2.1 The American dream in the works of T. Dreiser
Theodore Dreiser painted a broad realistic picture of American reality in his novels. Dreiser's work is rich and varied. One of the main topics in his novels was the theme of the "American dream", its ups and downs, the collision of dreams and reality, the transformation of the "American dream" into an "American tragedy".
Dreiser is characterized by a new approach to the "American dream". Instead of her praises, grandiloquent and moralizing arguments in the spirit of Horatio Alger, Dreiser included the “dream” in the context of real American life in the late 19th and early 20th centuries and showed her not fictional, but real fate. Assessing the role of Dreiser in the development of American literature, the English literary critic Walter Allen wrote: "The appearance of Dreiser with his skeptical view of the "American dream" made a real revolution."
In his Trilogy of Desire, Dreiser realistically depicts the development of capitalism in America in the second half of the last century. The hero of the trilogy novels The Financier (1912) and The Titan (1914) Frank Algernon Cowperwood professes the religion of success. Ignoring any principles of morality, bringing misfortune to his loved ones, he slowly but inevitably climbs the ladder of success in life: from a petty stock speculator he becomes a powerful financial tycoon. Even when Cowperwood goes to jail for speculating in city shares, he does not lose his faith in himself, in his success. In the end, he becomes the owner of a tram transport in Chicago, a monstrously rich and all-powerful magnate.
Although Cowperwood never considers morality in his actions, he cannot be called a soulless, devoid of intelligence person. He has his own philosophy, which is expressed in the motto: "My desires come first." According to Dreiser, he is the "prince of dreams", but even this strong, enterprising person, the philosophy of success eventually leads to a moral and life catastrophe. Success turns out to be an illusion.
Despite the difference in the mental appearance of the characters. An American Tragedy continues the same theme as the Trilogy of Desire. Noting this circumstance, the prominent writer Robert Peni Warren writes: “Cowperwood is the 'prince of the dream', Clyde is the slave of the dream. Neither one nor the other has a consciousness of his own "I", but Cowperwood vigorously maintains his illusions, Clyde passively follows them. Both represent the two poles of the "tragedy" of America, the country of fictitious values that are generated by fictitious self-consciousness.
In his novels, Dreiser showed the tragedy of the "American dream", the impossibility of its implementation by moral means. Against the backdrop of literature that preaches pragmatic values, the philosophy of success, and militant individualism, Dreiser was the first to question the possibility of realizing those social and moral ideals of success and prosperity that make up the content of the bourgeois "American dream".
The term “concept” was introduced into philosophy by Abelard back in the Middle Ages, its modern understanding largely repeats the definition of a medieval philosopher and theologian, however, it should be noted that only in the 20th century did the “concept” become the object of study of linguistics and related sciences. There are now many interpretations of the term; scientists such as E.S. Kubryakova, V.I. Karasik, Yu.N. Karaulov dealt with this issue.
Yu.S. Stepanov gives the following definition: “A concept is, as it were, a clot of culture in the mind of a person; something in the form of which culture enters the mental world of a person”. The structure of the concept is multilayered, it is formed under the influence of linguistic, sociocultural, and cognitive factors.
According to the American professor Lawrence Reid, the concept of the “American dream” originates in the 1600s, when a new continent, where people can be free and not be subjected to government persecution, began to attract the attention of Europeans. In the first chronicles, America is described as El Dorado, as heaven on earth. Later, in the 18th century, the "Declaration of Independence of the United States of July 4, 1776" was signed, which reflects the idea that was later embodied in the cultural concept: "We proceed from the self-evident truth that all people are created equal and endowed by their Creator with certain inalienable rights, among which are life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness.
Supporters of the later emergence of the “American idea” D. Miller, H. Hugen and H. Brown believe that the concept is associated with immigrants who arrived in the United States at the end of the 19th century in search of a better life. European emigration took place most actively in 1820-1975.
