My New "American Dream"

I do not think I can begin to express how much my views have changed since the beginning of the term. Looking back on our original assignment of what we define as the "American Dream," I originally felt that it was a mutually inclusive idea that everyone wanted. I still think the idea is behind much of what we read; however, I have since learned that the best dream is equality. People simply want to be celebrated for who and what they are. Controversial writers like Allen Ginsberg in "Howl" talked freely about the social destruction taking place around him in order to bring awareness and release the feeling of suppressed liberation. "I saw the best minds of my generation destroyed by madness, starving hysterical naked, dragging themselves through the negro streets at dawn looking for an angry fix, angelheaded hipsters burning for the ancient heavenly connection to the starry dynamo in the machinery of the night..." (1417). Writers like Gloria Anazaldua in "How to Tame a Wild Tongue" wrote about racism and how it not only affected her culture, but American culture as well. "Their purpose: to get rid of our accents. Attacks on one's form of expression with the intent to censor are a violation of the First Amendment... Wild tongues can't be tamed, they can only be cut out" (1587). Writers like Gertrude Stein in "Tender Buttons" refuted traditional styles of writing in hopes of branching out and creating something new and unexplored. "A kind in glass and a cousin, a spectacle and nothing strange a single hurt color and an arrangement in a system to pointing. All this an ordinary, not unordered in unresembling. The difference is spreading" (765). Without all of these writers, without all of their bravery, we would not be the America we are today. I now view America as a giant ecosystem filled with different genders, identities, races, and sexes all working and flowing together. If one is broken or clogged, the others cannot run smoothly to create a healthy, viable system. All and all, I have learned that the "American Dream" does not need to be complex. It can be as simple as having the freedom to be who you are.

Beyond Racism

Many social changes were taking place during the time Ralph Ellison wrote "Invisible Man". Although he says the story is not about racism, I find it hard to disassociate some of the themes within the story from his statement. The beginning scene of "Invisible Man" starts with a group of wealthy, intoxicated, cigar-smoking white men, a naked white woman, and black young men getting ready to box in a battle royal. The fact black men were able to view a naked white woman during this time period is one example of underlying racial tones. "Some of the boys stood with lowered heads, trembling. I felt a wave of irrational guilt and fear. My teeth chattered, my skin turned to goose flesh, my knees knocked. Yet I was strongly attracted and looked in spite of myself" (1256). It is clear from this quote that the black men knew what they were doing was inappropriate and it was obvious that they were scared of the consequences that could take place if they were caught acting as so. The battle itself is also pretty gruesome and racist. These black men were blindfolded and asked to punch each other out while the overly-confident white men placed bets on who could take out whom. "Quite a struggle was going on. Chairs were being kicked about and I could hear voices grunting with terrific effort. I wanted to see, to see more desperately than ever before. But the blindfold was tight as a thick skin-puckering scab..." (1257). The last and final bit of racism in the story was when the wounded black men were asked to pick up coins on an electrified mat. "A hot, violent force tore through my body, shaking me like a wet rat. The rug was electrified... But I saw this was not stopping the other boys. Laughing in fear and embarrassment  some were holding back and scooping up the coins knocked off by the painful contortions of the others" (1260). It is clear that the only point of these young, beaten black men picking up coins was for the entertainment of the white men. Regardless of the story's racist themes, Ellison wanted to prove a bigger point. His point was determination and how to wisely choose who we aim to impress. The fact he never gave up on his dream to give a speech, to be heard by the white men, shows that Ellison was writing from a time period where equality was challenged. It was not just blacks, but it was also women, gays, and anyone not of the "standard" white identity. No matter what Ellison wrote during this time period, it would have been pegged as racist because of these social changes.

Retelling a Story: Should You?

As with any good story, there are two sides and then there's the truth. In "No Named Women" by Maxine Hong Kingston, she is retelling the story of her aunt as told to her by her mother. I feel the like the story began as a game of telephone. "You must not tell anyone... what I am about to tell you. In China your father had a sister who killed herself. She jumped into the family well. We say that your father has all brothers because it is as if she had never been born" (1568). Kingston's mother heard this story from her village. Although Chinese culture seems to be very involved in the affairs of its villages, I still feel like it would be difficult to have all of the necessary information about a family other than your own. Even with some personal experience, it would be difficult to have all of the facts without speaking to the person(s) directly involved. In this situation and others like it, the gathering of necessary information is not possible. Writing from a modern perspective, I believe that Kingston is doing more harm than good by retelling the story of her aunt. The reason is because she feels haunted by her aunt's story. "My aunt haunts me--her ghost drawn to me because now, after fifty years of neglect, I alone devote pages of paper to her, though not origamied into houses or clothes" (1577). I believe this haunting felt by Kingston is due to the lack of adequate information. No one other than her aunt knows exactly how or why she ended up in the family well. Her family and others within the village have speculated or romanticized this fantastical story of dishonor over the years. Even Kingston finds herself filling in the blanks of her aunt's story. "And she might have separated the rapes from the rest of living if only she did not have to buy her oil from him or gather wood in the same forest. I want her fear to have lasted just as long as the raped lasted so that the fear could have been contained" (1571). Assumptions such as these are what causes harm. Understanding your heritage is important, but without all of the facts I think it's easy to get lost in ideas that are not reality. Sometimes things such as these are better left alone.