European American Dreams II

The themes I spotted during the week's readings were:

Curiosity
Self-reliance
Confidence
Wealth
Spontaneity
Independence
Belief in self, self-reliance
Seek
Discover
Good fortune
Exploring
Power
Liberty
Courage
Originality
Ego


Self-reliance and originality were two themes that I thought came through very heavily in our two-week study of European American dreams.

We read Allen Ginsberg's poem America. Here's a bit of it:


We also read The Road Not Taken by Robert Frost:


Americans have always put pride into taking the road less traveled. It's part of what makes us self-reliant originals. America was built on trailblazing -- not on being a follower. It's one of the most enduring aspects of the American dream.

Another poem we read was Emily Dickinson's I'm Nobody. I found two versions of the poem on YouTube, but chose this one because it was done by a man. I liked his country music interpretation of it. I was also thinking about how when we covered Asian-American dreams the class ached for a male interpretation of those dreams. I did find a male interpretation of Joy Luck Club on YouTube, however, it was unfit for sharing. But when I found this man's interpretation of Dickinson's poem, I was delighted to share it.


Class interpretations of Henry David Thoreau's work included calling his work pretentious and my own offense at reading Civil Disobedience for the second time in my life. I enjoyed the essay the first time I read it back in high school, but this time around I didn't like it at all.

I find Thoreau kind of funny because technology like e-mail, the Internet, instant messaging, blogs etc., would have really disturbed the simplicity-seeking Thoreau. These were definitely not elements of his American dream. He would not have wanted an electronic leash like a Blackberry, much less a telephone. But people today see these as just the tools that free them up so they can better seek the American dream through work.

For myself, I work at home so the laptop and all its features are my lifeline. There are so many people who make freelance and/or telecommuting careers out of things Thoreau would have found detrimental. I don't think he would have seen this generation as really alive. He would have seen it more as pathetic and obsessive. I guess it goes back to the American dream meaning different things to different people.