Peter Careys American Dreams Analysis

slit Careys American Dreams AnalysisOption 2 Short StoriesThrough a close critical reading of Peter Careys storey American Dreams on pp. 147-62 in the Anthology, A World of Difference, consider how the fictions focus on themes of pagan dependency has particular consequences for a sense of place.The overall bewilder of this essay is to explore some of the literary devices that Peter Carey has used in American Dreams to convey the themes of cultural dependency, and the costs it might realise on ones cultural identity. It will also attempt to show what the consequences were, for the townspeople, when their necessitate for living the American dream became a sort of reality. The essay will first look at the germs choice of title, and its meaning in relation to cultural dependency, it will then go on to the use of narrative technique, structure, as well as how the author has used art and reality. It will also consider other literary elements used to write this short story.The title of a book has one indigenous objective and that is to create that much of an interest and incentive to convince the potential contributor to read further. So, what could be the excogitation for Carey to choose this particular title? Peter Careys title American Dreams, conveys a sense of the books subject matter. It signposts the direction towards the expression most of us have heard The American dream, of which The Oxford Dictionary for warning delimitate it as The ideal that every US citizen should have an equal opportunity to achieve success and prosperity (Oxford Dictionaries I English, 2007). However, this short story by Carey is presentation another side of the American dream, exploring the dangers and costs of cultural dependency might have on a slender community. The consequences of cultural dependency can fancy up when a society is strongly influenced and idealised by another, and subsequently trying to adopt its culture, values and lifestyle, not on purpose maybe, but in their quest to live a prosperous life. Like in this story for example, the American dream, that has been glorified and sen agentalised as a utopian goal, and as a consequence, the townspeople preoccupied somehow their cultural identity and sense of place. The peoples illusion of the American dream is running like a red thread throughout the story. They all fool American films and dream of wealth, and big smooth cars. Meanwhile, the peoples negative view of their home town and their unsatisfying lives grow bigger. The town in itself, is so insignificant, that it is not outlay mentioning the name. The father of the fabricator says nothing more than a stopping place. Somewhere on the way to somewhere else. (p. 151).American Dreams (Prescott, 2008, pp. 147-62) is narrated from the perspective of a man recalling events when festering up in his childhood town, thus told in the past tense. The boys voice is the story, and seems to be giving a truthful account of his opinion an d inner thoughts which makes the reader feel included and thitherfore becomes a shared experience. The narrator also seems to recognise the thoughts and feelings of the townspeople, and especially his father My father, , still believes that Gleason meant to do us well, that he love the town more than anyone of us. My father says we have treated the town badly in our minds. (p.151). However, the narrator fails when it comes to understand Mr. Gleason, and why he built the groin on Bald Hill, as written in the opening paragraph of the story No one can, to this day, remember what we did to offend him. (p.151). For that reason, the narrator is not able to allot the reader a full understanding of what is going on in Mr Gleasons mind, which is typical for a non-omniscient first-person narrator. Although the narrator mostly presents the story from a first-person point of view, in relation to his own experiences, he is also using the collective voice of the townspeople and himself in we al l, all eight hundred of us For years we watched the films at Roxy and dreamed, if not of America, (p.151), which gives the reader the impression that they are all in unison, because their dreams, hopes and frustrations are the same, or similar at least.Careys writing style is characterised by the use of frank structured sentences and colloquial language. He is making use of the narrators childhood memories of events from the past to move the story forward in time, beginning with when I was a small boy I often stole apples (p.151), between my twelfth and seventeenth birthdays (p. 155). Carey is also making use of imagery to show the reader how slow the time passes in the tiny remote town, describing frequently how the townspeople pedalling and pushing their bicycles up and down the lanes. They were as much a burden, as a means of transport. the narrator says. (p. 152) and another attempt to describe the slow progress of the building of the wall is, when the narrator says I watch ed it for two years, while I was waiting for