The Realities of the Illusive American Dream
"This seems too good to be true" is a saying that we have all heard before at one point or another. It is a saying that we, as individuals, have become increasingly privy to throughout our lives, especially as one's experiences continue to broaden. It is a saying that majority of us, at one point or another, will be found guilty of thinking. And, much like the projected interpretations of the "American Dream", it is a saying that knows no boundaries when it comes to gender, class, and race — or does it? In Like a Winding Sheet, Ann Petry continuously illuminates the message in correspondence to such illusive projections that chances are, if it sounds too good to be true, then the reality of the …show more content…
Ann Petry's literary work, Like a Winding Sheet, is no different. Written in a manner that is excruciatingly factual, direct, and intense, Ann Petry profoundly exposes the "invisible" and harsh realities of life in urban ghettos for the black community. Thus, forcing her audience to look beyond the projected "perfections" — or, illusions if you will — of this highly coveted "America Dream ". As the story continues to develop one can depict from the raw exposure of taboo incidents, how Petry metaphorically re-crafts the notion of "illusion vs. reality", transcending it into a mirror image of the American Dream — all the while, extorting on a deeper level its fraudulence, such as racial discrimination and domestic violence, that has been both embedded and overlooked in the works of the black vernacular since the beginning of …show more content…
In further protest of the gruesome realities at large for African Americans that get swept under the rug, Ann Petry illustrates that it is the relationships embedded within such activities and social institutions that act as the glue to which our lives are held together. Or in some cases, such as Johnsons', how our lives fall apart. Almost instantly upon his arrival at work, Johnson's boss, a white woman named Mrs. Scott, is quick to refer to him as a "nigger" (1499). Petry purposefully exacerbates this degrading statement fueled with racial discrimination by having Mrs. Scott go the extra mile in saying "(the niggers) are the worst…I'm sick of you (niggers)"(1499). Likewise, to further add insult to injury, on the way home Johnson mistakenly perceives the (white) women's "announcement" of running out of coffee to be a jab of racial discrimination. Thus noting, "The girl looked passed him….tossing her head back a little" (1502) stating, "No more coffee for a while" (1502). Given these bold accounts of inflicted racial discrimination, Petry makes it easy for readers to depict that Johnson's relationship with society at large is notably
"This seems too good to be true" is a saying that we have all heard before at one point or another. It is a saying that we, as individuals, have become increasingly privy to throughout our lives, especially as one's experiences continue to broaden. It is a saying that majority of us, at one point or another, will be found guilty of thinking. And, much like the projected interpretations of the "American Dream", it is a saying that knows no boundaries when it comes to gender, class, and race — or does it? In Like a Winding Sheet, Ann Petry continuously illuminates the message in correspondence to such illusive projections that chances are, if it sounds too good to be true, then the reality of the …show more content…
Ann Petry's literary work, Like a Winding Sheet, is no different. Written in a manner that is excruciatingly factual, direct, and intense, Ann Petry profoundly exposes the "invisible" and harsh realities of life in urban ghettos for the black community. Thus, forcing her audience to look beyond the projected "perfections" — or, illusions if you will — of this highly coveted "America Dream ". As the story continues to develop one can depict from the raw exposure of taboo incidents, how Petry metaphorically re-crafts the notion of "illusion vs. reality", transcending it into a mirror image of the American Dream — all the while, extorting on a deeper level its fraudulence, such as racial discrimination and domestic violence, that has been both embedded and overlooked in the works of the black vernacular since the beginning of …show more content…
In further protest of the gruesome realities at large for African Americans that get swept under the rug, Ann Petry illustrates that it is the relationships embedded within such activities and social institutions that act as the glue to which our lives are held together. Or in some cases, such as Johnsons', how our lives fall apart. Almost instantly upon his arrival at work, Johnson's boss, a white woman named Mrs. Scott, is quick to refer to him as a "nigger" (1499). Petry purposefully exacerbates this degrading statement fueled with racial discrimination by having Mrs. Scott go the extra mile in saying "(the niggers) are the worst…I'm sick of you (niggers)"(1499). Likewise, to further add insult to injury, on the way home Johnson mistakenly perceives the (white) women's "announcement" of running out of coffee to be a jab of racial discrimination. Thus noting, "The girl looked passed him….tossing her head back a little" (1502) stating, "No more coffee for a while" (1502). Given these bold accounts of inflicted racial discrimination, Petry makes it easy for readers to depict that Johnson's relationship with society at large is notably