how can our decisions confine us to a lifestyle of limitations? how does the american dream create a sense of escape to this feeling of confinement?

Your question seems more general rather than specifically to the book. Still certainly the older we become, the more our decisions affect the rest of our lives. All kinds of things that we decide and do can constrain us, the list is endless. The American Dream, real or illusionary, offers freedom from the life that people may seem trapped in. The money, "contentment" and freedom are quite enticing.