The American Dream

 

     I am one of those unfortunate souls that still believes that the "American Dream" exists.  The problem is that I still haven't quite defined what it is for me, as I believe that everyone has to have their own version of the dream.  I have tried to define it and tried to live the dreams of others.  It doesn't work very well.  For years, I even thought that I had achieved my dream.  For the past several years, I have been working at a good job, trying to put together some kind of a life, trying to fix up my home, etc.  In other words, I was doing all of the things that I thought would be necessary to capture the dream.  A week before Christmas, I was "let go" from my good job for what ninety-eight percent of my co-workers and bosses alike agree was a completely ludicrous reason.  The dream was close and now it had decided to take off again.

     That is a situation that I refer to as "human whack-a-mole".  As soon as you stick your head out a little bit to see what's coming, some jackass with a big hammer knocks you right back down in your hole.  That is part of the problem with the American dream.  It is very elusive.  Any time that you start to get too close to it, here comes the hammer.  Sadly, this is just a part of life.

     In Anzia Yezierska's story, The Lost "Beautifulness", Hannah Hayyeh learns about the game of human whack-a-mole.  After scraping and saving every little bit of money she can, she paints the kitchen of her apartment white.  It was her simple dream just to have this white kitchen.  She wanted her son to come home from the war to a beautiful, white kitchen.  She was so proud of her kitchen that she had to invite everyone into her apartment to see it.  When she invites her landlord in to see how beautiful the kitchen is now, he immediately sees dollar signs.  He decides that with this newly painted kitchen, he should be getting more money in rent.  After the rent is raised, poor Hanneh can no longer afford to stay in her apartment with the beautiful new kitchen, even though she is the one that made it that way.  She then decides to destroy her own dream before it can become someone else's.  She is forced to learn about the elusiveness of the dream.

     Hanneh choses to destroy the dream she had.  It is a frightening (though very real) thought that some people would destroy the dream if they cannot have it the way they want it.  In these times, it hits closer to home than many people like to think.  As half of the population of this country is concerned that the other half is trying to destroy it, many talk of "taking it back", a move that would surely destroy it.  The deep divisions grow only deeper when neither side is willing to talk sensibly to come to an agreement.  Sometimes, I think that it might be best to just stick my nose in a book and hope for cooler heads to prevail.