“Instead of starving he will be fed, instead of being idle he will have employment; and these are riches enough for such men as come over here.”
“Whatever his talents or inclinations, if they are moderate, he may satisfy them.”
-
De Crèvecœur, Letters from an
American Farmer, Letter III
‘What is
an American?’
In these
extracts, De Crèvecœur is demonstrating the freedom and idealism of America.
The country of America is renowned for being a land of freedom and heroicness,
as stated in their national anthem: “O'er the land of the free and the home of the brave”. Following on from this
is the idea of the ‘American Dream’ which also conveys the goal of an idealistic
life and beating ambitions. Firstly, the sense of a land that offers so much at
such little cost is still thought of as one of America’s most positive traits
and this is thought of throughout the world. An example of this could be the
2006 ‘mockumentary’ film, starring Sacha Baron Cohan, Borat. The film
follows Kazakh television personality, Borat Sagdiyev in his pursuit to
document ‘The greatest country in the world’ (America). He believes that in
America, everything is supposed to be easy and he believes it has no flaws.
This is a good example of how some believe that America is an amazing country
and that it truly is ’the land of the free’.
On the other hand, on the
subject of the ‘American dream’, the 1994 Robert Zemeckis film starring Tom
Hanks, Forrest Gump is an example of how as long as you work hard,
anyone can achieve that all-American dream. The character of Forrest Gump is
constantly undermined for mental state and for the beginning years of his life,
his physical state. However, he produces talents to the world that no one would
ever have thought he were capable of, the classic line “Run, Forrest, run!”
is an example of his soon to be talent as he tries to fight his own disabilities.
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