Malcolm London’s words are a tuning fork; with each reverberation, they become louder and louder, ringing right through your body, picking up speed like a freight train. His verses are are laced with subtle lyricism, driven by anger, cynicism, but depart with an unmistakable sadness.
London’s shrewd and cynical eye looks within the faults in his generation, seeded and bred by the previous one, and criticizes the more the most foundational institution within this country of breeding them, according to stereotype or societal perception, into definite lives and paths, training them to fail without ever giving them a chance to succeed, to accept that they would never be or have anything more than that, than the scraps society casts aside to them, almost an afterthought. His main points act as a criticism and commentary on society, revolving around themes of race, social class and perception, and inherent, bred inequality. His words, largely pessimistic, are cutting in nature as he examines archetypes and stereotypes, societal labels that act as demotions that devalue a human being, strip away an individual; he unwaveringly accuses those who oversee and guide of being the worst culprits of all, either limiting an adolescent’s possibilities by not recognizing individual potential, or else not intervening or guiding them, in the mindset that they are hopeless, or not worth the effort. Not worth the effort, not worth the time or thought, not worth it, not of worth. These are the values placed on our labels; you are smart or dumb, you are full of potential or you are hopeless, you are valuable, or you are worthless. London’s critises society in this way; if you do not provide the opportunity, the chance, how we succeed? How will we realize our potential if you insist on limiting it?
This directly coincides with the argument that the american dream, the dream of potential and success and acclaim is only achievable to the people awarded the opportunity to it; and that some, by society’s deeming, are not deserving of it. It reiterates that race, social class, and societal perceptions dictate opportunity, and that these factors also exclude certain people from the opportunity the dream offers. It directly coincides with texts such as “21st century breakdown”, which describes the death of the American dream in the contemporary sense as generations progress, arguably because generations progress. The themes and main points of the speech act as a subversion to the american value of individualism, arguing that, instead, by way of social stereotypes and perception, we devalue it, or at least, dismiss it in favor of simplicity, of bias.
Personally speaking, I likes the speech very much; it was sharp and cynical and criticised contemporary society with a deadly accuracy. It was smarting, and poignant. However because of this, it as largely pessimistic and while honest, devastating to see the truth in. However, despite this, I will take away it's sharp commentary, it's unwavering, cynical eye that evaluates the faults in society, and within ourselves.