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Simon Ortiz refutes the American Dream through his writing about the Native American Dream in his poems and books.

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This critical essay of Ortiz’s work describes his disapproval of the American Dream through his first important work A Good Journey. The book full of several poems is split up into four sections. Some themes in the first section “Leaving” are displacement, longing for home, and loneliness. These all reject the American Dream because there is no sense of joy or anything positive; simply despairing truths of people’s lives. Another section “Returning” goes on to destroy American society and describes it as “dehumanizing,” “lifeless realms,” and “scrutinizes the destructive tendencies of American industry.” Another trait of The American Dream is nationalism, and there is no sense of it here as Ortiz tears down the negatives of American society and culture. Analyzing A Good Journey clearly indicates Ortiz’s perspective of rejecting the American Dream.

https://go.gale.com/ps/retrieve.do?tabID=CriticalEssays&resultListType=RESULT_LIST&searchResultsType=SingleTab&hitCount=10&searchType=BasicSearchForm&currentPosition=1&docId=GALE%7CEJ2101206359&docType=Critical+essay&sort=Relevance&contentSegment=ZXBK-MOD1&prodId=SUIC&pageNum=1&contentSet=GALE%7CEJ2101206359&searchId=R1&userGroupName=clar33415&inPS=true

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Through the analysis of Ortiz’s work in this source, the Native American Dream is explained in rebuttal to the American Dream. “The Native American dream can be seen as a reflection of how whites viewed American Indians throughout the history of the United States.” This idea expresses how Native Americans have to find their way to fit in American society which completely contradicts the American Dream. During this time period people treated other races terribly, affecting their lives and making the American Dream unattainable. Ortiz portrays these struggles in his poems and brings this harsh reality to his writings. For example “A Good Journey “combines elements from traditional Native American myths with the gritty reality of life as experienced by his people in modern times.” Also, most of his poems “reveal a keen eye for realistic detail as well as an understanding of the Native American search for a place in American society.” This core principle, The Native American Dream, displays many times in Ortiz’s work for a reason and proves he does not support the American Dream.

https://go.gale.com/ps/retrieve.do?tabID=Reference&resultListType=RESULT_LIST&searchResultsType=MultiTab&hitCount=4&searchType=BasicSearchForm&currentPosition=2&docId=GALE%7CCX2895300066&docType=Topic+overview&sort=Relevance&contentSegment=9781414429311&prodId=SUIC&pageNum=1&contentSet=GALE%7CCX2895300066&searchId=R1&userGroupName=clar33415&inPS=true

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https://drive.google.com/file/d/1StjdeaYcdzdsRiqjiPNoB7yL29umR5bj/view?usp=sharing

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Haske, Joseph. "Simon J. Ortiz: A Poetic Legacy of Indigenous Continuance." Southwestern American Literature, vol. 36, no. 1, fall 2010, pp. 106+. Gale In Context: High School, link.gale.com/apps/doc/A245116470/SUIC?u=clar33415&sid=bookmark-SUIC&xid=3d1197a9. Accessed 16 Feb. 2022.

Ortiz, Simon J. “Busted Boy by Simon J. Ortiz.” Poetry Foundation, Poetry Foundation, https://www.poetryfoundation.org/poems/53441/busted-boy.

Ortiz, Simon J. “Culture and the Universe by Simon J. Ortiz.” Poetry Foundation, Poetry Foundation, https://www.poetryfoundation.org/poems/53440/culture-and-the-universe.

Ortiz, Simon J. “Dawn Prayer for All by Simon J. Ortiz.” Poetry Foundation, Poetry Foundation, https://www.poetryfoundation.org/poems/154285/dawn-prayer-for-all.

Ortiz, Simon J. “The Promise We Live by by Simon J. Ortiz.” Poetry Foundation, Poetry Foundation, https://www.poetryfoundation.org/poems/154286/the-promise-we-live-by.

Schein, Marie M. "Simon Ortiz." DISCovering Authors, Gale, 2003. Gale In Context: High School, link.gale.com/apps/doc/EJ2101206359/SUIC?u=clar33415&sid=bookmark-SUIC&xid=8f817706. Accessed 16 Feb. 2022.

"Simon J. Ortiz." EXPLORING Poetry, Gale, 2003. Gale In Context: High School, link.gale.com/apps/doc/EJ2114103202/SUIC?u=clar33415&sid=bookmark-SUIC&xid=46c5b752. Accessed 16 Feb. 2022.

"The Native American Dream." Literary Themes for Students: The American Dream, edited by Anne Marie Hacht, vol. 2, Gale, 2007, pp. 581-585. Literary Themes for Students. Gale In Context: High School, link.gale.com/apps/doc/CX2895300066/SUIC?u=clar33415&sid=bookmark-SUIC&xid=25aafb46. Accessed 15 Feb. 2022.

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Once again Simon Ortiz portrays the opposite characteristics of the American Dream in his work. In the poem Busted Boy, Ortiz repeats the phrases “busted boy,” “busted Indians,” and “busted again.” These sayings show the conflict people have gone through; and not just Native Americans which Ortiz typically writes about, but the struggles of other races as well. In the poem, a teenage black boy gets robbed, Indians rob him, and Ortiz and other Indians just watch. These people all represent powerful ideas in American society: the teenage boy who also represents African Americans living in fear and the Indians represent their displacement in society and are trying to find their way. This was the reality for races other than whites and Ortiz clearly expresses how the American Dream was unattainable to them.

https://www.poetryfoundation.org/poems/53441/busted-boy