For this week's post I want to talk about Kennedy's "Swallow Barn". Out of what has been read so far I enjoyed this one a lot. I love the images even though they were a little confusing. I love that the first chapter was focused on the house and its grounds. This caught my attention because it seems so different from today's writing, which to me seems like its all about the characters and not so much about the surrounds. I believe that the setting is a key component in in the story, it affects how the character acts in the setting (comfortable vs uncomfortable, etc.) and it allows the reader to feel more like they are in the story.
This leads me into the topic I would like to focus on. The idea that the piece is out dated and that the plantation is/was a symbol of the American Dream. What is the American dream anymore? Is it still to live in a big house? Has it changed that much since this piece was written? My idea of a dream life is to get a good job, get married, live is a house (a comfortable size house), have two cars (one for my husband, one for myself) have some kids (one or two), watch my children grow up and grow old with my husband. Is this a crazy dream? Should I be wishing for a huge house like Brittany Spears, 15 cars, husband after husband, party that never end, etc. I feel like the generations coming consider that their dream.
I do have to say that when I was younger and saw Gone with the Wind the first time I wished I was a Southern Belle and then I read "Scarlet" and still felt that way, but after years of education I don't really want that so much because I know the truth about being a Southern women during that time period.
So what are your thoughts on the American Dream? What do you think it is, but I am not sure anymore.
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During the time in which "Swallow Barn" was written, owning a plantation was the American dream. The importance of owning a plantation was more than the just owning it. Residents took pride in its beauty, history and tradition. I think this plays into the southern stereotype that Southerners are slow. I don't mean this in a degrading way. Southerners simply take more time to enjoy the beauty, tradition, and history of owning a plantation. This could translate into the present day American dream. I think today's society has many "dreams." Some women are fighting for more rights, for instance, equality in jobs. Some women want to break out of the stereotype of their place being at home. Others are proud to be stay at home moms or wives. Still others are finding ground in between. I think today's American dream still holds tradition in high regard. I know in my family we have many get togethers, other than just holidays. We take pride in each other.
However, I think the media has twisted our view of the American dream. On TV we constantly see the rich and famous living in outrageously large and expensive homes, the multimillion dollar cars they drive, the luxurious vacations they take, the beautiful jewelry they sport, etc. But for most of us, these things are out of our reach (to a certain extent.)
Maybe if we all just slowed down and took the time to appreciate what we have and what's around us, we could simplify our American Dream.
I have to agree with you the media has really bent the American Dream out of shape. I hope that we can change it to something a little easier to obtain. I have a younger brother who is thirteen and I know that he is a teenager and that teenagers don’t think as adults do, but he thinks he can get the big house and 15 cars by working at McDonald’s. Frankly it scared me. What happened to simpler things?
I have to also agree with you about the idea that Southern’s appreciate the important things such as family, history, beauty, and tradition. I only wish I had a family that would gather together more then once a year. I was lucky this year because I got to spend my holidays with most of my family. You are a very lucky girl.
I agree with that the description of the village and everything was very interesting. It really caught my attention. It said that there were many things wrong with the house like the door was almost off it's hinges and stuff like that. It wasn't just the perfect house. It described also how towards the barn the shrubs and trees looked horrible. It wasn't the greatest place.
I agree with that. I don't want to live in a huge house with 15 cars either. I just want to make enough money to live maybe even in an apartment. That would be fine with me. As long as I get to play drums for a living with a band. That's all I ask.
Reading your post was interesting to me because our personal versions of the American Dream are very similar. However, I think that our goals are more akin to those presented in the 1950s, with a happily married mother and father, a couple children, and a moderately sized house in the suburbs. While even this goal was unrealistic for many at the time, I think that it is at least much more grounded than those associated with the American Dream today. I agree with shanm125 that media has very definitely shaped the American Dream and altered its meaning. For our generation, the Dream is a lot more materialistic. Today’s society is, on the whole, excessive and wasteful, so it makes sense that the Dream would be too. People no longer want to be “comfortable”; they strive to live in luxury. High-paying jobs that take away from family time but earn prestige and enough money to have a huge house, own multiple cars, and go on extravagant vacations are the new top priority to many.
It occurred to me that this new version of the American Dream, while it has expanded since the 50s, is not actually so different from the South that is romanticized in the movie Gone with the Wind that you mention. The plantation, while a symbol of traditional beauty which is not a value associated with today’s American Dream, also represents excessive living by the few and poverty for the vast number of slaves. Though that is not what Southerners like to associate with the plantation, the romanticized lifestyle that went with the plantation where Southern Belles have slaves dress them and possess dresses for every occasion is similar what goes on today. Many long to be part of the elite that lives in mansions and own trendy cars (the new American Dream) while much greater numbers live in poverty.
I think the American dream has always been to be successful and live comfortably. But the definition is different to everyone, what I think is comfortable someone else may think is suffocating. I think i Swallow Barn he was trying to portray that this plantation is old but it is beautiful becuase it has so much history,its more than a house, its an actualy character. to the south old is beautiful, and so at the time this would have been something to be proud of.
The idea of the American Dream has been transformed over the years. But I think that it was actually John Smith's piece is one that embodied the basics behind the American Dream most: freedom and pride in what is yours. Having the freedom to work for what you want and to provide for yourself and your family by whatever means you choose. In "Swallow Barn" and the South at the time that is portrayed, plantation life was the American Dream. Having slaves to work for you was the Southern whites way of providing for themselves and their families. The sense of pride in what they had the freedom to build (plantations) in order to provide was clearly evident. As was the importance of family and the history behind how you came to be where you were. Even what we know of slaves shows that characteristics of this Dream had transfered onto them. Slaves wanted there freedom and the abililty to have a family and keep them together and provide for them. I think the American Dream has been altered as society has grown and shaped itelf over time but I think at the heart of it, the American Dream is very much the same.
Wow, can i just say what you have said about Swallow Barn really has a lot of truth to it. First of all i want to say how i really agree with you about how the first part of the chapter talks about the scenery of the piece. I really enjoyed all the descriptions that Kennedy used during this piece. I mean it really set you up for what was to come and what was being talked about. Owning the plantation was the big thing back then. It was the american dream then. And i have to agree with you again with saying i have set goals for myself to. My american dream consists of kids, cars, and a big house as well. Should we set our dreams at what Britney Spears has though. I think that as generations grow the dream changes significantly and i think it always will.
Interesting comentary. I think you are absolutely right in noting the importance of the setting in The Swallow Barn. Setting is very important to this piece, as well as other pieces we have looked at, because it connects with the theme of land. Land is so important and so prevalent in these texts, it simply cannot be ignored, despite how repetitive it is. The setting does effect the characters and it effects the readers.
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