Conflict,Disillusionment And Salvation:the African American Dream In The Women Of Brewster Place And The Men Of Brewster Place

As an original and powerful luminary in looking into black souls,Gloria Naylor has surely won herself a secure foothold in the contemporary American literary circles.Being a clear witness of the chaotic situation in the black community,Naylor gradually devotes herself to voicing for her fellow blacks,especially the laughs and tears of black women.The Women of Brewster Place and The Men of Brewster Place are respectively the debut and the latest novel of Gloria Naylor.Both books are set in Brewster Place,a deserted,dead-end street which is totally different from the prosperous wonderland with the accessible American Dream.Though indispensable components of the hopeful land,black men and women gathered in the street,lingering out a feeble existence and waiting for their dream—African American dream,to come true.This thesis explores the African American Dream afflicted by irreconcilable conflicts and infectious disillusionment but finally somewhat saved and illuminated by cultural roots and community strength.This thesis includes the Introduction,body,the Conclusion,Worked cited and Acknowledgements.The Introduction provides some general information on Gloria Naylor and the two related novels,theoretical ideas applied in this thesis and the literature review.The body is composed of four chapters.Chapter One unfolds the African American history of enslavement and misery and the African American Dreams harbored in the blacks’ hearts.Chapter Two delineates the broken dream in widely spread inter-racial and intra-racial conflicts.Under the double burden of racism and sexism,it is not only impossible for the men and women in Brewster Place to get along well with the whites in American society,but difficult for them to love their own race and gender.Chapter Three explores the African American Dream faded in large-scale disillusionment.People in Brewster Place are physically abused and spiritually numb,even the street is betrayed.Chapter Four analyzes evidence for a light of hope in realizing their dream,that is,salvation derived from Blues,community strength empowered by sisterhood and men’s participation,which also tells the secrets for the continuous vitality in the younger black generation and the whole race.