Application of the Frontier Myth - Essay Example

Frontier Myth In U.S., the term frontier was used to refer to the area of unsettled land situated outside the region of existing settlements of Americans. In a broader sense, the concept of frontier can be applied to refer to the edge of the settled country where unlimited free land was available and thus opportunity was also unlimited. A cowboy, rancher or gold miner were idealized as mythical heros in a number of novels which depict American mysterical history as they were recognised as the frontiersman in the so-called Wild West. Mark Twain had given an interesting account where he said that it were the gold strikes in the popular press which had supported the significant expansion of the mining frontier and provoked mining stampedes during the period of 1860s and 1870s. In American history one can find two ‘Wests’ – one is considered to be the real West in which farmers, ranchers, miners and prostitutes, criminals etc pursued their happiness and the second one is called the legendary West that took deep root in the imagination of American people. If one look at the Western novels, or cowboy novels, one would find that the west had been portrayed as a barren landscape but at the same time as a romanticized idealistic way of living. (Nichols, 1-20; Boyer, et.al, 533-536) Going by the traditional definition, we may trace the concept of frontier changing overtime where it is no longer a distinct demarcation but the differences get overlapped and the literal meaning of ‘frontier’ becomes faded. A detail analysis of frontier myth Frontier hypothesis is considered to be the most controversial concept used in interpreting American history. Frederick Jackson Turner advanced this hypothesis in the year of 1893 – “Turners central contention was that "the existence of an area of free land, its continuous recession, and the advance of American settlement westward explain American development."” (Reuben) This concept was introduced as one of the means of explaining the unique features of the civilization of America. This hypothesis, which stated frontier as “the meeting point between savagery and civilization" (Reuben) was warmly welcomed during that period and enthusiastically applied until the 1930s. During 1930s, this hypothesis had to face a lot of criticism by a group of younger scholars. However, more recently a number of historians have extended their huge support to the thesis Turner. The historians have stated the thesis in somewhat modified form, and then it is again being considered to be an essential tool for an understand­ing of the past of American civilization. Knowledge of the hypothesis as applied by todays historians is necessary for a proper interpretation of United States history. (Billington, 1) In a traditional way, the term frontier can be defined as a particular line separating two nations or peoples. The implication of this term in the hypothesis was confrontation. During nineteenth century, in America, Native Americans had to confront the settlers. After the disappearance of Indian resistance, the definition of frontier changed and it started to be defined as a line between civilization and wilderness. On one side of the frontier there were people (settlers) who lived and on the other side there were no settlements. (Billington, 3-30) One can easily find that the notion of place or geography plays a significant part in this definition of frontier. During this period loads of room exists for each individual, resources appear to be boundless, and the opportunities for social and economic betterment near limitless. (Billington, 3-30) Therefore, it can be said that during this period, the standard of living for individuals were substantially changed as the availability of huge tracts of land and richly abundant natural resources become available to a large extent. In fact, the set of geographic state of affairs were distinctive in providing the opportunity for substantial self-improvement. During late nineteenth century and early twentieth century westward migration took place in America to a large extent. The nature of this migration, was, however, a bit complex. Therefore, it seems to be pretty difficult to understand the motivating factors for this westward migration. The understanding of the motivation factor of this complex process of migration involves an understanding of two particular terms- deficiency motivations and abundance motivation. One can define deficiency motivation as a response to man’s basic urge for survival and security. In this context escape is considered to be the key word. It implies if person finds his life to be in an uncomfortable state in his present location, he tries to escape from the present location and try to migrate to the place where he expects his life to get desired comfort. On the other hand, abundancy motivation implies that a person is quite content with his present situation, but he has an desire to make his life more exciting, adventurous, or even better. American pioneers had varying degrees of one or both of these motivations, but it had to be accepted that these pioneers were noticeably different from those people prefer staying at home to going out and searching for other interesting alternatives. Wherever these early settlers landed, they established societies that were significantly different from those they left behind. These early American pioneers were not satisfied with the kind of life they had, no matter whether it was good or poor. They were actually very eager to migrate with an aim to improve their lives, and the process of migration involved the harshest of conditions, unforeseen dangers. (Nichols, 27, 51- 131; Billington, 3-30) It is very important to have a clear knowledge about the profound and lasting effects of the pioneer spirit because this spirit has played the most important role in shaping America’s history in a distinctive way. The mere act of migrating westward did not mean a severing of ties with tradition. Although most of the pioneers were transplanted Americans who had already migrated from other countries at some point, these pioneers exhibited some uniqueness that were very peculiar to their starting point in America. The lack of common tradition instigated violent activities and lawlessness became a usual problem in frontier societies. There were not traditional behaviors to rely on. Interesting point to be noted here is that individuals who migrated directly from parts of Europe other than England to western areas exhibited a much stronger preference for remain in those places where they originally settled. However, the American pioneers who originating from England were much more prepared to move when the right opportunities came to their way. The Americans were very competitive, ambitious in nature; they also had a strong sense