American+Collective+Spirit

This wall talks about the American collective spirit. If we put our heads together we can overcome anything. This is a concluding wall to my museam because even though we have problems and discrimination in our society, we can and will change. America has overcome racial, womens, and other discrimination. America may discriminate but of ultimate struggle and despair, Americans will come together in sympathy and motivation to create change. This was a similar case in the Grapes of Wrath... the poor class was banished and treated poorly during the depression. They had no choice but to vacate their lands and travel westward. The poor workers were forced to live in camps called Hoovervilles. They had barely and food or money and they could barely support a large family. The Joad's are a family that exemplify the American collective spirit because when little kids when up to the Joads for food, they did not hold back. Instead they divided their own meal into smaller portions in order to serve the small children that lived in the Hoovervilles. In The Grapes of Wrath, the rich took the land of the poor and left them without anything. Obstacles are always going to block the path of the poor, but Steinbeck shares a hopeful message. He explains that people with the same experience of struggle will come together. In the Grapes of Wrath, the poor were always willing to help the poor because "Two are better than one, because they have a good reward for their labor. For if they fall, the one will lif' up his fellow, but woe to him that is alone when he falleth, for he hath not another to help him up" (Steinbeck, p.533). This is a metaphor explaining that the poor will always be there in order to pick another man up from trouble. The poor do not want to give up in the fight for equality and they will never give up. More and more people will come together each day in the fight, and soon they will build the power to overcome. The Joad’s demonstrate the power of poor helping the poor in American society. As the Joad’s are walking, they find a dying man and a small boy. The man has not eaten for six days. Rose of Sharon sees this man during the mourning of her lost child. Because Rose of Sharon feels unending sympathy and compassion, she decides to use the death of her own baby to help a man escape from his own death. She holds him close, with compassion, and she lets him drink from the same breast that her dead baby should have been drinking from. Steinbeck teaches me the value of American comfort. Because of the understanding of hardship, Americans come together and stand up for their rights. “I'll be ever'where—wherever you look. Wherever they's a fight so hungry people can eat, I'll be there. Wherever they's a cop beatin' up a guy, I'll be there... I'll be in the way guys yell when they're mad an'—I'll be in the way kids laugh when they're hungry and they know supper's ready. An' when our folk eat the stuff they raise an' live in the houses they build—why, I'll be there” (Steinbeck, p.439). Because of the long unsuccessful journey to the West, Tom along with the rest of the Joad family because of the belief it is important to put yourself out their in the service of the collective good. In my wall i decided to show a picture of Martin Luther King. When I see him, I see the hope and greatness of our country. Martin Luther King got the American people aware. Aware that discrimination is not ok and aware that we must put an end to racial discrimination. He began the Civil Rights Movement and he was and is an inspiration to developing movements all over the country. I also have the video of Barak O'Bama's, "Yes We Can" song. Running in the 2009 election, he is a man who signify CHANGE. Under the Bush Administration, to me, we have gone through hardship and struggle. This song gives Americans hope and it makes us excited about the our future. He is a man who believes in change in our country. He may get nothing done in the presidency, however, when we listen and hear him we have the sense of the collective spirit that makes us great. Another video i showed in my wall is a video of the destruction in New Orleans. How Americans did not just sit back. Thousands of American families offered to home the victims, people volunteered to help re-build cities, and Americans donated food and clothing. Americans can do it, and I believe that we have the power to make change. We just now have to find a way to make change when it is not during desperate times. I hope one day we will be able to make changes because we know it is wrong. We should help homelessness now before it gets even more out of control. I think that the collective spirit of the American people will help to create more revolutions in our society.

I wanted this to be my last page because the other three pages had a negative tone. This page has a completely positive tone and i think that it is a good final thought and ending to my museum. We, as Americans have endured injustice, discrimination, and hardship throughout time. However, this wall shows that anything can be accomplished in the America democracy. Each day we work for a better tomorrow and a better future, as American people. We live in a society- a democracy where all our dreams can come true, and I believe one day they will.

whitney

American Dream- Greed