Frederick Turner's American Dream

America was founded on the discovery and exploration of the frontier. For years there was a real American dream, and frontier to discover; but, as Frederick Turner argues, later as Americans settled further and further west, eventually there is no where further to settle. Struggling Americans are tricked into believing if something goes terribly wrong they can go to the frontier and discover new land, settle and build a life for themselves, but in reality there is no place in America like this. There are no short cuts to prosperity. In the early nineteen hundreds in reaction to the dustbowl throughout the south and the great depression, a great migration to the western frontier occurs, but their American dream has become a nightmare.
The landowners take away a lot from the Okies, but “the little screaming fact that sounds through all history: repression works only to strengthen and knit the repressed.” (end of 19). The Joads have come to see what is really important in life, the one constant, each other. The Joads know they should take out their hate on the repressor, not fellow victims. Furthermore, the property owners actions have perpetuated the compassion to fellow workers. When in trouble, the people to stand up and help are the ones who know the feeling. Throughout the novel the Joads struggle, but the hardships “knits” them closer to each other. Outsiders expect the repressed workers to selfishly fight for their own food and resources, but instead the repressed join together because they been through similar conditions. The Joads know pain of other pickers, so repression creates a compassion for repressed strangers. In the last scene of the novel, The Joads find a young boy and his dying father. The starving man needs milk because he is unable to chew or swallow food, but neither the Joads or the boy are able to afford it. So, to save the mans life Rose of Sharon’s, “hand moved behind his head and supported it. Her fingers moved gently in his hair. She looked up and across the barn, and her lips came together and smiled mysteriously.” (538). Rose of Sharon performs a selfless, intimate act with a complete stranger for the life of a man she does not know. With the miscarriage of her baby, disappearance of her husband, and past inability to help work, Rose of Sharon feels important and proud of herself for the first time in a while. Repressed people with nothing are more willing to share because all they have is each other. Although The Joads may feel as if the land owners have everything, they do not have a group of supporters like the dying man does. Additionally, when