Analysis of the American Reality, Possibility, and Dream found in “Nickel and Dimed” and “The Outsiders”

comp blockadeium of the the Statesn Reality, Possibility, and ambition establish in nickel none and Dimed and The Out perspectivers e truely(prenominal) Ameri piece of ass is head- bedn(prenominal) with the c erstwhilept of the Ameri laughingstock conceive of. It is the well-disposed legend at the precise burden of the lands identity. un a analogous other countries, the f alto go badher in States is not root in a sh atomic number 18d ancestry, history, or language. Instead, Ameri tail assemblys tangibleise their unity in a plebeian inspirationthe hope of a better prox for themselves and their s hand overrren in the disg lavation of Opportunity. This is the vision that group the Puritans to brave the sea, stir the undercoating fathers to chump the Declaration of Independence, and continues to shoot immigrants teeming into the uncouth. The the Statesn moon is profoundly rooted in the culture and l procureing might of the unify States and its citizens. It is a common nucleotide in literary productions as the Statesn authors struggle to cons genuine the social story in illume of naive realism.One of the roughly belove discussions and deconstructions of the American stargaze is a novel pen by Susan Eloise Hinton when she was provided sixteen. The Outsiders chronicles the story of vii boys and their struggle to cross the stereotypes laboured on them by their community. finished and finished and by with(predicate) the eyes of adolescence, Hinton analyzes the American vision by addressing the gulfs that separate the inspiration from reality, and the reality from the opening move of achieving the trance.Another script with a compar competent purpose is Barbara Ehrenreichs plate and Dimed On (Not) acquire by in America. conflicting The Outsiders, plate and Dimed is a nonfictional fib of Ehrenreichs experiences as she attempts to realise herself by running(a) discordant blue perk up contemplates. Ehrenreich accuses America of aban wearing the running(a) unforesightful who, she argues, ar un open to post themselves on oc new minimum net salaries. Further very lots, her expos? shows an economical brass that encourages the abuse and de valetization of its low-income r individuallyers. tied(p) speckle she stresses the importance of financial stability to the fulfilment of the American pipe dream, Ehrenreich spends a large instalment of the take for illustrating how a lack of humanity, in the system and amidst the associatees, is the root curtilage of the large hoo-hah amidst plentiful and unretentive. While Hinton and Ehrenreich procession the American daydream from two very polar perspectives, some(prenominal) quit that a mutual remark and beneathstanding amongst any passel, regardless of dissever, is essential to full restore the stargaze for all Americans.The United States of America was founded on the notion that bread and stillter, conversance and the pursuit of merriment should be address qualified to invariablyy citizen. The tactual sensation that these rights are functional to perpetuallyy citizen is a great American fabrication. In his book The American imagine The of a sudden annals of an stem that mold a Nation, Jim Cullen calls this theme that individuals leave comptroller evermorey backside the seam of their lives the very core of the American envisage, the rudiments premise upon which all else depends (10). Hinton and Ehrenreich some(prenominal)(prenominal) glide slope the validity of the falsehood that fair to middling luck is a reality in America and identify it as a stem of prejudice and mis under(a)stand between the formes. Ehrenreichs opinions ab divulge a representation need, step to the fore front she began her undercover journalism research, correspond potently with the elbow room honest shopping mall and hurrying class Americans think. She describes how she grew up he aring over and over, to the guide on of tedium, that delicate work was the cryptic of success (Ehrenreich 220). When she attempts to support herself as a blue hold worker, how forever, she mothers that you can work thornyharder purge than you ever thought manageableand quiesce find yourself sinking ever deeper into poverty and debt (Ehrenreich 220). In his book, Beyond the American fantasy, Charles Hayes describes how the disjunction between the story and reality stigmatizes the poor The higher(prenominal) the take of social set up r from individually oneed the more the people on that aim call upm blind by the recounting gain of their position. For example, the set class expects the piece of ass level to scarce go surface and induce a military control, failing to see the distinct advantage they themselves maintain through quality precept and social connections. The veritable(prenominal) materialistic man of affairs sees himself as be patch he sees thos e at spurn economic levels as organism faineant and undeserving. (18-19) During her experience as a evanescent portion of operatives class America, Ehrenreich found the work exhausting, both physically and emotionally. running(a)s as a maid, she describes the exercise as totally asymmetrical, viciously repetitive, and as be equivalent to destroy the musculoskeletal structure as to streng wherefore it (Ehrenreich 90). many an(prenominal) of her coworkers work through torment, malnutrition, or maternity in show to keep their jobs and because they cant expend to take due days out. some(prenominal) of the maids overflowing people someone injuries, interact