Schooled

Dreams are a recurring motif that emphasizes central thematic elements in the novel and illuminates the protagonist’s character. The novel features several kinds of dreams: daydreams, in the form of Lionel’s wishes about basketball; nighttime dreams and nightmares that evoke his inner emotional state; and broad concepts like the American dream, alluded to in Langston Hughes’s poem “Harlem.”

Lionel’s dream to become an NBA player helps him cope with his frustrations and manage his emotions: “His NBA dream. It was his only answer to the storm in his mind, his fears about Dad, and his growing troubles at school” (89-90). Lionel’s dreams sustain him during his inner turmoil and help him envision a better future for himself and his family.

Lionel frequently experiences dreams and nightmares that reflect his character growth; the novel typically uses straightforward imagery to make sure that readers easily connects these dreams with Lionel’s reality. Some of these dreams position basketball as an escape from his problems: “In his sleep, he soared high with the basketball. Over their noisy cluttered house. Over Bluford High School and Mrs. Henley’s questions. Over the city with its dangerous blocks and crowded cemeteries filled with young people like Russell” (38-39). 

In contrast, Lionel’s nightmares reflect the distress caused by his social reality. When he was younger, Lionel experienced nightmares after the shooting of his neighbor, demonstrating the traumatizing effect of the violence that plagues the community. Later, when Lionel risks choosing a self-destructive path that could ruin his future, he has a nightmare of breaking apart: “He thought the glass behind the rim had shattered. Instead it was him. He had been in the glass and destroyed himself. Pieces were crashing down everywhere, broken bits of the world he knew” (92). 

Lionel’s private dreams are juxtaposed with the idea of the American dream as represented in Langston Hughes’s poem “Harlem.” At first, when Lionel has little connection with the poem, he interprets the phrase literally, assuming that the American dream is “what happened when everybody in the country was sleeping” (1). However, as he comes to find meaning in the poem, Lionel understands more deeply Hughes’s question, “What happens to a dream deferred?”. To Lionel, the answer is that although his social reality of discrimination and inequality inhibits people’s dreams for a better life, dreams must not die, as they guarantee hope for the future.