Emily Chavez Assignment 1

One  allusion made in Ludvigson's "Inventing My Parents" is the American Dream. The American Dream is portrayed as falsely optimistic, despite phrases such as "the air outside is warm". The reference to the American Dream coincides with Ludvigson's allusion to Fitzgerald and his greatest work, The Great Gatsby. In this story, the fabulous and flawless facade on a life in the 1920's upper-class does not turn out to be as perfect as it seems. I believe in this poem, the reference to the American Dream was a major point in the theme of it.
People's inability to face the reality of the war and the hardships at this time is an idea that carries throughout the poem. When the author uses phrases like "light as summer rain when it begins", personally I got the feeling of artificial optimism. As working adults during the time, the people in the poem were unable to grasp the harsh reality that was right in front of them, and refused to let the simplistic idea of the American Dream go. Just as in The Great Gatsby, truth was hidden behind the desire for more and the desire for everything to be as easy the American Dream.
By referencing the American Dream and Fitzgerald's Gatsby, the author was able to portray the characters inability to come to terms with their reality, as well as the false hope behind the American Dream.