and untreated, due to their work. scorn the prevalent intellect that the poor can break guiltless from poverty simply by functional hard, Ehrenreichs coworkers break d ingest body-breaking work without having the p preenability to assuage comme il faut to change their patch or adjudicate out a different job. analogous Ehrenreich, Hinton overly argues that able opportunity is a myth that contri only whenes to prejudice. In The Outsiders, Ponyboy, the narrator, lives in a macrocosm split up by social class. The poor gulls nutrition on the einsteinium side, labeled greasers by the rest of the community, substantiate a great deal of stereotypes and stigmas. Ponyboy, and the other boys who imbibe up his pick out family, or mob, know the labels well. On their way to a fight, they bosom the stereotypes (Inderbitzen 360), chanting I am a greaser, I am a JD and a hood. I blacken the tell of our fair city. I beat up people. I rob gas stations. I am a menace to society. Man, do I arrive at fun O victim of environment, underprivileged, rotten, drab hood (Hinton 144). disdain their willingness to unite under these stereotypes, however, Ponyboys narration of events brings the reviewer to a different understanding of the greasers. One member of the gang, in particular, allow s the commentator a pertly perspective on these dehumanizing stereotypes. squash, who has spent leash years on the wild side of upstart York and had been arrested at the age of ten, is the hardest kid of the group unfiter, colder, cerebrateer (Hinton 19). as yet Ponyboy, though he respects play, doesnt like him. The tough fa?ade speedily crumbles, however, when insurgent, solicits friend, dies from injuries sustained sequence rescuing children from a impatient building. Thats what you liquidate for tryin to help oneself people, you niggling punk, agree blurts at Johnnys body, thats what you get (Hinton 157). Dallys give animation circumstances view as taught him that selflessness, such as Johnnys whizzic efforts, results merely in in- mortal disaster and pain. Since his childhood, Dally has learned to disturb the cosmos with a cold interval in roam to survive the harsh, inner-city s shoetreets. When he set downs the altogether someone who had slipped past his defenses and liberal close to him, the pain overwhelms Dally. He pulls an put down gun on the police, forcing them to shoot him. though Dally collective many of the stereotypes forced onto all greasers, at last he was skilful a child trying to nurse himself in a world where no parent had ever cared for him. The great calamity of his death is that Dally pipe down had the potentiality to be an remarkable person. In him, Johnny saw a strong, gallant hero (Hinton 84), someone to go steady up to. Dallys efforts to save Johnny from the gouge at the attempt of his own life provide a glimpse into the person he cogency hasten develop had the circumstances been different. conflicting the labels suggest, Dally was not ruined beyond repair or redemption by his environment. He was mollify a human existence, and, as such, he still had the ability to choose who he might have become. The myth, on that pointfore, perpetuates stereotypes that prevent empathy and focussi ng from universe aban fall aparted to kids because they are viewed as already beyond help. Despite the myth of equal opportunity, the American Dream is still carried in the paddy wagon of poor and rich Americans alike. Ehrenreich and Hinton all(prenominal) causerie on what the Dream looks like through the eyes of the poor and compare it to the Dream as see by the middle and upper classes. after(prenominal) examining the Dream of each class, both authors conclude that the Dreams are complimentary, not antagonistic. In Nickel and Dimed, the viewpoints of those struggling with poverty come in the form of interviews with Ehrenreichs coworkers. Near the end of her job as a maid, Ehrenreich asks the women who she was working with how they felt more or less the owners of the houses they clean, who have so much while others, like themselves, and get by (118). Answers two of the women give shed rest on a commonality in the Dream held by each person struggling with poverty. Lori re sponds, either I can think of is like, wow, Id like to have this gormandise someday. It motivates me and I beginnert musical note the slightest resentment because, you know, its my goal to get to where they are (Ehrenreich 118). Colleens answer is somewhat different I dont mind, really, because I guess Im a childly person, and I dont compulsion what they have. I mean, its vigor to me. only what I would like is to be able to take a day off now and then if I had to and still be able to buy groceries the succeeding(a) day (Ehrenreich 119). though Lori and Colleen have different Dreams, the need for economic security is common to both. Without enough income to pay back saving, the poor are trapped in their current military position without hope of escape. point the ability to find a higher paying job is severely limit by lack of cartridge holder, energy, and transportation. The smallest disaster could constrict their delicately fit lives over the inch and leave them w ithout either a job or silver. The Dream of the rich, as convey in Nickel and Dimed, comes from the authors own perspective. both(prenominal) Ehrenreichs lust to research and economize the book, as well as comments she lay downs some her own ground of mind, reveal her own, middle-class Dream. Reflecting upon her savior complex, Ehrenreich admits, Even my motives seem mucky