Golenpolsky T.G. and Shestakov V.P. in his book “The American Dream” and American Reality” cite the opinion of S. Holbuk: “The first recorded American Dream,” writes an American researcher, “was a dream of a small ship crossing a stormy ocean with passengers on board who could hardly believe that the day will come when they will be remembered as pioneers, and the Mayflower will symbolize the "birth certificate" of American democracy"
From the beginning of its founding, America has tried to show its advantages over Europe, to be more attractive for life. For immigrants, this resettlement was a flight from the "Old World" to the "New".
Most American literary and sociologists believe that the American Dream existed long before it was discovered. Christopher Columbus set out to find a new state of the Lord, heaven on earth. This idea is the basis of the concept of "dream".
Arthur Ekirch says that the Aztec Indians had a special deity - a bearded god with white skin, whose return they expected. In his opinion, the “American dream” goes back to this primitive dream, and the appearance of Columbus in 1492 on North American soil is its first realization.
For the first time this concept, as researchers have established, is found on the pages of the book "History of the United States", published by the writer and historian Henry Adams in 1884.
The very first definition of the "American Dream" was formulated by James Adams in 1931 in his historical treatise "The Epic of America": "The American Dream" is a dream of a land where life will be better, richer and fuller for each person, with opportunities for each, according to his skills. and achievements”. Since the definition was formulated, and during the hard times of the Great Depression, the American idea has taken on a clear form that could be relied upon.
In 1963, Martin Luther King, a campaigner for the rights of African Americans, repeats the idea of the freedom and equality of US citizens in his "Letter from Birmingham Jail", which once again makes people remember what the founding fathers said.
The concept of "the American dream" attracted the attention of Russian scientists in the 80s. XX century. E.Ya. Batalov, T.A. Ivanova and others drew attention to this concept in connection with the Cold War (1945-1991). Then the concept of the "American dream" was considered in comparison with the "Russian idea". In the introduction to his monograph Batalov E.Ya. writes: “Now Tyutchev’s lines are often quoted: “You can’t understand Russia with the mind, / You can’t measure it with a common yardstick: / She has become special - / One can only believe in Russia.” In fact, this is an artistic characteristic of the phenomenon of the Russian idea. What does it mean not to understand Russia "with the mind"? This means that it is impossible to penetrate into her soul, relying only on the methods of rational knowledge. And what is needed to comprehend this soul? "Faith," Tyutchev replies. Russia, its "feature" is comprehended not only by reason, but also by faith. Or, as Ivan Ilyin, one of the greatest Russian philosophers of the last century, would say already in the middle of the 20th century, “with the heart.” The Russian idea just reveals the “special become” of Russia, comprehended by faith, “heart”. Take the American Dream. The most pragmatic of nations, a country of sober calculation, cold efficiency and rigid fit to each other of all the "wheels" and "cogs" from which the United States of America is "assembled" - it, this country, too, it turns out, cannot be "bitten", not comprehending the romantic myth of "this country". A myth that has been driving millions of people from all over the world to America for several hundred years...”
Researchers agree that the American Dream is primarily a national phenomenon, although there is an alternative point of view. Repeated attempts have been made to present the dream as a universal phenomenon. The "American Dream" includes the myth of Atlantis, the Platonic concept of the republic, the Christian concept of the City of God. Shestakov V.P. in his article “The Fate of the “American Dream” in the Artistic Culture of the USA: US Political Cinema: Results of the Decade” quotes the words of the famous American philosopher, sociologist and futurologist, E. Toffler, who in his book “Future Shock” writes: “the American dream is the dream of every individual who creates his own independent future, a product of the Enlightenment, the French Revolution, the philosophy of Descartes and Locke"
The American Dream, in its essence, does not undergo fundamental changes over time, despite historical, sociocultural, economic events, it retains the main idea, the ideal that immigrants and founding fathers believed in. Many researchers have made attempts to identify the main components of the "American Dream".
