Gender Roles and Do All Americans Have Equal Access to The American Dream

Gender roles have changed dramatically in the last 40-50 years. The stay at home moms are a minority now due to the rising economy, usually both people in a relationship work. Women have really taken multi-tasking to the limit as they are usually the ones who organize their careers, children, daycare, household chores, and getting children to sports, grocery shopping. Men are assisting with most of these things, but I think it is the women/mother who plans and orchestrates everything in most relationships. The family type has changed dramatically too over the last several decades. Due to the high rate of divorce, many families end up becoming single parents. That has changed the lives of women, men and children. Single parents have less support and a much harder time financially than 2 parent families. Many single parents lead very demanding lives because they are filling the roles of both parents. Can a person struggling with little money and little time still find The American Dream? People question what The American Dream is for them and if it is attainable. I think that it is definitely harder for some individuals who have very little money or single parents struggling to do it all. Most well paying jobs require a Bachelor’s Degree and if you’re over 25 and living on your own it is very hard to go back to school to get a Bachelor’s Degree especially while working full time and raising children. I did some research a while back on characteristics of successful people that have faced dehabiliting odds and triumphed. The main qualities they possessed were “Dogged determination” at the top of the list, creativity, faith in oneself, a great positive learning attitude, the ability to make mistakes and move on and make a problem an opportunity were some of the them. Very interesting stories about people living on the streets. The Pursuit of Happyness is a movie that is a true story about Christopher Gardner; he was homeless but his determination and belief in himself helped him find his American Dream. Look at what Christopher Reeve accomplished and he was a quadriplegic. Yes, I think that just about anyone can make their dreams come true even in the direst circumstances. It may be damn near impossible for some, but if the person is willing to do what it takes even if it is damn near impossible and stick it out they can do it. Most people are not willing to do whatever it takes for long periods of time to make things happen though, and that is why there are so many people just spending their lives dreaming of The American Dream.

Woman Warrior

I don't think that Woman Warrior is an easy read, but it is a very insightful one. I knew that China wasn't up on women's rights, but I had no clue as to the abuse and degradation that still goes on there. Woman Warrior, Beloved, and Indian Killer were definitely learning experiences for me about how minorities and woman are treated all around the world. I think it is a great thing that people can write these kinds of stories to educate the world about what it is really like. After reading these books, it has given me a fresh look and total appreciation that I am a white woman that was born in the United States. You grow up knowing that we are better off, but it really hits home after you read about these kinds of specific discrimination and abuse.

I liked the part where she is trained to be a woman warrior and triumphs over all the battles. In a way I think this sort of relates to how she feels about her mother being a doctor. Even her mother says that her father couldn't support her daughters without the mother working. The mother says, "I'm the one with the big muscles"(104). For the mother to be a doctor in a country that treats woman like dogs, this is quite an accomplishment. I think that Kingston looks up to her mother even though she didn't get the love she needed as her daughter; it helps to shape who she is and her desire to be a Woman Warrior. I'm glad that she showed us the difference between being an American/Chinese person and a Chinese person in China. I didn't realize the differences and the different issues that they have to address not just from other Americans, but from relatives in China.

Beloved-Reader Response

I’m not sure how I feel about the book, Beloved. It was kind of hard to follow and understand at some parts of the story. Some of it I just kept reading and then I understood what some of it meant. What impressed me the most was the creativeness of the writing. Certain sentences where so creatively written that it took me a while to figure what they meant. I think that is really neat. I will probably think of that as I put together marketing documents. The stuff that Sethe goes through is terrible and very vividly put. You can feel her pain and degrading like when she tells about how they whip her and take her milk. I can’t imagine being black and having to live like the slaves did back then. It is terribly inhuman. I’ve always been ashamed that my ancestors would have treated people so inhumanely. The ghost part of the story lends certain suspense throughout the story. You never really know if Beloved is going to be dangerous because of her love/jealously of Sethe. I liked the ending how Paul came back to be there for Sethe. I really liked the show of loyalty after all that she had been through. They both had such a hard struggling life. I like how the author shows the changes in Denver throughout the book. You feel her alienation and loneliness, almost desperate for someone to notice her. It wasn’t as easy to read as Indian Killer but it was a really good book to open your eyes to how black people were treated, the hell they went through. It makes you feel their pain; breaks your heart to see how they have to displace themselves totally to not feel any love. They do this purposely knowing the pain will be unbearable when all their children are taken away to be sold into slavery over and over.

Who is the "Indian Killer"?

