Choices And Possibilities In Wagner Matinee Aunt Georgiana

The concept of American dream originated in the 1600s, even before America was a country (“Ten Facts”). The forever changing American dream, has instilled in American literature the choices people are forced to make regarding their aspirations. Every generation has changed the common idea of what the American dream entails. There are immense possibilities as to how the common person interprets the American dream. The American dream inspires people to make their own decisions and prompts people that there is always another possibility (Izaguirre). In American literature the theme of choices and possibilities is prominent.
In Wagner Matinee Aunt Georgiana was faced with numerous choices. Aunt Georgiana made the decision to move west knowing she

would leave behind the culture and arts of the densely populated city. Aunt Georgiana was content with her decision considering, until it was necessary, she had not gone back to Boston. Returning to Boston a time later to settle an estate, Aunt Georgiana also took time to visit her nephew, Clark, whom she had raised. Georgiana taught Clark his love of music and he decided to repay her by taking Georgiana to the Boston Symphony Orchestra. While listening to the symphony, Aunt Georgiana realized what she had been missing all those years. Upon hearing the melodious sounds of the Boston Orchestra, Aunt Georgiana realized the drawbacks of moving west. Once the program had ended, Aunt Georgiana was comparing her life in Nebraska to what her life would have been if she had not married Howard. Aunt Georgiana was weighing the options in her mind, because even if she enjoys her life in Nebraska, she wants to know if that is all she was meant to accomplish in her life. Aunt Georgiana was faced with numerous decisions regarding where she wanted her life was heading (Cather). Same as how Aunt Georgiana was faced with decisions regarding her family and her own future, In The Life You Save May Be Your Own Mrs. Crater was faced with strenuous decisions regarding Lucynell and her property.
Mrs. Crater was making her decisions based on what she thought was beneficial for Lucynell. When Mr. Shiftlet showed up to her farm Mrs. Crater was originally apprehensive of him. Mrs. Crater was not prone to trusting people she had not known for a long time, especially regarding her daughter's well being. Considering Lucynell’s disabilities, Mrs. Crater had become protective of her. With Lucynell’s disabilities, Lucynell is still thought to be young and innocent (Lawson). One can infer that since Lucynell’s father is not in the picture, Mrs. Crater does not trust men unless they have earned it. Mrs. Crater eventually allows Mr. Shiftlet to work around her farm, because she realizes that she cannot handle the burden by herself and she understands that some people may be down on their luck. When Mrs. Crater recognizes how well Mr. Shiftlet and Lucynell cooperate, she trusts him enough to offer Lucynell’s hand in marriage. Mr. Shiftlet made the choice to dishonor Mrs. Crater’s trust and ditch Lucynell on their honeymoon drive. Mr. Shiftlet was trusted to take care of Lucynell and he betrayed her (O’Connor). Similarly to how Mr. Shiftlet betrayed trust, Tom Walker and his wife in The Devil and Tom Walker barely had any trust for each other.
Tom Walker was frugal enough to contemplate selling his soul to the devil. Tom and his wife were miserly and did not trust anyone including their spouse. Tom met the devil one day when he was escaping the house from his nagging wife. The devil proposed Tom with an idea to obtain money quickly. Despite his usual routine, Tom told his wife what happen at the old fort with the devil. Being as greedy as her husband, Tom’s wife insisted Tom accept the deal. When Tom declined in spite of her, Tom’s wife took the liberty upon herself to acquire the money. Tom’s wife made the decision that she was receiving that money with or without her husband. Tom’s wife had never returned after leaving with her apron full of silver to bribe the devil. Once his wife was gone, Tom renegotiated the deal with the devil and made a fortune for himself, that was obtained unjustly. Both Tom and his wife decided that they would rather sell their soul to the devil than work hard to obtain money, despite the drawbacks. Tom and his wife’s lives became engulfed in greed and they were willing to do even the most rotten things to gain money (Irving). Tom and his wife lived their own lives without consulting one another, unlike George and Lennie in Of Mice and Men who did everything in harmony.
George and Lennie make their decisions based on what is best for both of them.

George looks after Lennie and helps protect him from the hardships of the world. George makes his decisions based upon what benefits Lennie the most. In contrast to how no one cared for either Walker in Devil and Tom Walker, George and Lennie care deeply about one another. These two have stated their pledge to one another through their stating “ I got you an’... An’ I got you” (Steinbeck ###). Even though Lennie is not capable of making decisions for himself, he responds to George’s decisions how he wishes. George made the decision that both of them would be late to their new job, because he wanted to enjoy his time on the creek. George made the decision that Lennie needed to keep his distance from Curley. Then the one time Curley challenged Lennie, it was George’s decision that Lennie would fight back. When Lennie accidentally killed Curley’s wife, George was faced with the most challenging decision of his life. George had to decide what he was going to do with Lennie. George came to the conclusion that Lennie was a burden on everyone and that he wanted to kill Lennie himself. George wanted to make certain that when Lennie perished, he left this world

happy.
Many stories in American Literature have a theme of choices and possibilities. Whether the choices are life changing or simple, the characters must choose their path throughout the work of literature. Some decisions characters make affect the outcome of the stories and others affect the story an insufficient amount. Considering the American dream has always eluded to the idea that possibilities are everywhere, as long as the American dream is prominent so will the theme of choices and possibilities. Even though American dream is constantly shifting as to what it entails, the theme of choices and possibilities has not dissipated in the works of American authors.