In our walk of life, we all face our own unique triumphs and tragedies that are known only

to us.
However there are instances when we all are eclipsed by the same over arching phenomenon. The
interplay between these two realities is what Rita Dove has chosen to bring out. She inspects the sway
of the American Dream which was introduced by James Truslow as ‘that dream of a land in which life
should be better and richer and fuller for everyone, with opportunity for each according to ability or
achievement’. The pursuit of this dream is conflated with the personal experiences of ‘Thomas’ in her
book 'Thomas and Beulah’ which were based on the lives of her grandparents. ‘Thomas and Beulah’
proposes a combination of a bold historical sweep with close focus upon individual identity, the
changing landscape of the American dream highlighted in the personal moment as mentioned in
‘Understanding Rita Dove’ by Joseph Dewey.

In the poem ‘Jiving’, we learn of how Thomas ‘heads north’ ‘into another life’ as he chooses to embark
on a journey to Akron Ohio. This phenomenon could be described as the Great migration and Rita Dove
commented that ‘It’s the first time that blacks in this country had any chance, however stifled of
pursuing the American dream.’ Thomas is depicted to have a jaunty persona in the poem; with his
‘always jiving’ and skill of the mandolin that charms the ladies. At first glance we can assume that it is
only the alluring prospects of a better life which spur Thomas onward, which signifies the greater
narrative of the American Dream. However if we attune to the personal narrative we can infer that
Thomas is running away from the guilt of his best friend’s death. His persona is a mere construction and
his swagger is an imitation of Lem. Perhaps this construction is a method of honoring Lem, by living the
way Lem would have.

From ‘Straw Hat’ we realize that Thomas has begun his factory labor and he has much to get used to. To
him ‘work is a narrow grief’ and he is ‘lucky to sleep his third shift’, indicating the rigorous life style that
he has to now get accustomed to. He is forced to share his mattress with two other men, who together
sleep in the ‘work barracks’ of the factory, highlighting loss of identity due to the sheer number of
laborers entrapped with him. The barracks here could symbolize how the workers are prisoners in the
factory, as their strict shifts prevent them from leaving and hold them slave to this ideal of the
‘American Dream’. If we look closely to the effects of this ideology, it is to make people work hard and
have faith that they it will pay off. We can draw relevant parallels to principles of ‘Boxer’ in the ‘Animal
Farm’, which are ‘Napoleon is always right’ and ‘I must work harder. For this dream could be induced by
the upper class to distract those below from the staggering inequality. Thanks to this trance, not only
will the urge to revolt against the existing systems be suppressed but it also indirectly causes laborers to
work harder and be exploited by those that control them.

In ‘The Zeppelin factory’ the zeppelin is compared to a whale which has an ever increasing appetite for
workers. Unfortunately this constant requirement for manual labor has taken a toll on Thomas, for he
explicitly desires to ‘sit right down and cry’. The degrading conditions of labour and continuous ‘hard
work’ have left him broken. But it is too late now; he has left his whitemansque freedom of laying on ‘so
many different types of grass,… under stars’. Apart from his physical distress Thomas finds no reprieve
from the past, for after a man falls to his death from the airship, he is plagued by the voice of Lem ‘here
I am, intact and faint hearted’. No matter where Thomas goes, he cannot escape the torment of the
past and so when he sees the blimp over head he acknowledges Lem ‘I know you’re in there’. This
suggest Thomas’s personal struggle to accept and overcome the death of his friend.

In the poem ‘Nothing Down’ we can observe the evolution of American dream into consumerism.
Thomas can now, finally afford to buy a car… on credit. His purchase of the car has two significances.
One, It is a symbol of consumption and Thomas is hoping that this purchase would stir the talk of
‘Punkin and Babe’, and might even envy him. Unfortunately we can see through his status and this is just
an attempt to ‘buy his way into the American Dream’ (Understanding Rita Dove). The second
significance of the purchase is the memory of Lems promise to ‘run away together’. This alludes to the
traumatizing lynching marked by ‘dogs rippling up the hill’ and the ‘air being torn into hopeless pieces’
that he and Lem sought to escape.
Ultimately, even after Thomas and Beulah take out the car for a drive, it breaks down and racist insults
are hurled at them. This reinforces that ‘the South’ like him are not welcome to dream the American
dream. His car represents his American Dream that breaks down that was bought on credit. Neither
can he dream nor can he run away from his past that is scarred with racism and guilt. Thus the grand
narrative along with his own past has now been woven together to a standstill.
It is unfortunate that Thomas and Beulah could only choose the color of their car and not of their skin.

7.3 words per line

Quotes
:

James Truslow ‘that dream of a land in which life should be better and richer and fuller for everyone,
with opportunity for each according to ability or achievement’

‘Thomas and Beulah’ proposes a combination of a bold historical sweep with close focus upon
individual identity, the changing landscape of the American dream highlighted in the personal moment
in ‘Understanding Rita Dove’ by Joseph Dewey.

‘heads north’ ‘into another life’

It’s the first time that blacks in this country had any chance, however stifled of pursuing the American
dream.’

‘always jiving’

‘work is a narrow grief’

lucky to sleep his third shift’

‘work barracks’

‘American Dream’

Boxer’ in the ‘Animal Farm’, which are ‘Napoleon is always right’ and ‘I must work harder .

‘sit right down and cry’

‘hard work’

‘so many different types of grass,… under stars’

‘here I am, intact and faint hearted’

‘I know you’re in there’

‘Punkin and Babe’

to ‘buy his way into the American Dream’

‘run away together’

of ‘dogs rippling up the hill’

air being torn into hopeless pieces’

the South’