Pursuing The American Dream: Cabeza De Vaca

Pursuing the American Dream
The American dream can mean a variety of things. However, the greatest common view of the magnificent American dream would relate to freedom and prosperity. Even though these ideas and dreams can differ for each person, they all revolve around the same purpose. There is not a single person that would not want to be free or prosper in life. People all the time are chasing after their own form of an American dream. Therefore, everyone has some form of a dream, and countless people would refer to it as an American dream.
First of all, everyone wants to be able to prosper. For example, parents want to observe their children grow up to be prosperous, as well as themselves so they can provide for their children. Prosperity

can come in various different forms, whether you realize it or not. Such as, having a job, getting an education, becoming wealthy, or just being able to provide for yourself and family. In the story, A Description of New England, John Smith talks about receiving an education to better yourself. For instance, Smith states, “Let this move you to embrace employment” (Smith 70). Well, that is the same as saying acquire an education or job so you can prosper in life. Also, Smith exclaims, “I have not been so ill bred, but I have tasted of plenty and pleasure, as well as want and misery” (Smith70). Here, Smith was talking about how he had been prosperous but has also experienced poverty. I believe he is referring that even if you want something, it may not go as planned. Which can also be applied to the American dream, because not everyone gets what they desire. In a manner of speaking, Smith told two different views of his image of the American dream.
However, people want to hear the more positive side of the American dream even in the smallest detail. All people want to hear about is the utmost positive outcome of anything, for the reason that nobody wants to be brought down by the negatives. For instance, another fact about prosperity is in the story of Christopher Columbus, Letter to Santengel Regarding the First Voyage, when Columbus talks about the year round crops and how Espanola is such a marvel. Columbus states, “In the interior are mines and metals, and the population is without number. Espanola is a marvel” (Columbus 26). Even though Columbus was not being completely honest, he made it sound as if Espanola would be prosperous for them if they settled there. Which is exactly the positive outcome the Queen wanted to hear. Which was that they would find a territory to prosper themselves in. This could be related to anyone who is looking for an American dream, even though everything may not the complete truth. Everyone is looking for a place where they can settle and be prosperous.
In addition, Freedom is something that everyone strives to obtain. People have come to America in the past and present to seek their freedom. There is nothing greater than to be free, which is why everyone wants a part of it. For example, Mary Rowlandson: A Narrative of the Captivity and Restoration of Mrs. Mary Rowlandson, talks about having to move around, being forced out of her home, mistreated, and starving. Her life was like a living hell, and all she could do was search for her freedom. Rowlandson states, “Oh the roaring, and singing, and dancing, and yelling of those black creatures in the night, which made the peace place a lively resemblance of hell” (Rowlandson 130). Rowlandson was not free in this scenario, she was in fact being forced into these conditions. So as you can understand she desperately wanted her freedom back, just as numerous other people want their freedom. Another story that is relevant to people’s freedom is Nathaniel Hawthorne: The Minister’s Black Veil. Although the story is not directly related to freedom, it shares similar concepts of it. In the story the minister is wearing a black veil to hide the sins of other people from himself. Hawthorne states, “No mortal eye will see it withdrawn. This dismal shade must separate me from the world: even you, Elizabeth, can never come behind it” (Hawthorne 641). In other words the minister is being held captive by the sins of other people, and he wishes to be free. This even includes his beloved wife. The only way he would be able to become free is for other people to stop sinning. Therefore, the minister is looking for his own type of freedom. Even though these stories are not exactly the same, they share the same views of searching for freedom.
On the contrary, there are some stories that contradict the freedom and prosperity of the American dream.

For instance Cabeza De Vaca: The Relation of Alvar Nunez Cabeza De Vaca, contradicts the American dream by talking about the opposite of freedom and prosperity. The story Cabeza De Vaca tells is about how a great hurricane came and took everything away from people, including the lives of a number of people. The hurricane left these people with absolutely nothing, and they were forced to move in hopes of finding new territory. These people were even naked and managed to travel from Florida all the way through Texas. Also, they stayed with the Indians during their journey and would not eat for days at a time. That definitely does not resemble prosperity. Vaca states, “My only remaining duty is to transmit what I saw and heard in the nine years I wandered lost and miserable over many remote lands” (Vaca 30). As you can tell, Vaca suffered some serious events, and overcame a rather traumatic event. However, just because these men did not prosper, does not mean they were not free. This story is controversial since it tells about how these people were already living the American dream and all of a sudden it was taken from them. They could not do much about the outcome either, except for going along with

it.
As stated before, Cabeza De Vaca and the people he was with suffered a great loss of everything they owned. They even suffered dramatically while looking for a new territory to settle in. “According to de Vaca, Narviez's men, after inspecting the area near their landing site, recommended immediate departure: "We should re-embark and sail in quest of a land and harbor better adapted to settlement, since the country which we had seen was the most deserted and the poorest ever found in those parts" (Fernandez 174). As stated in the quote, these people were having to pick up and move all around since the conditions they were living in were so poor. The place was so poor that nobody hardly lived in it, for nobody could prosper and survive there. Once again, you can take from this story that they were picking up and moving to a new place in hopes of finding a place they could prosper in. This is particularly similar to several other stories. Even though they all have a different story, the morals and meaning of the stories revolve around the same ideas.
In conclusion, everyone is looking for their chance to prosper and to have freedom in some way. Even though every person’s overall dream may be different from each other’s. Nobody will be able to go the same route to achieve these splendid wonders. Between Smith, Columbus, Rowlandson, Hawthorne, and Vaca each one of them made an effort to find their own way to prosper and find freedom for themselves. These two pleasures do not come easy, and it will be a struggle to achieve them. However, it is true that all great things come from persistence and hard work. Which in this case the great entity that everyone is pursuing is the American dream. No matter what happens in life you always strive to keep moving forward, just as Vaca and the men he traveled with did. Life is full of ups and downs, but you cannot sit there and let life beat you. Everyone has a purpose, and they also have a dream. Now is the time when everyone should get up and chase after that dream. Henceforth, known as the American dream.