Essay on African-American American Nightmare in Song of Solomon

American ambition or African-American American Nightmare The resolve of Independence was written so Americans could achieve this dream, but the African buckle down was never intended to be a part of this American Dream. To the African-American, there were and still are many restrictions that go along with the American Dream. In Toni Morrisons novel, line of Solomon, macon Dead craved for the American Dream. He was in denial and believed that he could be just as successful as the white man. Macon desired to own everything, including people. Macon tells Milkman the following Let me tell you right now the one important thing youll ever need to know witness things. And let things you own own things. Then youll own yourself and other people too (Morrison 55). Macon must have suffered from a memory loss because when his get down acquired a house and land, he was blown five feet in the air. Was striving for the American Dream really worth dying for? Striving for the American D ream ruined Macons relationship with his family and his community. This is a perfect example of The Dream becoming the American Dream gone wrong or the American Nightmare. Macon confounded his family while gaining property and things. Milkmans dream, on the other hand, was to become a man on his own terms not on his fathers terms. He obtains his dream by finding his heritage and learning about his ancestors. Unfortunately, obtaining his dream ends in the ultimate dream, which is death. Morrisons use of magic realism keeps the reader guessing what is real and what is imaginary. Milkman often had dreams or nightmares as a child He had had dreams as a child, dreams every child had of the w... ...ll African-Americans ever obtain the American Dream? They still hope for it or it would not be a recurring theme in black literature. By making white Americans aware of black history and black plight, mayhap one day African-Americans will be considered true equals in white society. Work s Cited and Consulted Hughes, Langston. Dream Deferred. Literature, Reading Fiction, Poetry, Drama & the Essay. 4th Edition, Published by McGraw Hill, 1998. Jefferson, Thomas. The Declaration of Independence. 1776. The Norton Anthology of American Literature, 4th ed. v.1,ed. Nina Baym et al (NY Norton, 1994), 729. King, Jr., Martin Luther. I Have a Dream. A Testament of Hope The Essential Writings of Martin Luther King Jr., Ed. J. M. Washington. Harper & Row, 1986. 217, 219. Morrison, Toni. Song of Solomon. forward-looking York The Penguin Group, 1977.