American Dream in A Lesson Before Dying and The Grapes of Wrath
The American Dream is the belief that anyone, regardless of where they were born or what class they were born into, can attain their own version of success. Two books that demonstrate the American Dream are A Lesson Before Dying, and The Grapes of Wrath. Both of these novels represent the American Dream in different ways. In one, a family travels west in hopes of finding jobs and wealth, while the other shows the struggles of achieving the American Dream due to racism.
A Lesson Before Dying takes place in the south where the main character, Jefferson, is falsely accused of robbery and murdering a white man, and is sentenced to death. This story shows America’s past and how racism was a huge role in people’s lives. Jefferson sits in jail awaiting the day of his execution and his family really wants to try and help him. His aunt, Miss Emma, talks to a teacher, Grant Wiggins, and asks him to go with her to the jailhouse to speak with Jefferson. Grant is a rude man who wants nothing to do with Jefferson or his aunt. However, he is eventually persuaded by Miss Emma to go talk to the plantation owner for approval to see Jefferson. The owner allows him to do this and Grant thought nothing of it, but he has no idea that Jefferson would eventually change his life. After a long period of time where Jefferson went without showing his emotions, he eventually cracked when Grant had his students bring him pecans. This made Grant excited and hopeful that he can still help Jefferson out of this horrible situation. Grant continues to visit Jefferson and brings him different things to keep him sane. Yet, nothing will change for Jefferson’s awaiting execution. When the day of the execution finally comes, Grant is to hurt to see for himself, so he decides to stay at the school with his students until someone delivers the news to him. The story ends with Grant crying in front of his class as he tells them what happened. This shows the American Dream in the sense that Grant started out as a grumpy teacher who didn’t care about others, but Jefferson helped him change by showing him that there’s more to life. Jefferson was able to achieve that by making Grant see himself in Jefferson when they would talk and now Grant will have a different point of view on his life and the impact he has on others.
On a completely different approach of the American Dream, The Grapes of Wrath shows a family that decides to travel west in search of wealth and new opportunities. The American Dream is all about finding success in yourself and achieving more than what feels possible. The Grapes of Wrath is a perfect example of the American Dream because the Joad family has a mindset focused on making something of themselves. The story starts out with the family living in Oklahoma when a drought comes through their town and wipes out all of the crops. This pushes them to think of how they can achieve something more than just farming. Throughout the story, the Joads have to deal with many hardships and overcome different obstacles standing in the way of their vision. On their journey West, they lose some family members along the way and when they arrive in California, they are treated with disrespect. They also don’t get what they want because they are rudely awakened to the reality of migrant life in California; They are greeted with poor working conditions and the landowners use monopolies to get away with awful wages. The family continues on and eventually finds a campsite, Weedpatch, which has hot water, showers, and working bathrooms. They stay there until they can get back on their feet and eventually leave. Toward the end of the book, there is a flood that leaves people in fear and feeling hopeless. The Joads look for nearby shelter when they come across an abandoned barn, where they decide to keep safe. They find a father and son already in the barn, but the father is in horrible condition because he spends his time feeding his son and not himself. The story ends with one of the Joads trying to help the man by feeding him to attempt to keep him alive and well.