customers who rarely came the harrowing progress of Mr Gleasons wall. (p.153). To full(prenominal)light it even more, how uninteresting and dull the town is, the author is making use of simile in It was as painful as a clock. (p. 153). It is not until the leading up to the climax, that the impression of time seems to move faster in the story, as the pace finally increases with the narrator saying And then, during my seventeenth birthday, Mr Gleason died. (p.156).Mr Gleason, the master(prenominal) character, is the outsider of the town and is described as so quiet and grey, that we ignored him. (p.151). Everything was normal in the town until Mr Gleason retired and all went wrong. (p.153). It was the day when he began to build the ten-foot high wall on Bald Hill. Nor the people or the reader knows what is behind the wall, until the day, when Mr Gleason dies, and the wall comes down. With this unusual concept of a wall being built and ul terior demolished, and both, for no known reason, Carey has made use of trick realism to create a sense of immediate curiosity for the readers.As soon as the wall comes down, the pace and the mood changes in the story. The pace increases, and the mood of the townspeople changes too. When they realised Mr Gleason had built an exact replica of their home town, as well as of themselves, there was first a sudden sense of pride and joy between them all. Admiring the reflection of themselves, running their lives in the little miniature town. The narrator himself was laughing, when he prime himself posing as an American a suckst the petrol pump, and then, the look of hisfathers face marked with grease and hope. (p. 158). Is it possible Mr Gleason was having fun of the people, seeing them as superficial and trying to energize them up? Because later, when the people started to look deeper into each others houses, they went in for a surprise and their mood changes to fear, as they realised they had underestimated Mr Gleason. If he knew all their little secrets, he must(prenominal) have known what they used to think about him as well. Nothing but a fool. (p.151).It is not mentioned where this provincial quiet town is set. It is not relevant for the story itself. Nevertheless, the reader gets the feeling for the sense of place Carey is trying to show. A non-significant place, where the townspeople would rather not be, if they had the choice. However, there are some clues in the story that indicates it is set in rural Australia. First, the story is written in British English, second, the narrator speaks of the minister for tourism (p.159) which is an Australian title created in 1959, (which also gives a hint about the time frame). As well, is the specific mentioning of the American dollars (p. 159), suggesting that the towns currency is also dollars. Another considerable circumstance is that Peter Carey himself, was born in Bacchus Marsh, Victoria, and that Parwan rai l line Station (p. 156), is an actual station located in Bacchus Marsh. Bald Hill (p.153), is interestingly and according to Wikipedia The most well-known and popular lookouts in Australia, and in unsanded York One of the highest points on Long Island. (En.m.wikipedia.org, 2017). This can be seen as the authors creative way of using figurative language as well as magic realism, as it offers a sense of hidden meaning, as both places do exist alongside the fictional Bald Hill, and all three having the same purpose of being lookouts, using telescopes to spy on the towns people. In the story, the narrator describes Bald Hill such as On Bald Hill are half(prenominal) a dozen telescopes through which the Americans can spy on the town and reassure themselves that it is the same down there as it is on Bald Hill. (p.161). This example of situational irony links it also back to the beginning of the story, when the narrator is describing the townspeople at the Roxy, watching American films for years we have watched films and dreamed ofAmerica (p.151), wake that the situation now has changed now it is the townspeople that are being watched and observed by the Americans.This essay has focused on themes of cultural dependency and the consequences it might have on a culture. We have been looking at Peter Careys short story American Dreams as an example, which suggests that, although, the town was remote and isolated, the townspeople still became influenced by the concept of living the American dream, and as a result of trying to conform to the American ways, they lost their identity. As the story goes on, when the town finally gain prosperity, it is ironically thanks to the Americans tourists. However, the townspeople are still not content, as unconsciously they are still not free of the American dream, unknowingly of the fact it is just a dream.(words 1648)BibliographyEn.m.wikipedia.org. (2017). Bald Hill. online Available at https//en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bald_Hill Acces sed 30 Mar. 2017.Prescott, L. (2008). A world of difference. New York Palgrave Macmillan