Requiem for a Dream: A Novel

Requiem for a Dream uses the literary technique of deep point of view to get into the minds of its protagonists. Consequently, their individual voices often usurp the typical third-person narrative voice of the novel. A good example of this is the novel’s introduction of Tyrone C. Love. Selby writes, “Harrys partner, a black guy named Tyrone C. Love—Thas right jim, thas mah name an ah loves nobody but Tyrone C.—was waiting for him in the hallway, eating a Snickers candy bar” (11). Tyrone’s voice interrupts the narrator, giving the reader an immediate sense of his character and vernacular style. Selby Jr. writes the voice of Tyrone (and other Black characters) in an exaggerated stereotype of African American Vernacular English. Sara, and to a lesser extent, Harry, speak in a stereotypically New York Jewish accent, often mixing in Yiddish slang. This accent is tied closely to the generic Brooklyn accent, though it is usually coded specifically as Jewish in most mainstream media. While these linguistic stereotypes can be considered problematic to a modern audience, Selby Jr.’s prose hints at an honest depiction of real life as he knew it. Most characters are portrayed in a sympathetic manner, despite their flaws, which are almost always personal, rather than tied to their identity (a notable exception being the racist police and the cruel physicians in the final chapters of the novel). The comingling of these Black and Jewish stereotypes also gives a sense of the character of Brooklyn and the Bronx in the late 1970s, vibrant, diverse communities experiencing urban decay and a growing drug crisis.

Sara’s relationship with her son is immediately presented as complex and tumultuous. While Harry verbally abuses her, Sara hides in the closet with the key to the lock that holds her TV in place. It is clear that Harry has stolen from her before to pawn her belongings, particularly her television. She chooses to overlook this negative habit and think of her son in a positive light. Conversely, Harry understands that his mother has a close relationship with her television and repeatedly steals it anyway. This is a particularly harsh move that shows Harry’s repeated lack of empathy for his mother in light of The Effects of Drug Addiction, using her livelihood for his own benefit and knowing that she will forgive him.  

A scene in which Harry and Tyrone board a bus in the South Bronx emphasizes The Complexity of Racial Dynamics of the era as well as Harry and Tyrone’s friendship. Though American society was ostensibly desegregated by the late 1970s, Tyrone’s horrified reaction at Harry trying to sit at the front of the bus illustrates the reality of being Black in the rougher areas of New York City. When they move to the back of the bus, they have the following exchange:

When they reached the rear of the bus they sat down with a long, loud sigh. [Tyrone:] Hey massa Harry, how come you is a sittin back chere wit us black foke? [Harry:] Well, ahll tell you brother Tyrone, cause under it all ah feels that we is all brothers and under this white skin beats a heart just as black as yours, [Tyrone:] hahahaha, lay it on me, and they gave each other five. Sheeit baby, you aint white, youse just pale…and you got to remember baby, beautys only skin deep, but uglys to the bone, and they gave each other five again (22).

Tyrone and Harry are best friends, crossing racial lines in a society that still experiences de facto segregation. They use this to their advantage when it comes to scoring and dealing heroin: Harry deals to white clients, while Tyrone deals to Black clients. Tyrone also serves as their main connection to Black dealers, such as Brody, from whom they buy most of their supply. However, Tyrone is more vulnerable to profiling by law enforcement and scrutiny in non-Black areas of the city.

Sara’s dream is bound up in the prospect of fame. The invitation from the McDick Corp. brings Sara into what she feels is a second act of her life. Widowed a decade earlier, and largely abandoned by her son, Sara’s turns to material comforts (food) and distractions (television) to fill the void in her life. Just as television serves as a surrogate companion to Sara in the wake of her husband’s death and Harry’s drug addiction, it also becomes her raison d’etre, giving her a new lease on life when she receives the fateful call from Lyle Russel from the McDick Corp. The news that Sara will be on television “infused her with a new will to live and materialized a dream that brightened her days and soothed her lonely nights” (32). The prospect of being on television represents the aspect of fame in The Unattainable American Dream, that due to serendipitous events, any average person could suddenly become famous. The American public sometimes views fame as a panacea to life’s problems, and Sara is no exception.