Choices

Nector Kashpaw's most interesting (or least interesting) characteristic is that he absolutely refuses to make a decision for himself in his life except for two notable examples: the first refusal of his to pose for the Old Woman and his decision to get with Lulu and carry on his affair. After these choices however, his ability to continue making choices instead of just floating along life's current is once again disappears. He always gives in to pushing, just as Lulu was able to offer him something, so did the Old Woman. Both of these women "offered (him) so much that he had to forget his dignity" (Erdrich 120) and succeeded in pushing him to do exactly what they wanted. The Old Woman desired to turn him into art and Lulu alluded towards desiring to make him her own.

Even in watching the aftermath of his actions, he still refused to make any choice that would have stopped the current current of life and correct it. When the Old Woman finished her work, he, "wouldn't fight it, and in that way [he'd] get to shore" (120) and while he watched Lulu's house burn down, the best he can claim is that, "[he] had done nothing" (141). 

Choices

Nector Kashpaw's most interesting (or least interesting) characteristic is that he absolutely refuses to make a decision for himself in his life except for two notable examples: the first refusal of his to pose for the Old Woman and his decision to get with Lulu and carry on his affair. After these choices however, his ability to continue making choices instead of just floating along life's current is once again disappears. He always gives in to pushing, just as Lulu was able to offer him something, so did the Old Woman. Both of these women "offered (him) so much that he had to forget his dignity" (Erdrich 120) and succeeded in pushing him to do exactly what they wanted. The Old Woman desired to turn him into art and Lulu alluded towards desiring to make him her own.

Even in watching the aftermath of his actions, he still refused to make any choice that would have stopped the current current of life and correct it. When the Old Woman finished her work, he, "wouldn't fight it, and in that way [he'd] get to shore" (120) and while he watched Lulu's house burn down, the best he can claim is that, "[he] had done nothing" (141). 

Unit Wrap-Up

In this unit, the American Dream was examined through the use of F. Scott Fitzgerald’s The Great Gatsby and Earnest Hemingway’s In Our Time. Though these tales, that great American ideal of being it all was illustrated through the use of characters who appeared to be living the dream, and those who yearned for something. In the short stories of Hemingway, tales were told of homely soldiers who returned home from war, the seemingly superficial desires of femininity, and the truth about what it means to be in a relationship. However, all of his characters are rather grounded. They don’t return to lavish parties and heroism, but instead to an everyday life that goes on without them. In Fitzgerald’s work, a long-going tale of desire and grandeur was told, but it was told in a world in which every characters who was a major player was a part of that esteemed upper-class that seemed to have it all.

                The American Dream is not to be just successful, but to be more successful than those who came before you. It can include tales of heroism in the war, or loves both lost and refound, but at its core, it is about being something that the ones before you can be proud of. When Gatsby decided that he wanted to become “old money” he gave up everything from his family, his old life, and even his last name. He abandoned the people who made him into who he was to chase the spoiled dream of Americanism that he suddenly found himself tantalizingly close to in his army days. In Hemingway’s work, his characters were much more real to the majority of Americans, the hard workers. His characters were the ones who returned to battle too late or tried to hold onto a love too strong. They showed a different side of the American Dream because they weren’t the ones who could just sit back and let success fall into them. Their pitfalls were the pitfalls of reality.

 

                While both of these men showed the different sides of society and how they strive for the dream, neither of their characters were truly happy. Perhaps the lesson about the dream is that the only way to be a true success as you grow is to become the person you’ve always wanted to be, not who society thinks you should be.