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2012/08/06 10A10450 Riko Iwamoto
American Nightmare
Mr. Vertigo is a story of American dream. A small dirty abject orphan is developed by the master, and after severe trials, he realizes his dream of flying. It is the feat that no one has ever done since, and gradually he gets wealth and power. The story is symbolic of the history of America and the process of American Dream. Added to this, we can see that there are many other examples of the concept included in the story line of this tall tale. Each of the characters has the idea of American Dream. But we have to notice that Aesop and Mother Sioux, who are African American and Native American, is deprived of their dream by the outer pressure of KKK. The concept, in theory, ought to propose every people with equal opportunity, but in fact only a grasp of people occupy the opportunity and outlaws such as African American and Native American are seen as exceptions. At the same time we should not overlook the fact that the minority have been suppressed while WASP enjoys their dreams when we take an overview of the history of United States. The purpose of this paper is to consider American Dream from the viewpoint of the minority.
First of all, let us consider what American Dream is. It is a national ethos of the United States; a set of ideals in which freedom gives people the opportunity for prosperity and success, and an upward social mobility achieved through hard work. In the definition of the American Dream by James Truslow Adams in his1931 book Epic of America, “life should be better and richer and fuller according to ability or achievement” regardless of social class of circumstances or birth. The idea of American Dream is rooted in the United States Declaration of Independence which proclaims that “all men are created equal” and that they are “endowed by their Creator with certain inalienable Rights” including “Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.”
Now let me introduce the characters who have the idea of American Dream in their mind. Needless to say, the character who symbolizes American Dream the most is the main character of this story, Walter Claireborne Rawley. Before Master Yehudi finds out Walt, he was just an orphan boy who knows nothing, begging nickels on the streets of Saint Louis on weekends. He thinks he was just an ordinary boy, but Master Yehudi says he has the gift; “Because you’re the answer to my prayers, son. That’s why I want you. Because you have the gift. ” (4) Master Yehudi makes the proposal to start the business of flying and make money; “It’s not an easy skill to learn, but if you listen to me and obey my instructions, we’ll both wind up millionaires.”(4) Master and Walt go from Missouri to Kansas in the Blue Bird Special, just as the Westward Movement. Walt experiences a lot of ordeals in the three-year apprenticeship. When he has trouble trying “loft and locomotion”, Master tells him what is needed to achieve something; “trial and error, that’s what it boils down to. You’ve come to the hard part now, and you can’t expect to reach the heaven overnight.”(71)And if he overcomes this difficulty, “There isn’t a bank in the world that could hold all the money we’d make then.”(69) Indeed He makes successes on the levitation show and becomes an absolute star. He certainly represents American people, who get over their trouble with their own power with upward mobility.
The episode of Master Yehudi can also be said as an example of American Dream. After years of wandering, he got his house and his land overnight by gambling, just as an upstart getting rich quick. When a person pushes his way up, sometimes he have to kick the other people about. There must be winner and loser, and that is thought to be fair. Poker seems to be symbolic game of this idea; “Master Yehudi was holding four sevens, and since four of a kind always beats a full house, he won the farm and the woman, and poor, defeated Charlie Witherspoon, at last at his wit’s end, wob...