So, for example, Zverev wrote about the "three pillars of the American dream":
the belief that the resources of American soil are boundless, and material abundance is destined here for everyone without exception.
the belief that only in America does a person become free from class, social, ideological, educational and other restrictions.
confidence that in America the right to happiness is granted to everyone, and the chances of achieving happiness are absolutely equal for everyone
And according to foreign researchers, Bragg and Drayton, the concept of the "American dream" includes:
faith in the sustainable development of individual, collective, social conditions of existence, faith in progress;
the conviction that everyone can realize their ambitions through their own efforts;
confidence that America is God's chosen country, whose mission is to call the whole world to American-style democracy;
the realization that the American form of government "for the people" is the only guarantee of freedom and equality;
an idea associated with representatives of different cultures: people can live peacefully, accepting the characteristics and culture of other people. This is a belief in multinationality, in cultural and ethnic pluralism.
Summarizing the above data, we can single out three planes of the American Dream concept: religious, ethical, and political.
Throughout the history of American literature, writers have been interested in the theme of the "American dream" and, in revealing it, writers and playwrights have assessed this phenomenon in different ways. The concept was reflected in the following works: "The American Challenger" (1891) by M. Twain, "A Long Day to Go into the Night" (1941), "Emperor Jones" (1920) by Eugene O'Neill, "An American Tragedy" (1925) T Dreiser, "The Great Gatsby" (1925) F. Fitzgerald, "American Earth" (1931) E. Caldwell, "Son of America" (1940) R. Wright, "The American Dream" (1960) E. Albee, "The American Dream" (1965) N. Mailer, Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas: A Wild Journey into the Heart of the American Dream (1971) H. Thompson, Requiem for a Dream (1978) H. Selby, Forrest Gump (1986) Winston Groom.
One of the most expressive examples of the interpretation of the American Dream is the work of Theodore Dreiser. In his works, he exposes the spiritual emptiness of American bourgeois society, which is reflected in such collections of short stories as Liberation, Twelve Men, Colors of the Big City. In his stories, Dreiser, on the one hand, denounces the worst features of the "average American", on the other hand, he makes attempts to find a positive hero. Describing the character of one of his short stories from the collection Twelve Men, Dreiser writes: “Among the immense poverty of American mental life, he was like an oasis, a real spring in the desert”.
The peculiarity of Dreiser's works of the 20s is that he pays special attention to the fate of a person crippled by society. In the mid-1920s, after the economic crisis, the bourgeois press of America and other countries sang of the prosperity of the United States, it was at that moment that a book appeared that tells about the reverse side of external prosperity - the novel "An American Tragedy".
Dreiser devoted five years directly to the creation of the novel. After reading about the real murder of a girl committed in 1906, Dreiser wrote fifteen short stories based on this sensational case, calling the manuscript American Tragedies. In each of the stories , an American youth wants to get rich at the expense of a rich bride, and every time he commits a crime.
In a letter to Jack Wilgus, Dreiser writes: "I thought about this incident for a long time, because it seemed to me that not only did it reflect every aspect of our national life - politics, society, religion, business, sex - it was a story so common to every guy, raised in small towns in America. It was a particularly true story about what life does to the individual and how powerless the individual is against it. My goal was not to moralize - God forbid - but to give, if possible, a background and psychology of reality, which, if not justify, then somehow explain how such murders happen, and they happen in America with amazing frequency and for so long, as far as I can remember”.
Dreiser argues with the plot popular at the time: the main character, a poor young man, succeeds by marrying a girl from a wealthy family. Such novels inspired hope that every American could easily change his destiny and glorified the pursuit of material wealth. This is the embodiment of the "American dream": equal opportunities, self-realization, wealth.
In "An American Tragedy", Dreiser, adhering to the story of the aspirations of a poor young man, not only debunked this idea of the pursuit of easy happiness, but also exposed the depravity of society, which gives rise to the desire to get rich in any way.
