The Reality of Reality

Everything we do is motivated by dreams and imagination, whether they are realistic or not. For example, the dream of becoming outrageously rich could motivate, because having a lot of money would pave the way to a comfortable life. Without the ability to imagine the impossible, we would be unable to reach our maximum potential. "Across the Border” by Sophie Jewett and “The Thing Around Your Neck” by Chimamanda Adichie both illustrate the driving force of self-transcendence: idealism, but also how sometimes, we are discouraged by reality.

A central theme in “Across the Border” and “The Thing Around Your Neck” is striving to achieve the ideal life. Sophie Jewett describes a fairyland “Where all the trees bear golden flowers/And all the birds are white;/Where fairy folk in dancing hours/Burn stars for daylight;/Where every wind and leaf can talk.” The “fairyland,” where magical and impossible things are reality, is a symbol for a place that exists for everyone, and the journey to find the “fairyland” symbolizes the lifelong endeavor to reach this symbolic fairyland, although the way it is imagined may be different for every individual. For the narrator in “The Thing Around Your Neck,” this place is America, where she will have a prosperous lifestyle and put down the burden of poverty, bettering life for both her family and herself. An important aspect of this theme is how the definition of the “perfect” world is defined by society. The description of fairyland of “Across the Border,” introduced in the epigraph, is “read,” showing how cultural and social variables transmitted through text or social interactions shape our definition of perfect. The same theme applies to “The Thing Around Your Neck.” Her aunts and uncles tell the main character, “In a month, you will have a big car. Soon, a big house.” They paint a picture of a successful life that will come with being in America. Her perception of America is founded on what the narrator hears about the country from her family, merely mirroring the common stereotype about the magical land of America.

Another central theme in both pieces of literature is the return to the norm after searching for dreams that are unrealistic. In “Across the Border,” “I [follows] two swift silver wings;/I [stalks] a roving song,/I [startles] shining, silent things;/ I [wanders] all day long.” The narrator finds “silver” wings instead of “white” birds; “a roving song” instead of the dialogue of leaves and trees. The narrator only encounters mirages that leave a lot to be desired, depicting the frustrating pursuit of dreams in the real world. After “[wandering] all day long,” the narrator gives up the search and returns to “sweet common flowers/ brown birds, and candlelight.” Similarly, in America, the narrator of “The Thing Around Your Neck” has a hard time reconciling her expectations of America and what she experiences when she arrives. All of what she had looked forward to - money, a house, a car, and a lucrative job - had eclipsed the potential problems she could face: rent, racism, sexual exploitation. The shock that she experiences when she encounters all of these obstacles and only witnesses ghosts of expectations is enough to make her return to her home. Not only this, but she had thought America would eliminate her problems and bring happiness to her and her family, when it had only let her evade her problems. She witnesses injustices; she “[wonders] why it was called a cottage because the buildings that big around [her] neighborhood back home were banks and churches.” She only feels guilty and upset about leaving her own family when she shares the wealthy lifestyle of her boyfriend. She compares her former lifestyle to her current, and knows that she has to return to her family, because her dream of succeeding in America upon arrival and sharing that success with her family proves to be naive.

Although both “Across the Border” and “The Thing Around Your Neck” handle the same overarching themes of hope and loss in the beginning and ends, realization is the biggest theme. Just as the protagonists have different definitions of the perfect world, they also come to terms differently with the disappointment. The narrator “[creeps] home to sweet common flowers” (Jewett 15). The word “common” carries a negative connotation that the flowers are mundane, but “sweet” shows the appreciation the narrator has for the flowers, despite the fact that they are “common.” The diction of the ending of “Across the Border” conveys that the main character learns to enjoy reality despite not being able to find “fairyland,” finding closure. However, in “Across the Border,” the cliffhanger ending shows the protagonist stuck in the middle of two worlds. She “[will] lose [the green card] if [she] did not come back in one year,” giving her time to decide. Instead of confronting and battling what makes her uncomfortable, she takes advantages of this time frame and recedes, like she has in the entire story. When her uncle abuses her sexually, she does not report him to the police, but leaves. When the people at the restaurant “asked when [she] had come from Jamaica,” she does not correct them. The way each protagonist faces disappointment characterizes them, and the way we act when faced with drawbacks characterizes us.

All of us have been disappointed when we imagine one thing to happen and the opposite happens in real life. The juxtaposition of fantasy and reality can be hard to accept, but without the ability to transcend disappointment and be optimistic about the future, we would never be able to advance and test our limits. “Across the Border” and “The Thing Around Your Neck,” which depict the journey of the protagonist through dreaming, losing, then realizing, shows the persistent nature of hope and the paradox that comes with hope in the real world. Keeping all of these central themes in mind, we should acknowledge that sometimes dreams aren’t realistic, but not let that deter us from challenging ourselves.