Who is the Indian Killer? To figure this out I think we have to distinguish first whether the Indian killer is a real person, an ancient spirit, if it stands for a concept or all of these. We have evidence in a way that the Indian Killer is a real person from the chapters involving the kidnapped boy. There is evidence that the killer is flesh and blood from the fact that he carries the child, cares for the child for a period of days, and then returns the child. I do not think it is John as the only evidence we have of John’s violence is when he goes after Wilson. We have proof of this insanity, his mental dialog of wanting to kill a white man. I think Alexie starts out making you assume it will be John. We do have a lot of proof of Reggie’s violence and Aaron’s violence and also verbal hate from Truck. I think Alexie has a deep purpose for everything he writes. So, I think the fact that he feeds us information for each character is to make you ponder the plot, but to also ponder the meaning of the bigger picture. I think this part of it is superficial, like people have commented that the identity of the Indian killer doesn’t matter. The bigger picture or more significant point is the concept that it all stands for. The story is a mix of character traits for each character involving hate, discrimation, lack of indentity, insanity, and violence. We are fed so much of these things about each character that it leaves you wondering. I think the most likely candidate is Reggie, as I think there is a reason that Alexie shows us his pension for violence, hate, abusive background by a white father, his past filled with discrimination, especially his hate for the collection of tapes; really everything that would probably make someone a serial killer or in this case the “Indian Killer”. As the whole point of the book is to show us that white people don’t know what Indians go through, that collections are one sided; I think that Alexie would have an indigenous (cultural; native) purpose for making the Indian Killer an Indian. The article “The violence of Collection” explains that the purpose of the book is for us to see the irony of the role reversal involving the collections taken by white man and how inaccurate they are. The reversal is that the Indian killer is taking collections, this time it is collections of the “white man”. I think Alexie has a purpose for making the last 2 of three chapters about Reggie moving on to a new town. Moving on to the next area to take more collections. He uses Marie’s dialog to give us a further idea as to the reasons and concept behind it and the 500 years that discrimination and ignorance has existed.

Discrimination

The only real racial discrimination I’ve ever seen was in the Catholic grade school here in Springfield. By 4th grade it was pretty much decided whether you were popular, really unpopular or just sort of okay. I didn’t realize until later grades that children that came from homes with “money” were popular and treated well by the nuns. I was definitely not one of those children; I was raised by a single parent and we had very little money. It was around 6th or 7th grade that a boy came as a new student to this school. Most of the children were actually pretty mean to about 2-3 other children in the class and someone new was definitely not accepted. I never realized it till later but maybe there was instant discrimination because the new boy’s last name was of Hispanic origin; although I don’t think you could tell that just by looking at him. These kids didn’t need much reason to be cruel though, that’s just the way it was. I remember it bothered me they way they treated him, maybe more than it upset me on how they treated me . They treated him worse than they treated me and one or two other kids. I always went out of my way to try to talk to him, but he just became more and more quiet, withdrawn or other times angry. Then one day I remember being inside after recess and looking out the windows into the yard. The boy and about 10 other boys were the only ones left in the recess area. Looking out I seen them like surround him and they all began fighting, ganging up on him. I remember yelling for someone to stop it, asking the nun who was my teacher to do something. I never felt that she even was that upset (she was the meanest of all the nuns in that school). It was finally stopped.
The next day we were told that the boy’s mother had pulled him from the school. I remember the nun briefly talked about how the boys had attacked him; she seemed a little disgusted with the boys that did it, but that was all that was over said. I never understood why or how this kind of cruelty could happen, especially in a place that is supposed to be about God. (In eight years, I seen little sign of God’s love from the children or the nuns)
Over the years I would run into the boy. He was always nice if not kind of quiet; I always felt a deep sadness over what had happened. In my later 20’s I found out through other friends that he was doing drugs (like shooting up drug). I was so sickened by this and remember once or twice trying to talk to him when I’d run into him and asking him why. It makes me want to cry to this day. Over the years, I ran into some of these kids while out partying and several have pulled my aside to apologize about how they treated me. I always wondered if any of them ever apologized to him. About 4-5 years ago I heard that he died of a drug overdose. Although this school has 8th grade reunions every 5-10 years, I have no desire to go or even return their calls.

