Gertrude Bonnin’s The School Days of an Indian Girl, in my perception, is a story of the American Dream not coming true. Firstly, my definition of the American Dream is defined as being able to enjoy ultimate success and happiness achieved by taking full advantage of all the many opportunities that life in the United States has to offer an individual. In reading the text, I got a continual sense that Gertrude was never really and truly happy. This lacking in happiness stemmed from the racial prejudices she endured in her attempts at an “American” education and the disapproving attitude of her still very Indian mother. The sentence I chose conveys these origins of the author’s unhappiness, “Her few words hinted that I had better give up my slow attempt to learn the white man’s ways, and be content to roam over the prairies and find my living upon wild roots”. From this sentence I got that although Gertrude was very dissatisfied with her schooling experiences, she still understood that an education in the East would allow her more opportunities than being complacent on the reservation. At the same time, Gertrude must have felt torn between the extremely deep love she felt for her very Indian mother and her own desire to explore the opportunities awaiting her in the East, despite the white people. Sadly, once Gertrude has accomplished a small victory in the academic realm of the white man’s world, she could not even take part in fully enjoying the moment, for she dwelled on the ill feelings her own mother had against her and the discriminatory participants and members of the audience. Zitkala-Sa was never able to enjoy her successes, her American Dream.
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