Within Reach of a Dream

A time full of turmoil, adolescence is frequently looked at as a period for teenagers to make the transition between child and adult by determining what values and opinions they hold, and what is important to them. Young children often have wild fantasies- they want an elephant, or they wish they could have a million ice cream sundaes; however, as a child grows, she realizes that there is a difference between dreams and fantasies- and she can be instrumental in achieving her dreams. Adolescence is a time to view dreams as potential reality and begin to working towards the hope of achieving this dream. On the way to success, characters in A Raisin in the Sun by Lorraine Hansberry, Great Expectations by Charles Dickens, The Catcher in the Rye by J. D. Salinger, All Quiet on the Western Front by Erich Maria Remarque, The Human Comedy by William Saroyan, Our Town by Thornton Wilder, and A Separate Peace by John Knowles grapple with the decision as to what action they are willing to take to achieve their dreams. While trying to determine what they must do to reach the stars in their lives, many are stopped by limiting factors such as societal guidelines, lack of financial needs, war, and set traditions. Along the way, some people unintentionally take for granted those most vital to their happiness, and adopt a fear of leaving the stability of a false image.

While rushing to realize their dreams as soon as possible with as little hindrance as possible, characters often step on those closest to them unintentionally, without realizing that they need the support of these people, who are usually their family members, whom they need most to follow through and achieve their dream. In Great Expectations, Pip ignores his family and Magwitch because he doesn’t want to tarnish his new image. So engrossed in finding gentlemanly esteem, he believes that he cannot have any connections to his past life, or else he will not be allowed to progress in his climb up the ladders of society. When he runs into difficulties, he blames them on Joe and Biddy, or Magwitch. What Pip does not realize is that Magwitch is the foundation of his dream; Magwitch fostered the birth of his dream; thus, Magwitch can help him achieve his dream. Pip concentrates not on this, but only on getting rid of Magwitch, as Pip believes he will be detrimental to his goal, and a hindrance. “[Pip] was greatly dejected and distressed [on finding out that Magwitch was his benefactor]…as to forming any plan for the future, [he] could as soon have formed an elephant” (Dickens 316), because he stops himself from seeing the good in Magwitch’s triumphant arrival. Without thought or regret, Pip takes all of Magwitch’s money while trying to get rid of the man, because Pip sees him as a disgrace to his own gentlemanly façade. The Youngers in Hansberry’s A Raisin in the Sun also forget to see the good in their family members: instead, they see only the competition formed by additional people by which a check must be divided up. As opposed to all finding a common dream, or compromising in order to achieve a part of all dreams, they merely push and shove and use their should-be beloved family as steps to reach their own sky. Without the support of their family and beloved ones, no one can accomplish their dreams without a sense of remorse when they realize “that, perhaps, the inaptitude had never been [in family members at all], but had been in [themselves]” (Dickens 465).

On the pathway to achieving a dream, many adolescents come to a block in the road. Limiting factors can often include social limitations, financial limitations, and the limitations of both war and tradition. One of the most powerful hurdles that adolescents and adults must leap to find their dreams is that of money. Often confronted with wild fantasies that only unrealistic amounts of money can obtain, turmoil is initiated; but what happens when there isn’t enough money to achieve a realistic dream, such as a becoming a master of the profession one dreams of, or buying a decent home? In A Raisin in the Sun by Lorraine Hansberry, members of the Younger family face this difficulty, while Pip of Charles Dickens’s Great Expectations grapples with social limits, and other characters are forced to deal with the traditions of their society and the thief of youth known as war. In times past, the limitations of society can be so powerful that one must change their views, or even more, to be deemed acceptable or to realize a dream. Pip is challenged by this very front. The means to achieving his dream of becoming a wealthy gentleman are provided, but Pip is unable to rid himself of his “common laboring boy” (Dickens 56) roots. While clearly not apparent to everyone else, Pip sees himself as his origin, and is thus limited to moving up in society because he lacks the emotional tools to build himself up. Due to the society he lives in, Pip’s dreams are only made possible by money. His society makes it impossible to move up, and even though he has the money later on, he still sees himself through the eyes of society as poor, only living on borrowed money and prestige. When the Youngers finally are bestowed with their extraordinary means, they are blocked from moving into their desired community by race. Like many other issues, adolescents are often prevented from achieving dream based on appearance or heritage. Discrimination of a society is a very potent means to destroy a dream. In a society tainted by corruptness and human competition, “everything has to evolve or else it perishes…only the things and the people who have been evolving the right way survive” (Knowles ___). Finny dies because he has not evolved the right way: He was too innocent and too naïve to survive in a society filled with false hopes. Often, although one has all the right qualifications for achieving a dream, he is prevented from doing so by lack of financial aid. If the Youngers had had money, the dreams they had would have been able to be achieved, and they may have been able to find a way to reach the goal. Sometimes, the bestowment of money amplifies the need to accomplish a dream, so the Youngers all think that their own dream is their whole life once the check for Big Walter comes. Pip, as well, is limited by money. Although he often feels like it is his freedom from his past life of commonness, Pip thinks he is limited by money; however, he is limited by the gift of money. Pip believes that his opportunity is based only on the foundation of the gift of money, yet it is really based on his own personality which allows him to achieve and enter into the highbred society so successfully. Money also prevents the young man in Spangler’s (William Saroyan’s The Human Comedy) from being honest and valorous.