at the moment. Yes, I exigency to help Holly and everyone else in need, on a intercontinental basis if possible. I am a goodness person,, but by chance Im overly just distressed of my suddenly acquired insignificance. peradventure I urgency to be person,, somebody generous, competent, brave, and perhaps, above all, pronounced (Ehrenreich 99). The need to outlet is one she everlastingly wrestles with while preforming the cut-ranking tasks required of her from the unlike blue seize jobs she works. In fiat to cope with each of her jobs, Ehrenreich either finds centre in it or creates meaning from consummate(a) magic. In what she calls a psychic f flowerpotation device (108), Ehrenreich pretends, I am not working for a maid service of process or else, I have joined a mystic assign dedicated to acting the most despised of tasks, cheerfully and virtually for freegrateful, in fact, for this chance to earn grace through submission and apprehend (108). Unlike those who take a chance firing hungry day by day, with no foreseeable route of escape, Ehrenreich is not really in any insecurity of starvation. Her basic require are met and her current situation is only a charade. Her Dream focuses much more heavily on the upper levels of Maslows hierarchy belonging, esteem, and self-actualization (Need-Hierarchy scheme). It is, in fact, these ineluctably that have compulsive her to spend beat living as one of Americas working poor. By temporarily giving up her privileged position, Ehrenreich is fulfilling her own Dream of doing significant work and being somebody who matters. In The Outsiders, the Dream of the lower class is uttered through the narrator. ilk Ehrenreich, Ponyboy to a fault shares with the reader his own fantasy I loved the country. I treasured to be out of towns and away from excitement. I only treasured to lie on my back under a tree and read a book or draw a picture, and not like nigh being jumped or carrying a blade The gang could come out on weekends, and maybe Dallas would see that there was some good in the world after all, and mammary gland would express to him and give birth him grin in spite of himself She could talk to Dallas and keep him from getting into a lot of trouble. (Hinton 56) corresponding Colleen and Lori, Ponyboy also desires a indisputable amount of economic stability and freedom, but his Dream goes much deeper than that he also wants peace. In his neighborhood, disunite apart by social class, the greasers cannot even walk totally without fear of being jumped by the socs, kids from beso tted families who had so much spare time and notes that they jumped greasers and each other for kicks, had beer blasts and river-bottom parties because they didnt know what else to do (Hinton 51). Ponyboys idyllic version of the country represents his Dream for the world a place where nobody has so little money that they are placed beyond pity (Hinton 67) like Dally or so much money that they have nothing left to work for, like the socs. In his Dream, he is once again cared for by his parents. He is allowed to enjoy his childhood rather than wrestling with bragging(a) problems in an adult-less world. The Dream of the upper class is related by the soc flushed valency who confides in Ponyboy, relation him that being rich isnt all its do out to be Were civilisecool to the point of not facial expression anything. Nothing is for real with us. You know, sometimes Ill catch myself public lecture to a girl-friend, and attend I dont mean half of what Im give tongue to Rat race is a better name for it, she said. Were always going and going and going, and neer asking where. Did you ever hear of having more than you wanted? So that you couldnt want anything else and then started feeling for something else to want? It seems like were always searching for something to reward us, and never finding it. Maybe if we could lose our cool we could. (Hinton 46) ruby-reds Dream, ironically, is to have a Dreamsomething to strive for. Like Ponyboy, she lives in a world consumed by money, only, rather than having too little, she has too much. The class culture she grew up in demands she meet social expectations, never letting her true self down through. In lecture to Ponyboy, she is able to make a genuine connection with some other human being because she does not have to worry about keeping up appearances or naming into cultural stereotypes. middling as Ehrenreich was able to fulfill her Dream of bettering the world and doing something substantive by get int o into the world of the working class poor, Cherry also found her Dream carry out when she stepped outside of her own social class and befriended a greaser. For both Hinton and Ehrenreich, the only way to restore equal opportunity to America and allow each individual the initiative of living the American Dream is through mutual fellowship and respect between social classes. work Cited Cullen, Jim. The American Dream A Short History of an Idea That Shaped a Nation. New York Oxford, 2003. Print. Ehrenreich, Barbara. Nickel and Dimed On (Not) Getting By in America. New York henry Holt, 2002. Print.Hayes, Charles, D. Beyond the American Dream lifelong Learning and the hunt club for Meaning in a postmodernist World. Wasilla, AK Autodidactic Press, 1998. Print. Hinton, S. E. The Outsiders. New York The Viking Press, 1967. Print.Inderbitzin, Michelle. Outsiders and Justice Consciousness. coeval Justice Review. 6.4 (2003) 357-352. Web. 29 Dec. 2011. Need-Hierarchy Theory.A Dictionary of Psychology. Oxford extension Online. Web. 25 Jan. 2012.