Homer Simpson, the embodiment of Americans nowadays...
During the last few days we were reading critiques about American society during the 17th century. I want to kind of continue the discussion from the previous week. We talked about America and its puritan traits today. Now I want you to think about the democracy and what effect had democracy on the development of American qualities. Do Americans still have the qualities of De Crevecoeur's farmer or do they have the traits of Groening's Homer Simpson?
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ReplyDeleteI think that Crevecoeur represented an utopian society where everything was magnificent and perfect : everyone was an independent citizen that was honest,sober and industrious. Obviously perfection doesn't exist and so the qualities that Crevecoeur underlines are not completely true, because emphasized, but at the same time some of the treats that were represented still remain and make America..America. In fact I think that one of the things that characterize this land is that, thanks to democracy, everyone has, more than in other countries, freedom, equality and opportunities, no matter who they are. Finally i think that the traits of Groening's Homer Simpson represent the stereotypes of the american work class, but as stereotypes they do not completely respect the truth and belong to a small part of the population that instead is made up of honest hard workers.
ReplyDeleteI find it hard to compare these two characters since I don't really see how they really fit together. But I would say that Crevecoeur was bragging. We have studied in American History class that indeed there are diligent farmers in America but that is definitely what defines America because of the presences of those merchants, of those Land Lords, of those rich and wealthy people who did not labor physically as much but knows how to trade. Considering that the social redistribution was relatively scarce after the revolution, there's no reason for us to believe what Crevecoeur said.
ReplyDeleteI believe that in our present state, Americans are a mix between the two. I've never seen a whole episode of the Simpsons, so I'm really only basing my opinion off of basic knowledge. I think that we still have some of the qualities of the hardworking farmer, but at times those qualities can be diluted by our new-age laziness.I believe that Americans can be very hard working. Most of us work hard for our food and money(in one way or another) like a farmer. I think Crevecour's farmer is definitely the idealized American, but if you look at it realistically, we all have some Homer Simpson in us.
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