On the American Dream: Equality, Ambiguity, and the Persistence of Rage
1983; Taylor & Francis; Volume: 13; Issue: 2 Linguagem: Inglês
10.1080/03626784.1983.11075879
ISSN1467-873X
Autores Tópico(s)American and British Literature Analysis
ResumoThe American Dream exists in imaginary sphere. The real world is its foundation; but dream reaches beyond what is to what is notor, perhaps, to what is not yet. We might say that it refers to future possibility, idea of which arises out of what we feel to be lacking in now. For some, it is an entirely personal possibility: fulfillment of some particular kind; an improvement in status; attainment of wealth; what is variously called success. For others, it is grasped as public possibility: a desired condition of democratic polity. Metaphors like Paradise and Eden and Heavenly City have often been used; so have Canaan and Jerusalem. In recent times, dream has been represented as Golden Gate or Golden Mountain; it has referred to streets paved with gold. For Mark Twain's Huckleberry Finn, it was territory ahead; for F. Scott Fitzgerald's Jay Gatsby, it meant going His Father's business, service of a vast, vulgar, and meretricious beauty. For Henry James's Isabel Archer, it meant having wind in her sails, experiencing the absolute boldness and wantonness of liberty. Each one went on a journey, as did original seekers for a world; indeed, there have always been journey themes in our history; themes of exploration, themes of quest. So American Dream has been a dream about beginnings, continually new beginnings, and had to do (for some, at least) with having right to begin. That, of course, was part of creed, of American promise: view that each living human being, no matter what his origin, was equal to every other. In almost all cases, at least until mid-20th century, that person was white and male; and, for many blacks and many women, equality was a name for an unkept promise, or for freedom, or for
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