Indian Killer-Reader Response

Sherman Alexie's book, Indian Killer, is probalby one of the best books I've read. It is a very good fast paced, intense thriller. Alexie writes in a way that really draws you in. The reader is forced to think about prejudice and reflect on the ripples it produces in society. It touched on many issues on many different levels. It really brings to the surface the impact of the media in society and how a thread of hate and prejudice can bring about violence and even riots.
I think the ending leads you to think that it was John, but if you look into the ending more closely there are other things that were brought about in the book that make it possible that it could have been someone else. One point is the fact that in several instances, even when threatened, John was not really very violet throughout the book, just sort of lost. He refers to killing a white man(one)in the book for a purpose. He did not kill Wilson, only marked him to show what he was. Is there any significance then, that the man he killed was himself. The ending leaves an opening to the possibility that that the Indian Killer was even possibly Reggie. I think the ending includes the dialog with Marie for a reason; she states that John is not the Indian Killer. I think Alexie did this purposely to make the reader really think about who the Indian Killer is, the ceremony and reasons behind the killings. Reggie tells the story at the end about Captain Jack, how he killed 25 soldiers how he should have kept fighting and running instead of giving up. Reggie could be the Indian Killer moving on to a new area. At the end of the book, Marie states several times that John is not the Indian Killer. She brings up the “500 years” and the fact that “Indians are dancing now”. I think that “A Creation Story gives us a glimpse into the ceremonial part of it. The Indians response to hate and prejudice that they and other ethnic groups have endured for hundreds of years. It shows that different Indians will learn the ceremonies and continue to carry on the dance behind their masks as long as this prejudice exists, maybe forever.

Fear and Loathing

Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas is definitely not an easy to read book. The way the book is written, it is very hard to understand and makes one wonder why it gained so much attention. The reader gains very little positive or quality entertainment from reading it. On a good note, there is a little creativity and humor weaved throughout the story that helps make it more readable. The scene in the bathroom where the lawyer is asking him to throw the radio in at the height of the song is a little humorous. The way Hunter Thompson describes the scene with the lawyer's "eyes full of craziness" asking him to back the tape up again and Thompson trying to explain why he couldn't throw the radio in the tub. Thompson tries to explain how they'd question him, and the lawyer responds, "Bullshit!" he screamed. "Just tell them I wanted to get Higher!". It is so stupid and outrageous, that it is kind of funny. When the song, "White Rabbit" peaks, Thompson "lashed it into the tub like a cannonball." His style of writing is different, but at least in this section you understand what is going on and he describes it vividly. He uses graphic words and descriptions,"My attorney screamed crazily, thrashing around in the tub like a shark after meat, churning water all over the floor." The few creative passages similar to this one help the reader get through the drug induced craziness of the book. If this book is an example of how Hunter Thompson became famous, I think he only became famous because he had money and knew the right people.

What is the American Dream?

The American dream is different for every American. It is symbolic of fact that you can be whatever you want to be (within your power and within reason). It is the fact that any American is free to start a business of the own. Entrepreneurs are one example of the American Dream. The opportunity to be a NBA star, a movie star, a rock star and many other things fuel the American Dream.
In my Philosophy class I learned a very interesting fact that many people are not aware of. The Americans Dream is what keeps 95% of the population pacified by 5% of the population in the world owning the majority of the money. That 5% have to make sure that the rest of the population doesn’t get out of hand so they make sure the following takes place. The opportunity to get the house with the white picket fence, a family, a college education, a career, a boat, a camper, a vacation every year, sports and hobby equipment is what the average American desires. The process of acquiring these things keeps people busy and pacified while the very rich and movie stars own castles in England, etc. They accomplish this though media advertising; flooding Americans with new technology toys to keep people happy and stimulate the economy. Makes you think twice now, if you really want to buy that updated pricey phone!

The 21st quintessential American

The 21st quintessential American is highly adaptable in an ever-changing, technology based world. Most Americans are comfortable with computer generated procedures compared to the 20th century American. People were intimidated by the possibilities of mainframe computers and had only a glimpse of the power they held. The average 21st century American is computer literate and understands that technology requires continuous learning.
Children in the 21st century display great aptitude for learning computer based games and they communicate more with texting instead of calling like 20th century children used to do. Children also have more problems communicating now, due to the fact that texting doesn’t develop communication skills like talking face to face. People of the 20th century would have laughed at you if you would have told them that there would be very few pay phones left around the United States in the 21st century. Cell phones have eliminated the need for these artifacts.
Dating has become more distant for many 21st century Americans because frequent texting, web cams, and email don’t build much intimacy. One the other hand, these things have enhanced long distance relationships with friends and families by being able to send pictures and videos immediately to people overseas.
The 21st century American is probably a little spoiled from having everything faster and easier, whether it be fast food, internet shopping, electronic banking, printing pictures from digital cameras or ordering movies on demand or via internet. Americans have come a long way from using outhouses to modern day no-touch faucets and auto-flushing toilets that use motion sensors. Most 21st century Americans are patriotic, proud of all the luxuries found in the United States and still intent on living the American dream!