Aging To Heaven: From Digging To Heaven

Digging to Heaven Long before man there was the Kingdom of Haldarum. This was one of the five kingdoms of dwarves. These kingdoms were in constant competition to become wealthier than one another. All of the dwarves are encouraged to mine. Each week there is a tally on who mined the most. Each dwarf got to pick what he or she wanted to mine. Some metals, like iron were more abundant but worth less to the dwarves. Others, like gold, were extremely hard to mine, but were worth more to the community. Every dwarf had one goal, Wahala. Wahala was where every dwarf wanted to be. Only legendary miners got to live there for eternity. Wahala was a beautiful place, there were rolling green fields as far as the eye could see, a pristine ocean, and constant …show more content…
The different types of metals represent the different occupations that a society offers. Some are looked upon as greater or nobler than others. Keeping this in mind the goal is still the same. The American dream. The American dream is a goal that every person has. Most people, due to society’s teachings, want to be rich, successful, and well respected. Many people assume that when the dream is achieved that happiness will follow. As seen in this story, it is not true. The title “Digging to Heaven” has significance. Not only are the dwarves actually digging but it was what they were raised and taught to do by society. Usually heaven is considered above, so it is useless to dig for heaven. Heaven is the goal of the people but in reality they are digging to hell. Wahala represents this ever-present American dream seen in society. In this story there is a tally every week, this represents society’s pressure to be well respected and to show progress within the …show more content…
Gatsby wanted Daisy and Griff wanted Wahala. They both had a “green light” of sorts as seen in The Great Gatsby. The green light represented the American dream, which is the unobtainable goal. The Great Gatsby revolved his life around his riches so that he could impress Daisy and have her fall in love with him. After Gatsby’s death, during the funeral Nick, a close friend of Gatsby, thinks to himself “Gatsby believed in the green light, the orgastic future that year by year recedes before us. It eluded us then, but that’s no matter—tomorrow we will run faster, stretch out our arms farther. . . . So we beat on, boats against the current, borne back ceaselessly into the past”(Fitzgerald 180). Gatsby had achieved great success in his life but only one thing really mattered to him, Daisy. He chased his dream until the day he died and in the end, he realized that it was just a dream. Griff’s “green light” in the end was happiness. He worked his whole life so he could get to Wahala. Griff, in a similar way to Gatsby realizes that his goal is unobtainable. Although Wahala is the land his people strive to achieve, once there the dream is over. There is no more to work