Behold the Dreamers Literary Elements

Contemporary fiction

New York City (Harlem and Wall Street) in late 2000s America, right before the Great Recession and Barack Obama's election.

The story is told through an omniscient third person narrator, which divides itself between closely following Jende and Neni's thoughts.

Mbue's tone is one of cautious optimism and eventual pessimism about the American immigrant experience: she shows us the possible ways that immigrants can succeed, in a way that cautiously reminds us of how that can be taken away, and then shifts to a tone of pessimism as she makes clear that success for immigrants is almost impossible. Readers feel joy and excitement for the Jongas for the first half of the book, as well as some worry for their future, and then despair when they are deported.

The protagonists are Jende and Neni Jonga, a Cameroonian couple trying to live their American dream. While Mrs. Edwards, Jende's boss's wife, is the one who fires him, the antagonist is truly the American political and economic system, which makes life difficult for undocumented immigrants and makes it impossible for them to succeed financially.

Jende and Neni are undocumented and trying to stay in the United States, as well as earn enough money to live above the poverty line, all while dealing with the expectations placed on them by the Edwards family and the compromises they have to make to please their employers.

The climax comes when Lehman Brothers, Mr. Edwards's company, falls in the financial crisis, and when Mrs. Edwards learns of his affair. This massive upset in the Edwards's lives leads to them firing Jende and causing the Jonga family's lives to fall into despair.

Jende overhears Mrs. Edwards talking on the phone to her friend about a mutual friend whose husband left her for another woman. This foreshadows later in the book, when the Edwards will get divorced because Mr. Edwards is having an affair with another woman, suggesting how widespread this issue is among wealthy businessmen.

Leah casually says "That poor woman. I'd hate to be in her shoes" (pg 200) when talking about Mrs. Edwards learning of her husband's affair. In reality, this is a vast understatement of how bad Mrs. Edwards' situation is, because not only is her marriage falling apart, she is suffering from depression and drug addiction as well.

The entire novel of Behold the Dreamers acts as an allusion to the time before the 2008 election and around the financial crisis, reflecting the hope that lots of black Americans and immigrants had about a black man running for president, and the economic horror that struck the country after the stock market crash. The novel alludes to the fears and experiences of many Americans during this time.

In chapter 34, Mighty starts crying in the car about his parents fighting and potentially getting a divorce. Jende comforts him by hugging him, but worries about the ramifications if anyone sees a black male servant hugging a wealthy white child. Through this vivid image, Mbue draws to light the complicated nature of Jende's job as a servant - he is an employee who also provides emotional labor - and the way that the chauffeur car blurs the lines between employee and servant, keeping them apart through class and racial lines, but also bringing them together through emotion.

Jende's perception of his relationship with the Edwards is a paradox. While he talks about how grateful he is to them and how much they take care of his family, in reality, they are still his employers and end up firing him, in spite of his steadfast belief that they are good people who take care of him.

The Edwards' marriage and the Jongas' marriage both fall apart around the same time, paralleling each other. The Edwards go through problems after Mr. Edwards' affair is revealed, but later in the book, the Jongas go through problems as well, after Jende decides to go back to Cameroon and removes Neni's autonomy in making that decision.

Winston and Jende talk often about how the Jongas have to deal with "Immigration." In reality, saying "Immigration" or "the immigration office" represents the individual immigration workers who work on their case, rather than the entire issue of immigration as a whole.

"...the sunlight banging against the glass." -pg. 53