Analysis of Martin Dressler: The Tale of an American Dreamer Novel - Essay Example

Lecturer: Critical Essay on "Martin Dressler: The Tale of an American Dreamer" Introduction Martin Dressler: The Tale of an American Dreamer is a novel that was written by Millhauser Steven and the novel widely evokes its time, as well as, the place through elaborative description. Martin was industrious and brilliant; thus, he made a swift and eventually rose up to the top ladder of success. His sister in-laws who were like the dreamlike shadow accompanied him and they eventually became partners in business. Martin started dreaming about big issues and his vision became bolder as he walked a haunted line between fantasy and reality, ambition, madness, industry and a sense of doom built piece-by-hypnotic piece until this exciting voyage into the heart of an American dreamer reached its bitter-sweet end. The theme of “Dreamlike-ness” The author of this novel attempts to focus on the major theme of dreamlike by focusing on the major character, Martin Dresser and the way he rose up from a modest beginning to a height of dreamlike good fortune. Millhauser wrote an allure and a fairytale novel about the imagination world, where he frequently focuses on the dreamer as the major theme, the illusionist who attempts to satisfy the needs of others for fantasy. Therefore, the author examines the wonderful deeds of a young teenager known as Martin Dressler in his earlier childhood and imaginations. Even though Martin was the son of a shopkeeper, he also had his own dreams of becoming successful in the future (Millhauser 97). Therefore, he was luck to perform things that few people can dare to imagine; hence, he was able to satisfy his desires or accomplish his vision. Martin rose from a humble family of a mere son of a shopkeeper and became the greatest hotel owner in the New York City. In addition, Dressler wanted to do things that many people have not yet done before in order to satisfy himself and amaze other people about what cannot be achieved easily. Dressler dreamt about what a hotel might really be in case one did not run from the modern but embraced it. Therefore, he does embraced hard work, a winning aspect and daring vision that contributed to her success of achieving his dreams of doing bigger things. Dressler kept on improving and growing as his dreams kept getting larger, he made varied changes in the city. Dressler is not much interested in wealth but he attempted to make an alternative world where people can dream big things, an ambition that is attractive and overwhelming. His passion was to make things work; thus, he explored the American dream in all its manifestations. Millhauser employs varied techniques such as lure, vagueness, childhood and replacement of reality, dreams and many others in emphasizing the theme of an American dreamer. First, the author focused on the childhood of a young teenager in his earlier years as an apprentice shopkeeper and son of a shopkeeper. Dressler rises up with his freewheeling ambition and business expertise; thus, he became a manager of a tobacco stand in New York City. His abilities and big dreams are soon recognized by the director of one of the hotels in New York City who eventually offered him a job as a hotel manager (Millhauser 123). Dressler eventually became a hotel owner after he brought a few investors to his cause and he managed to build his own hotel. Secondly, the novel of Millhauser is like a bibliography; thus, the author employs the techniques of replacement of reality to reveal varied themes one of which is the dreamlike. The novel is interesting because of magical realism and it is narrated in a very linear way that makes the reader to assume that the author was guessing about the characters and the emotions of Dressler. There are many themes in the novel but the theme of dreamer is one of the appealing themes. Dressler as a dreamer begins modestly and makes steps of achieving success and he eventually achieves his dreams by opening and hotel in the city (Millhauser 82). Dressler manages to build a big hotel with zoos, parks and theater districts in the New York City. He later became friends to two women; thus, they become partners in the business and later Dressler married one of them. The novel attempts to define the American culture, which is the American dream; thus the author employs vagueness as one of the techniques to address the issue of the American dream. Therefore, he begins to narrate the story about Dressler who rose up from a mere shopkeeper learner to a successful hotel manager and eventual to a business owner. Dressler began his own restaurant, which eventually became a chain and later moves to construct hotels. This is where the author also employs a technique of advertisements where Dressler attempts to persuade customers through varied advertising techniques. Dressler picks varied consumer concepts such as the subliminal advertising campaigns in order to attract many customers; thereby achieving successful business performance. This novel is significant because it attempts to reveal the way the business people in the contemporary society experience the effects of voracious appetite for wealth and property. The structure of the novel parallels the theme of dream with the plot; thus making the narrative more interesting. In the first few chapters of the novel, the reader inhabits a rather grounded reality as Dressler; the son of a cigar store is presented as an intelligent and industrious or hard working teenager. The author portrays Dressler as a hard working young man whose characters were admired by many people who he came across and it is these earlier stages of life that he dreamt bigger imaginations, which he successfully achieved later in her life (Millhauser 67). The novel progress into the realm of extraordinary; thus from the reality, the reader can understand the realm of fantasy and magical realism in the novel. Millhauser makes use of factual and imaginative stories in order to make the novel appealing to the readers. For instance, “the new dreamer,” a building that has eighteen underground narratives seems fictional because it was technically impossible during this century (Millhauser 191). The reader understands that the edge between actuality and imaginary possibility in the urban space of New York is very delicate, almost indescribable and unnoticeable (Millhauser 199). The novel does not resolve the tension by completely providing in to the monarchy of the imaginary but also observes the way non-materiality space can be attacked by; thus, they still keep their true atmosphere, a notion being established by the two hotels. The New Dressler that catches the phrase is a more than the hotel but a way of life; hence suggesting a merely big expectations from people. Conclusion In conclusion, Millhauser shows the essence of the growing urban space, which as the New York City at the turn of the century. Therefore, the novel focuses on the intensifying space of New York; thus the author attempts to use vagueness stories, replacement of reality and dream techniques to capture the image of the rapidly evolving city of New York. The paradigm of American dream as the common theme attempts to reveal the way varied changes took place in the dawn of the new century. The author narrates a fiction story that attempts to reveal the way cities in New York City evolved. Work Cited Millhauser, Steven. Martin Dressler: The Tale of an American Dreamer. New York: Vintage Books, 1997. Print. Read More