The central image of the novel is Clyde Griffiths, “an average young American with a typically American outlook on life” – as Dreiser describes it. Clyde is a completely ordinary, ordinary person, he is malleable and unstable. This person is not endowed with talents, but not vicious initially. All his advantages and disadvantages are not unique to him, they are typical of America.
Dreiser denounces the "American dream", criticizing both the ethical, political and religious plans of the concept. Dreaming of a beautiful life, wanting to break away from poverty and break away from his family, Clyde does not stand the test of the ghostly light of luxury and goes to crime. Here Dreiser blames not only Clyde, because he is weak and immature, but also the environment that pushes him to this act, since financial success and external gloss are cultivated in the bourgeois society of America. Material wealth becomes the measure of happiness.
Dreiser notes that "the first part of the book was deliberately and specifically devoted to the depiction of such social ills as can naturally suppress, restrain and upset, and therefore exaggerate the emotions and desires of a very sensitive and almost carnally exotic guy, ill-equipped for the great struggle of life, which any youth faces”
In the second part, Clyde faces a far more fortunate world than the one he is used to. This sharpens his desires, he is not able to resist them, since he is morally very weak and unstable, which leads him to crime.
In the third part, Dreiser demonstrates how “such a depressed, weak character, first captive to his dreams and then to the law, can be easily crushed by illiterate, conventional and basically vindictive rural fools, who, in turn, due to their shortcomings, social and religious prohibitions and beliefs will be the last of those who will understand and accept those mitigating circumstances that could have affected, but did not affect the life of such a guy, and therefore they judge him much more cruelly than individuals with deeper insight and better mental data ”.
Here Clyde again faces a hostile society. The reader is again confronted with the circumstances under which the crime was committed. The guilt of capitalist America is established, but American justice passes judgment on Clyde, whose guilt is difficult to establish and prove. The society that pushed the hero to commit a crime once again showed its cruelty by putting him in the electric chair.
The humanist Dreiser opposes capitalist America, which generates American tragedies that destroy the human in man. Clyde's tragedy lies not only in the fact that he committed the crime, but also in the way he is judged. The bourgeois parties decide his fate. The venality of American justice, its partiality, adherence to narrow group interests are vividly illustrated by the images of Prosecutor Mason, Investigator Hayt, and numerous lawyers. Still unaware of Clyde's role in the crime, unsure of the crime itself, Investigator Hayt prejudges the outcome of the case, intending to use it to raise the profile of his prosecutor friend Mason, who is seeking his party's nomination as judge in the upcoming election.
Dreiser denounces the political system, corruption, class inequality, debunking American ideals and external well-being.
As for the religious motive of the "American dream", Dreiser does not accept this either. He condemns the illusory and lifeless ideas that his preacher parents tried to instill in Clyde. Drawing Clyde's life on death row, Dreiser shows the young man's confusion, he is ready to obey the priest, even here, on the verge of death, he is subject to someone else's influence, which again speaks of his weakness. But after all, he himself decided that he really had gained faith. In this state, at the request of his mother and Reverend Macmillan, who directly helped him, gave instructions and immediately, in his presence and with his consent, changed some of his expressions, Clyde composed ... a letter addressed to the whole world and especially to young people of his age …”.
During the Great Depression, the "American dream" finally turned into an illusion and a tragedy. American heroes, unlike the heroes of European novels, like the New Adams, demonstrated the inferiority and collapse of the national ideal. This Dreiser magnate Cowperwood, and Clyde Griffiths, and Fitzgerald's Gatsby, and Faulkner's Sutpen.
These are the heroes who built their destiny according to the laws of the society around them, could not fully understand what their mistake was, because they did not notice that in the pursuit of material well-being, they forgot about the spiritual development of the individual, which is contrary to universal moral standards and leads to to moral degradation. A person either completely depends on the environment, or cannot find his place in society, or is suppressed by it and degrades. Active people suffer a moral collapse, while those who have not managed to adapt to the new reality vegetate in loneliness and alienation.
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