of time.  Throughout American history, American values have evolved the pattern of American values will surfacing after tragedy has become more and more realistic. 
In the short story Barn Burning, a barn is intentionally burned to the ground, a family is forced to find American values in a tragic situation..  A father is forced to pick his family up and relocate them to a new town because of his own careless actions, but during these times clear-cut American Values surface.  Although, not completely typical, the family does have an underlying normal basis. Abner, the father in the story, shows anger towards his son because his son was going to let a jury know his father was guilty.  This shows how the father values’ the “[sticking] to your own blood or you [aren’t] going to have any blood to stick to you” (17).  Unfortunately for the characters in this short story the values of family are brought about by, what could be considered, tragedy.  According to Mitch Albom “sticking with your family is what makes it a family” and that is an incredibly important American Value. 
Conversely, in the short story Everyday Use a daughter leaves her heritage and family, and the reader sees the influence it has on the family.  Fostering your heritage is another important American value that plays a role throughout Everyday Use. The narrator in this story, the mother, indirectly compares herself to her daughter, Dee, and this shows the distance that has grown between them.  Sentences like “I never had an education myself”, and “Dee wanted nice things” appear with seemingly little meaning, but the reader knows otherwise.  Dee also “washed [her mother and sister] in a river of make-believe, burned [them] with a lot of knowledge [they] didn’t need to know” tragically ending their relationship that was never strong to begin with (45).  Dee’s sister, Maggie, had thought Dee “has held life always in the palm of one hand” and because of this Maggie has always felt resentment towards her, considering Maggie has struggled with essentially everything throughout her life.  The loss of friendship inside of any family, one would deem “disastrous” and the readers see that through the loss of a relationship American values are highlighted. 
Throughout the short story of Cathedral the underlying American value of being an underdog inspires the reader.  The main character Robert, who is blind, leads a man into seeing.  Ironically enough, Robert leads this man, who can already see, into “seeing” on a deeper level, than just what the eye perceives.  The additional name character, which remains nameless, describes him feeling “sorry for the blind man” and him feeling sorry for the woman Robert had married; she went on “day after day and never [received] the smallest compliment from her beloved” (54).  Along with feeling empathy for Robert, the man is also revealed to be friendless, and quite pompous.  Subconscious and sarcastic thoughts fill the main character’s head about Robert, like “a blind man with a beard” as if that is unheard of , and that he “didn’t know what else to say” to Robert as if he was a foreign species (54-55).  Eventually towards the end of the short story, the reader finds that Robert has guided the other main character into seeing life in a different way.  Robert being the underdog in the situation represents the American value of perseverance of the dark horse.  Through Robert’s blindness, this American value shows it face.
Although each story takes place from the 1930s to the 1980s, the American values are all basically the same: the value of family, value of cherishing your heritage and value of the perseverance of the under dog, and throughout each value they seem to surface through tragedy.  Through tragedy, the most important things in life will prevail and everything else will seem like just a small minuscule detail.  Even today, the greatest, catastrophic events in history are known to bring us together, for example 9/11.  One of the worst Terrorist attacks on America brought the country together as one, and proved that the American Dream, and American values surface at the time where they are most needed. 
Throughout American History, American Values have appeared and reappeared through tragedy, and although tragic events may bring out the worst, they can also bring out the best.  In each short story analyzed, tragedy brings about clear cut American values that better the content of the story, and the plot.