Behold the Dreamers

Jende and Neni come to the United States with high hopes of creating a successful life for themselves and for their children. However, as the novel progresses they start to lose hope in their dream. While Neni keeps faith in the American Dream until the end of the novel, Jende loses it and decides that life as an immigrant is not worth the suffering for a goal that he may never achieve. At the beginning of the novel, Jende is invested in his dream and has an unwaveringly optimistic view of the United States. When questioned about why he immigrated, he tells Clark that “I stay in my country, I would have become nothing. My son will grow up and be poor like me, just like I was poor like my father. But in America, sir? I can become something. I can even become a respectable man. My son can become a respectable man” (39), and even when Vince tries to convince him that the United States is less than he imagines, he does not alter his point of view. Neni is more cautious with her optimism, but nonetheless believes that life in the U.S. is the best option for her and her children.

Jende’s optimism begins to crumble when he receives a deportation letter. Although he holds strong for some time, eventually the struggles of immigrant life begin to wear on him. He becomes increasingly aggressive with Neni and Liomi, and does not understand why despite his hard work and assurances from Bubakar he is being denied the promise of citizenship. When he loses his job, he loses all faith in the American Dream. In an argument with Neni one night, he tells her about another chauffeur – a white citizen – he met who lost his job when the recession hit. He interrogates her: “So you tell me—if he, an American, a white man with papers, cannot get a new chauffeur job than what about me? They say the country will get better, but you know what? I don’t know if I can stay here until that happens. I don’t know if I can continue suffering like this just because I want to live in America” (310). The stories of success around him are few and far between, and even though Neni is committed to the United States, he knows that he will not be able to support her there.

Jende’s abandonment of the American Dream – the notion that hard work and perseverance will allow him to achieve any goal – forces the reader to question its viability. When he returns to Limbe, he will return with enough money for a house and a car, as well as enough left over to start a business. The Jongas will be one of the wealthiest families in their town, able to support themselves for years to come. The stark contrast between life in Cameroon with Jende’s new seed money and the continual suffering he would have to endure to survive in America show that while many think opportunity abounds in the United States, the reality is far less spectacular.