of self-reliance and always believed in moving upward. To these people fear of unknown places was completely unacceptable and no hindrance to movement. These characteristics, first developed during in western expansion, persist even today with little modifications. (Nichols, 27, 51- 131; Boyer, et.al. 533-536) In one of the mythological story called ‘Shane’, focus was placed on two particular groups of American pioneers to present the conflict between different groups. Generally the first newcomers on less developed frontier region can be recognized as ‘users’ of the land. Fur-trappers, explorers, missionaries, herdsmen etc. are some examples of this group. They were basically dependent on the wilderness in its faultless state for their survival. They felt it necessary to migrate to another region after one area was trapped-out, and in the process they obtained initial access into previously unexplored areas of America. These people learned how to settle themselves by the side of the Native Americans. Fur trappers as well as cattle ranchers, started their journey from the eastern frontiers and continued to moved westward as they used up the resources. Now the second group comprised of subduers of the frontier. The existence of these subduers was dependent on clearing the forests, fencing in the land and destroying the wilderness. Subduers can again be classified into three small categories: backwoodsmen who were basically small propertied farmers and the propertied farmers who accomplished the process of frontiering. The conflict between the users and subduers, when the wilderness ended, has certain importance for understanding the primary conflict presented in ‘Shane’. This problem set up by American western migration motivates the basic theme of the mythological novel, i.e. The cattlemen could no longer make use of the land that the ranchers wanted to cultivate. (Nichols, 27, 51- 131; Boyer, et.al. 533-536) The Starretts have been depicted as are a pioneer family on the frontier in ‘Shane’. The setting of the story in Shane clearly matches the frontier description discussed above. The Starretts are presented as subduers who encroach upon the open ranges of cattle ranchers. In the early days of the cattle range, there was room enough for all. There were laws against driving stock from where they were grazing comfortably. The cattlemen had established a society of their own with their own rules of behavior and they coexisted within the limits of their organization. (Boyer, et.al. 533-536) Along with these group of cattlemen there came a group farmers who had been given a huge amount of land but just in the middle of the range. The result was that fences around a farm kept cattle from freely grazing as they always had. With them, ranchers also came up with a kind of civilization that actually contradicted the aims of the cattlemen. Therefore, it is within this historical context that ‘Shane’ portrays a pioneer family, who sets up a new order of behavior, yet who are too not so big in number so that they can overcome the old order. The Starretts can be considered as the symbol of what America wanted to become at that time, the new society of people who were searching for a better way of life, and upwardly mobile. The cattlemen, on the other hand, represents the old way of life. For the country to progress, huge areas of land could not be treated as only grazing grounds for cattle. Farming was indispensable for people to put down their roots and to have a feeling of belonging. The pioneer spirit completely goes against the will of giving in to pressure, and therefore we find that Starrett reminds homesteaders that they have put down roots with no outside help, and they have built up something worthwhile. (Nichols, 27, 51- 131) Shane is neither farmer nor rancher, but completely an outsider in the story. Shane has both good and evil qualities, lawfulness and lawlessness. From this story of Shane one can understand how myth can arise from an historical situation, how the then prevailing social, political, and economical circumstances helped in the generation of myth. Where farmers have some progressive thoughts and communal values, the ranchers are selfish, and have monetary values. Shane belongs to neither of these two groups, but to a group of his own style. He represents a new form of behavior that quite well fits to the behavior of the migrated people in that period. Shane. As the mythic hero, he must support the homesteaders, as he knows the homesteaders are right in their goals, but he can never be one of them. The myth inbuilt in Shane makes an interesting and exiting historical setting. ( Nichols, 27, 51- 131; Goodrich, and Davison, 268-271) Conclusion: Like Shane, there were also other mythological stories like ‘Caddie Woodlawn’, ‘The Tress’, where the life in the frontier has been depicted. Understanding the basic theme of these stories one can understand the factors that gave rise to such mythical stories, such mythical characters. Actually huge changes in social, economic, and political life had been brought about during the late nineteenth and early twentieth century. For example in Caddie Woodlawn the circuit rider brings more than religion in society. He is also the carrier of news from around his circuit, and from back home. In most of the stories the life of subduers has been depicted, whereas in The Trees, there depicted the life of users. ( Nichols, 27, 51- 131) Despite all the hue and cry about frontier, one can perhaps easily notice how the different characteristics were also becoming intermingled with the mixing of styles and ethnicity. Lots of activities were involved in the events occurring in the two centuries. This included the different movements on the social, revolution on the economic front and turmoil in politics including the gradual globalization of power and people. All these somehow jumbled up the traditional concept of frontier since the distinct line failed to exist neither among the lands and nor their inhabitants. References 1. Boyer, Paul S., Clark, Clifford, Kett, Joseph, Salisbury, Neal, Sitkoff, Harvard and Nancy Woloch. Ed. “The Enduring Vision: A History of the American People”. Fifth Edition. Boston/New York: Houghton Mifflin Company, 2004. 2. Billington, Ray A. “The American Frontier”. 1958. Retrieved on 4th June, 2008 from: http://www.questia.com/library/book/the-american-frontier-by-ray-allen-billington.jsp 3. Goodrich, Carter and Sol Davison, "The Frontier as Safety Valve: A Re­joinder," Political Science Quarterly, LIII .1938 4. Nichols, Roger.L. “American Frontier and Western Issues: A Historiographical Review”. New York : Greenwood Press. 1986 5. Reuben, Paul P. “Appendix L: The Frontier in American Literature”, PAL, 2008, retrieved on July 22, 2008 from: http://www.csustan.edu/english/reuben/pal/append/axl.html Read More