The American Dream?
I did my media journal on a book called "The Street" by Ann Petry. It is about a black women who is trying to work and handle the pressures of being a single mother. This women, Lutie, has race, class, AND gender working against her, and this book exposes the discrimination she faces in each of these aspects.
One of the focuses of this book is that of the "American Dream," the idea that, in America, if you work hard enough, you can do whatever you want to do. Unfortunately, this is not reality for many Americans. At the start of the story, Lutie is working for a wealthy white family who engrain the idea of the American dream into her head, and she becomes obsessed with it. Lutie moves her son into an apartment and begins to plan how she is going to save money and slowly move up in life assuming she maintains a great work ethic. However, as the story progresses, it becomes clear that no matter how long Lutie works, no matter how many jobs she takes on, and no matter how well she tries to track her expenses, there is never any money left over to put into any kind of savings. Additionally, Lutie is exposed to very obvious sexism and almost raped twice. She lives in a horrible run-down apartment in a very poor part of Harlem. As a physical reminder of the inequality Lutie dealt with, the street she lived on symbolized the way of life she and many others had been predestined to endure for their entire lives. The street was a breeding area for filth, corruption, racism, sexism, economic stereotypes, and a general sense of hopelessness that was created by the culmination of all of these. Once people entered the street, they stood very little chance of ever leaving due to the cycle of poverty and desitution that held them back. Slowly, Lutie begins to realize the reality of her destiny and she becomes full of anger. She eventually kills a man who treats her like a prostitute and ends up worse than when she first set out to fulfill the American dream.
What I like about this book is how real it is. There is no sugar coating to the story- it is straight forward, depressing, blunt, and does not attempt to justify or explain racism, sexism, or class discrimination. I actually felt extremely guilty for my success in life after reading this book because although I am female, I am also white and of the upper class, and I really don't face anything even close to the discrimination that Lutie did. It made me sick realizing how hopeless her situation was and how nothing she could possibly do would turn that around. It is amazing to me that becoming successful in life seems so easy to us while people like Lutie have to struggle so hard for literally nothing in return. I highly recommend this book- it is well written and it is very precise and blunt. It has certainly changed my perspective on a lot of things.
Comments
This book definitely sounds like a great read. However, regarding the topic, I could not completely understand the relevence of the American dream in the context of the happenings in the life of Lutie. The main reason for her downfall seems to be the structure of the society that she resides in.
I am not sure if this is based on a true story, or real life incidences, but it does provoke a lot of questions against the prevalent social stratification system. Belonging to a certain class implicitly creates boundaries and sets barricades in the path of transitions from one level to another. This remains true both for trying to climb up the ladder or going down from a higher stage in the hierarchy of classes. The higher class is respected and given the best treatment despite their shortcomings. The street here seems to represents the invisible social boundary that has been formed by the social stratification system. As you stated, "Once people entered the street, they stood very little chance of ever leaving due to the cycle of poverty and desitution that held them back." However, I believe it also the other way around. A finely placed individual, would have to do some great blunders in his life in order to end up in that street. This also gives a lot of incentive to the people like Lutie, to push their limits on trying to change the current position and transition over to the better life.
Coming from India, I feel this kind of self sacrifice is highly visible in a lot of low income group in their pursuit of happyness. And furthermore, I felt, the opportunities that the underpriviledged people get in India is negligible as compared to the opportunities in America. In spite of all the hurdles in their progress towards a better life, these people come out as shining stars of the society every once in a while. Due to the lack of social surveys and statistics, I cannot feel certain about my argument, but I think their are certainly a lot of differences in the way classes form in different societies. And similarly, there are different levels of challenges it presents to its members. The very existence of income groups seems to lead to social stratification and hence inequality.
Posted by: Priyesh | March 7, 2007 5:37 PM