Idea of Landscape and American Dreams - Essay Example

Wilkerson’s Depiction of the American Dream First used by James Adams in 1931, the term American dream con sdiverse implications to Americans. In 1931, the country was under serious challenges of the great depression. According to Adams, in his book The Epic of America, American dream was an expression of the visions for an affordable life. As used by Adams1, American dream is an expression of the political and social expectations of citizens and a hopeful future. Wilkerson’s masterpiece, The Warmth of Other Suns, supports the idea of the American dream in diverse ways. Since Adams’ used the term, it evolved to be part of Americans’ life. It connotes the Americans’ desire for equality2, independence and togetherness. They envisioned a lifestyle that would be affordable to Americans, enhance unity and freedom of expression. Americans experienced other challenges apart from the great depressions. The great migration from south to north was a serious challenge to Americans. Several other authors such as Isabel Wilkerson envisioned the American dream in their works. Wilkerson’s the warmth of other suns is an account of the Great Migration in America. It reveals the historic development in America that transformed the American society is a tremendous manner. The Great Migration was an exodus of nearly six million people in America. Wilkerson’s provides an analysis of the migration from 1915 to 1970. The story provides an analysis of the trips made by Americans during the Great Migration. Black Americans migrated from the south to the north. Their relocation and migration had great impacts on the North. The migration involved the abandonment of the old confederacy states in beginning of 1915. Black Americans were poor and with had low levels of education. In the book, Wilkerson provides an account of three blacks immigrants from the south. Wilkerson provides a background of the immigration story as a progressive occurrence. Ida Mae, a central character in the book, had several challenges in life with her husband George. George had meager earnings and lived with Mae and her three children. George solely depended on earnings from the feudal southern agriculture. This is a depiction of the American dream of the southern blacks hoping for proper employment. Employment in the feudal southern agriculture had insignificant earnings. Mr. Edd, George’s employer, did not provide good employment terms like other southern white masters. Underpayment for the works of the employees was a vital characteristic of the southern white masters. This is a depiction of the American dream of proper and appropriate employment conditions. George lacked basic education to advocate for his employment rights. The American dream is to elevate the education level of all to enhance empowerment. The American dream ideology envisions a society that embraces unity and inclusiveness. It envisions a society that is free from discrimination. The society that Americans deserve and hopes to live in is free from exploitation of individuals based on class or race. All these, however, are evident in Wilkerson’s book. In 1937, George’s cousin underwent torture by a white posse. The white posse erroneously suspected Mr. Edd’s cousin for stealing turkeys. The inhuman act is a sign of discrimination based on class. Southern whites had evident discrimination against African Americans, based on class and race. Wilkerson’s masterpiece work documenting the migration of black Americans provides a true picture of their plight. Critics point at the plight of the blacks during the decade-long migration of the blacks as a depiction of a failed society. They show the extent to which the society neglected part of the population. Whites regarded blacks as poor and illiterate. Isolation among the society members was real and evident in diverse forms. Joblessness among the black Americans and dependency on the white plantation owners from the southern was a sign of unfulfilled dreams. As connoted by the title, blacks from the south moved to the north with their aspirations of attaining freedom. Black immigrants viewed freedom as existent under the warmth of other suns that they did not experience while staying in the south. The desire for freedom is a core of the American dream ideology. The ideology intends to reduce dependency as envisioned in Wilkerson’s masterpiece work. The great migration initiated the advocacy for civil rights3 in the country; a movement that would persist until 1963. Wilkerson’s account is a chronicle of three blacks from the south who survived the long journey to attain freedom. The three represent many other citizens who showed dedication towards the realization of American dream. They were passionate to attain their urge for a society that is free from exploitative labor. The book blends a touching historical perspective of six million immigrants presented through three characters- Gladney, Starling and Foster. Wilkerson’s book provides a true account of the challenges that southern blacks experienced in an attempt to fulfill their desires and attain freedom. The characters had a vision of attaining a society that is free from racial terrorism. The unwelcoming environment that black immigrants received when at the north was perturbing. Black immigrants had several challenges while living in the north. They escaped harsh conditions in the south and met others in the north. The working-class in the north welcomed the blacks in a rather hostile atmosphere. Gladney, Starling and Foster had a notably troubled experience to cope with the trauma of exclusion that they experienced while at the north. Working class at the north felt that the blacks invaded their jobs and would render them unemployed. The migration featured in the book was a distinguished act of independence by the population. It was an action of expression of freedom by the blacks. Before the beginning of the great migration, only a small population of the blacks lived in the north. By the end of the great migration, a notable population of blacks, nearly half of them, lived in the north. Every immigrant found a reason for departure from the south. Some of them escaped the experience of humiliation. Others focused on their freedom from constriction of life prospects. Escape from potential instances and threats of violence formed also initiated the migration. Material deprivation by exploitative white masters in the south was a central contributing reason for the migration. Immigrants wanted reforms and corrective mechanisms for their challenges. Blacks brought up in the south rejected the Jim Crow regime4. The conventions of segregation formed dominated the lives of southern blacks. They also experienced bias in their lives. Eliminating the bias experienced by the southern blacks formed the basis of the American dream, as a distinguished ideology in the society. As a result, there were notable responses of the southern masters to the exodus of the blacks in relation to labor conditions. Southern plantation owners revised their labor conditions in response to the exodus. Blacks migrated to seek for liberty from segregation and discrimination, a factor that they attained partially. Racism was existent in the north, as well, but on a different scale from that experienced in the south. Being from the remote village areas in the south, blacks had to learn living in the urban setups. There were restrictions set for the blacks in the north living in the urban setups. Blacks paid higher rates for goods and services compared to their counterparts, the whites. Some neighborhoods were not accessible for blacks in the north. They had a lower level of competition in the job sector compared to whites. Those were the challenges that blacks underwent, which they embraced, and beyond which they continued to pursue their dream for a bright and promising future. That is, the American dream. Although Wilkerson provides a chronicle of a historical occurrence, it is a revelation of the plight of the blacks in the south. Although the north never seemed to be the best they desired, immigrants found a better situation than before. While at the north, blacks could pursue their visions and life prospects. They could own a home and attain education. Basic health care services were available to the immigrants at the north. They gained respect while living in the north than in the south. These were fundamentals of achieving the American dream. They attained basic empowerment to raise their families. The blacks’ expression of their freedom through the great migration is evident in the book. The migration was an action of expressing the freedom that the blacks needed to achieve their dreams of proper education services. It was an advocacy by the blacks to attain their civil rights to equality. It was an advocacy for the fulfillment of their rights to affordable housing and proportionate returns for their labor. It was a protest against the restrictions to movement that blacks experienced in the south. Most important was its demonstration against slavery that existed in the south. Blacks who made the bold decision to leave the north had the determination to attain the American dream. The three characters used in the immigration story relocated to different places, away from the old country, and established new lifestyles. George Starling migrated from Florida to Harlem. Robert Foster relocated to Los Angeles from Louisiana. Ida Gladney changed location to Chicago from Mississippi. All the three attained their life demands of the American dream. Bibliography Cullen, Jim. The American Dream: A Short History of an Idea That Shaped a Nation. New York, NY: Oxford University Press, 2003. Print. Gregory, James. The Southern Diaspora: How the Great Migrations of Black and White Southerners Transformed America. Chapel Hill: University of North Carolina Press, 2005. Print. Klopsch, Nadja. The American Dream in 20th Century American Drama. Munchen: GRIN Verlag, 2009. Internet resource. Lepore, Jill. The Story of America: Essays on Origins. Princeton, N.J: Princeton University Press, 2012. Print. Read More