‘Give me all the money you’ve got in this place. Everybody’s killing everybody,

so I don’t mind if I kill you. And I don’t mind if I’m killed either. I’m excited

and I don’t want any trouble, so give me all the money, and hurry.’ (Saroyan 103)*

When desperate for money, one will go to any extent, even as far as to hold up someone whom a person trusted and had faith in, a person who was completely kind to another and gave him unrequited charity and sympathy. War is another one of the most powerful destroyers. Not only does it destroy tangible people and places, war destroys mental health and limits the achievement of a complete childhood. Stealing their youth, Marcus Macauley of The Human Comedy by William Saroyan and Paul Baumer of Erich Maria Remarque’s All Quiet on the Western Front both are devastated by the effects of war. Not only stealing their lives, war also steals their youth, leaving them adults devoid of true innocence and freedom. There is something in adolescence that is one of the most important learning experiences ever; the experience of being on the brink of adulthood with responsibility while still holding on to childhood brings about the experience of being able to let go and take a break from

________________________________________________________________________*This should be single-spaced, but Word doesn’t want to let it be…Actually, Word thinks that it is…

the rigors of adult living.

Let the months and years come, they bring me nothing more, they can bring me

nothing more. I am so alone, and so without hope that I can confront them

without fear. The life [of warfare] that has borne me through these years is still

in my hands and my eyes. (Remarque 299)

By forcing young boys to savagely kill others in order for survival, war is a thief of the first degree: Paul has no teenage years in which to experiment with his life and what dreams he would like: war forces it’s soldiers to take up a common dream: of victory. This dream can only be accomplished in one way, a way that often becomes fatal, “while they taught that duty to one’s country is the greatest thing, [the soldiers] always knew that death-throes are stronger” (Remarque 15). While uttering these words, the commanders and lieutenants in war do not realize that they are unintentionally voiding any chance a young man, such as Paul, might have to develop and achieve his own dreams. Marcus lost his dream of marriage as well- war stole him away from his future wife, and his future family, as well as his present family. As Marcus was someone to whom his younger brother looked up to, “if [Marcus was] killed in this stupid war, [his brother] shall spit at the world. [He] shall hate it forever” (Saroyan 168). War’s thievery of role models prohibits Homer from achieving his dream as well: for a dream to be accomplished, there must be a path for a man to follow- it is very hard to successfully maneuver through uncharted territory without moral support and guidance. With so much depending on Marcus, Homer is left without a role model during his adolescence and will flounder without anything to hold on to. Tradition is another limiting factor that restrains adolescents from fully recognizing their dreams. In a town such as Grover’s Corners [from Our Town, by Thornton Wilder], where there are the “same names [that are on tombstones from 1670-1680] as are around [the town] now,” (Wilder __), tradition becomes so much a part of life that it becomes life itself. While both the citizens of the town and the viewers of the play realize that nothing ever changes, and “ninety per cent of ‘em graduating from high school settle down right [in the very same town] to live,” (Wilder __), no one makes any effort to change the tradition and set a new precedent. The well-established tradition is so stable that the thought of change is no longer existent, and the potential of many young children is lost, as they only take up the profession of their parents: “all that education for nothing” (Wilder __).

