US and Them: An American Dream

Us and Them: An American Dream

From its discovery in the late 15th century, to modern day, the Americas have stood as a beacon of hope to all who are in search of a better life. This hope of living a life free from the imperial dictatorships of Europe quickly became a large part of an even larger idea that of the American dream. A dream and promise saying if you work hard you can provide a life of great wealth and importance for oneself and loved ones. What started as one big conglomerate has become skewed over the course of time. North America, which has fought off and moved away from the colonialist rule of Europe, has been allowed to grow and develop into its own world super power, becoming oppressive itself. South America, though the dream was equally as real as that of North America, allowed its resources and people to be greatly taken advantage of and squandered. Imperial rule did not end, but rather flourished, suppressing and massacring the people. The idea of America standing as a beacon of hope for all to see is still very real, but this hope has become two very different dreams. In the spirit of the words from one of the most prolific South American writers Horacio Quiroga, “You can tell a lot about a culture and its dreams by examining its literature,” (Pope, 89. Check Source) This paper will explore the literature of these two cultures and show the American dream of North America and the very different dream of its contemporary South America.

One of the aspects of the North American dream is that of great wealth and exuberance. The wantonness and ability to live lavishly despite the poverty and in this case death all around you. Nowhere is this more apparent than in Edgar Allen Poe’s “The Masque of Red Death.” Poe’s protagonist Prince Prospero saw a deadly plague running through his country and killing all of his people, but rather than using his vast wealth and fortune to help the sick and feed the hungry, he decides to invite several of his closest friends to a party of all things. When death and poverty are surrounding him, he secludes himself away from the rest of the world, not in the interest of merely staying alive, but to continue his show, his masquerade. “The Masque of Red Death,” is Poe’s mockery of the North American dream. Poe is simply stating, regardless of race, sex or social status, if you are a pauper or a prince, death is absolute. No matter how much money one has or how big ones castle is there is no escaping the great predator death.

Another aspect of the North American dream is the want and need to have absolute power and dominion over all creatures. The feeling of superiority and the want to have total control over another is a characteristic that runs through North American literature. In another one of Edgar Allen Poe’s masterpieces “The Purloined Letter”, the plot is wrapped around a double robbery investigation in which all characters are trying to possess a sacred letter. The entire list of powers this letter possesses is never fully revealed by Poe, all that is said is the letter gives the reader absolute and total power over the writer. The lure of this power causes Dupin to steel the letter and an investigator to search tirelessly for it. Though the idea of having dominion over all creatures spans all the way back to the book of Genesis, the North American dream has placed itself in the role as the master rather than the lowly servant.

The idea of a master, servant relationship certainly is not a new one. A dark period of history catalogues a time when slavery and this type of behavior were not only acceptable, but also encouraged. Plantation owners would use the backs of blacks to finish hard labor in the fields. No author captures this dark period of history better than William Faulkner with his novel, Absalom, Absalom. The character of Thomas Sutpen acts as both protagonist and antagonist in this civil war classic. He is both loved and hated by all who remember him. One of the recollections of his character involved Thomas Sutpen’s desire to build an all white kingdom. He attempts this by having French-speaking slaves build his mansion, the center of his estate, in the middle of nowhere. Faulkner allows the reader to have insight by allowing us to see the hard labor that Sutpen’s slaves endure. The feeling of superiority fills Sutpen’s character as the concept of one drop of black blood consumes him, toppling his all white estate. In the southern portion of the United States during the time of civil war, if a person had one drop of black blood in their body regardless of appearance or allegiance, they were black. This made slavery more complicated as slaves were often related to their masters.

Examining the literature of North America seems to reveal a rather dismal picture of greed, power and dominion over all life. Though this is a generalization of many masterpieces, I find this perversion of the American dream to be entirely too real.

An aspect of the South American dream is the want and need for freedom. A hope that relief will come and the one time slaves and oppressed will be set free and thought of as human beings if not equals. No better is this aspect catalogued than in Alejo Carpentier’s novel The Kingdom of This World. This novel depicts the first successful slave revolt in history as the black slaves of Haiti realized they were in the great majority and fought and won their freedom. Though their island was ran by one dictator after the other, The Kingdom of This World captures the revolt, captures the desire for freedom in true form.

Another aspect of the South American dream is the want and need to have safe and decent working conditions. Hard work and sacrifice is not a complaint that is heard very often in South America as people are used to working very hard for their companies and themselves. However, it is not uncommon for workers to be worked to death in the fields do to substandard working conditions. The actions of The United Fruit Company and their part in the Banana Massacre is well catalogued in Gabriel Garcia Marquez’s novel, One Hundred Years of Solitude. The United Fruit Company practically works the workers in the field to death, all over the wantonness of profit. For the most part, workers do not complain, and are happy to accept the meager wages they are provided by the company, all they ask for is small water breaks and a decent place to use the restroom. The United Fruit Company did not meet their request so the workers set up a strike, but the fruit company quickly hired a police force and brutally murdered most of the banana workers. All the workers wanted was a safe a comfortable working environment, but this new environment threatened to cut into the profits of the large corporation. Marquez captures some very basic human needs in his novel.

A want and need to get back to the earth and be as close to nature as possible is another theme that is very common throughout South American dreams. A desire to work hard, but not at the cost of ruining the natural surrounding. A fascination with trees and other wildlife is well captured in Julio Cortazar’s short story, “Axolotl.” In this short story, we do not know where man ends and a tiny salamander-like creature begins. Man’s fascination with this creature not only allows him to study this axolotl, but also to become one of the creatures itself. Suggesting, the only way we can ever truly know our surroundings and the creatures that live within them is to study them and become them. Many stories catalogue farmers tilling their field on the very edge of civilization and wilderness, always careful to respect the power that Mother Nature has.

Examining South American literature reveals a want for freedom, a desire for safe working conditions and a need to stay close to our environment that has taken care of us. Though there are many other aspects and many other classics that have not been examined, these are some very common elements that run throughout.

Throughout time the conglomerate of the American dream has become skewed into two separate ideas that are as far apart as the two respective continents. The North American dream has developed into that of greed, power and dominion over all, the South American dream has developed into the want for freedom, the desire for safe working conditions and the wantonness to get back to nature. Though the great American dream still stands as a beacon of hope for all to see, it no longer applies to all people who would call themselves Americans.



Works Citied:

1. Carpentier, Alejo. The Kingdom of This World. Farrar, Straus and Giroux. New York: 1985.

2. Cortazar, Julio. “Axolotl.” Latin American Short Stories. Harper-Collins. New York: 2004.

3. Faulkner, William. Absalom, Absalom. Vintage Publishing. New York: 1986.

4. Marquez, Gabriel. One Hundred Years of Solitude. Harper-Perennial. New York: 1970.

5. Poe, Edgar Allen. “The Purloined Letter.” Edgar Allen Poe: The Complete Works.
Raven Publishing. London: 1999.

6. Poe, Edgar Allen. “The Masque of the Red Death.” Edgar Allen Poe: The Complete Works.
Raven Publishing. London: 1999.

7. Pope, John. Latin American Writers: A Revolution in Writing. Harper-Collins.
New York: 2004