Often, fear of stepping out from an established image prevents adolescents from achieving a dream of revealing their true personality. In The Catcher in the Rye by J.D. Salinger, Holden experiences this very fear: He has built himself the image of a slacker, “the only dumb one in the family” (Salinger 67), and an uncaring and aloof teen, but inside, Holden is a kind young man who loves children and wants to preserve innocence for them. He realizes that, after watching his little sister sleep, it made him feel “good, for a change” (Salinger 159). Even though Holden’s current image is not a positive image, it is a stable image, which he is used to upholding. He is afraid to leave the stability that he has found to recreate himself because it is hard to shake an old image, especially at the brink of adulthood, when adolescents feel that they have put so much into what they have become that they need to keep on forging ahead to become a successful adult. While Holden may hate his image, he finds it hard to leave, because it is already such a part of his identity, both to himself and others. He believes this image that he presents to others, calling himself a “madman” (Salinger 1), “liar” (Salinger 16), and a “jerk” (Salinger 102). Although Holden finds himself “saying, ‘Glad to’ve met you’ to someone [he’s] not at all glad [he’s] met” (Salinger 87), he realizes that “if you want to stay alive, you have to say that stuff” (Salinger 87), and knows that he staying alive is only possible within a set image of himself for himself and others. Holden wants to change himself, but he doesn’t know how, and has nearly absorbed too much of his self-imposed image to try, and would rather “[commit] suicide. [He] felt like jumping out the window” (Salinger 104) rather than facing himself. Gene from A Separate Peace is suffering under a similar circumstance: he too is being suffocated by an image he does not care for. Everybody, including Gene and Finny “thought of [Gene] as an extension of [Phineas]” (Knowles 171). All about the two saw Gene and Finny as one- it is Finny, and Gene, the sidekick. The two, like Siamese twins, never separate, and Gene becomes a part of Finny. Gene is afraid to break apart from Finny, because he knows that, even though he may dislike this habitual image, his place under Finny is stable, and unchallenged. Scared of Finny and his absolute hold on the rest of the student population at the Devon School, Gene is afraid to leave Finny, feeling his loyalty to his friend like an iron grip. The relationship between Finny and Gene was so ancient, it was no longer fresh, and no longer true, as “[Gene] did not cry [at Finny’s death] or ever about Finny” (Knowles 186). While tears are not vital to emotion, they often show feeling, and it would be expected that at the death of a best friend who shared a friendship that was “like an intimacy between lovers” (Remarque 37). Gene tries to believe that Finny was his best friend, but “something held [him] back. Perhaps [he] was stopped by that level of feeling, deeper than thought, which contains the truth” (Knowles 48). Because everyone expects it, including himself, Gene feels that he must hold on to Finny, or else he would be a traitor. Gene feels as though he has a position to uphold to his peers as Finny’s sidekick. As one who is very worried about his image, leaving abruptly would destroy Gene, as well as Finny, so Gene needs to break away slowly and discreetly. Like Siamese twins who share a vital organ, Gene and Finny share a bond so close that together they cannot both survive, but if they are separated, only one can survive. When Gene tries to free himself from Finny, the result is fatal- and deep inside, Gene knows that his friend’s death was partially his fault. In the friendship, Gene was really the leader, and without the comfort of his friend to lean on, Finny gave up living; however, Gene looks on Finny as the leader, and he despises this, yet, without Finny’s mock leadership, Gene is lost as well, and “up like a detonation went the idea of any best friend, up went… partnership and sticking by someone and relying on someone absolutely…” (Knowles 53). When Holden tries to find himself, he embarks on a journey through New York City, but without the means to find himself, Holden wastes his time frivolously, because he fears tarnishing his established image. Afraid to completely let go of himself to regain his gentle self that he lost when Allie died, he creates details and interests to try to prove his old image. Unfortunately, others about Holden all realize that he is “a student…[he is] in love with knowledge” (Salinger 189). Deep inside, his true self pushes to be set free, only to be suffocated by the weight of his stable image.

During adolescence, young adults find themselves on a quest to determine what dreams they have and what they are willing to do to make these dreams become reality. Unfortunately, many searchers squash those about them, especially the ones who care about them most, while they are trying to achieve happiness. Unexpected limitations pop up along the way to achievement, and characters often find themselves in turmoil when this occurs. One of the hardest things for adolescents to do is break away from a false but stable image that they present to both themselves and others to set out for their true self. The hurdles to leap through adolescence are high, but when in the reach of a dream, anything is possible.

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