The American Sense of the Possible in Literature - Essay Example

? The American Sense of the Possible in Literature The American mythology of the country's own creation is celebrated and proclaimed throughout American literature. Written in the constitution, in the Preamble, the four words, "a more perfect Union" have been the hallmark of the American experiment. Until the Civil War, those words really rang hollow, as the expansion westward (and its annihilation of millions of native peoples) and the stain of slavery really kept the country from living up to perfecting the union. American literature can be seen as having two distinct eras: before the Civil War, and after the War. It is this delineation point that set American literature afire, with the mythology of the American spirit that told the world that Americans were bold in their approach to literature, and that American writers would have a certain spirit of "the possible" that was first mentioned in our Constitution, but really implemented by President Abraham Lincoln in his eventual quest to eliminate slavery, and to fight for the freedom of all men, not just some. It is this quest for "a more perfect union" that Lincoln was talking about in his inaugural address, and which finally made those words have some meaning to them. American writers took this mantle and incorporated this quest of constant perfection of the American soul that permeates its literature. A better life, a better existence always lies behind American writing, and authors themselves believed this. This American spirit and sense of what could be-- the possible-- is celebrated and proclaimed throughout American literature. What sets this spirit apart is the willingness of American authors to examine the self from both celebratory and critical points of view. There has been no easy road for Americans to establish in a literary world dominated by European authors, but American authors and writers do not shy away from examining this process form a self-critical eye. There is also no shortage of authors extolling the uniqueness of the American experiment, with all of its inequities, hardships, obstacles, and desire to make "a more perfect Union," but American authors, in the end, can be defined by their inherent ability to realize the uniqueness of the human mythological experiment and the celebration of the self, with all of life's sins and failures. Whether overcoming obstacles--even when one fails to do so--that desire for improving upon the human experiment is celebrated in the triumph of the American spirit to always move forward, towards something better in this life. It is this relentless push forward discovering or reinventing a new life for ourselves, again and again, that American authors celebrate in the genre of modern American literature. This inward examination and outward manifestation of this spirit can be seen in a wide variety of contexts in American literature, ranging from the identifiable self and to the larger natural world, including the psychological struggles of survival, and ethnic and personal hurdles that one encounters through life. Each of these uniquely American authors longs to tell the story of their own selves, and to celebrate a struggle--some won, some lost-- and ultimate victory of the American mythology of "a more perfect Union." Walt Whitman, in his masterpiece, "Song of Myself," begins the American journey. As a nurse in the Civil War, a lover of Lincoln and one who saw the possible in the American experience, Whitman extolled the virtues of the single person, and its relationship with the natural world around him. It is this unique relationship between human beings and the natural land that sets the stage for that American identity and its relationship with nature. With sweeping blank verse, Whitman's prose/poetry style breaks open the bounds of expression and self-expression, a typical American trait. Whitman looks inward, to the essence of his being, examines it, caresses, it, and exalts it. With the simple question of a child, "What is grass" (Whitman)? Whitman sees the green coat on the land as a symbol of American democracy, and sees it as growing, spreading, ultimately covering American land from graves of dead Civil War soldiers, to the fields as they expanded across the continent. Whitman also looks outward, beyond the self to see his surroundings and to see the symbiotic relationship that the human soul shares with nature-- it is almost as if they are one. Indeed, the title of his book of his poetic works is one based in nature, "Leaves of Grass." The title demands that both the human spirit and the wondrous mysteries of nature are intertwined. It is this complete immersion into the human--the American--spirit and the unlimited potential for humanity that fills Whitman with such glee. It is Whitman's American mythological sense of himself that allows those possibilities to come to the fore, and be celebrated in this way, with no literary bounds or poetic constraints to contain it. The written words on the page break those bounds as much as his joyous romp through nature and every conceivable human emotion. He demands that we look inward and investigate every detail of existence, looking at all of our senses, and experiences that a human can experience. He writes them in a stream-of-consciousness narrative that reconstructs up the conventional poem (and the approach to literature) into a more dynamic celebration of one's own existence. There is no love lost, nothing to lament, just the naked joy at experiencing life through the sense and seeing an immense quality in the American and human condition. Whitman's mid-19th century comes from a man hardened by War, the loss of an idolized President, but who still clings to that man's view of this country as continuously improving, even with all of its faults, into that "more perfect Union" of the human soul and the larger common goals of the country. Whitman's work sets the stage for later authors to adopt this mythology and self-realization as a unique "Americanism" of hope, renewal, faith, and sensuousness. Just as the human spirit is celebrated in Whitman's "Song of Myself," the human spirit is also celebrated in Jack London's short story, "To Build a Fire." This stands out as a contrarian piece to Whitman's ever-joyous celebration of naturalism, to one with a much darker ending for the protagonist, with less of a joyous bond with nature, but of a separate morality in the choices he makes, in direct contradiction to the natural world around him. But throughout the pages of this classic short story there is a built-in essence of hope and life-- the confidence that he will get the fire lit and save his life. There is, throughout the work, a sense of hope, and an anticipation of success-- a continuation of the "Whitmanesque" themes and American mythology. It is only in the end that the reader is left to realize the protagonist's blunder, the last spark of matches, along with his mistakes and errors which resulted in his ultimate loss of life. The man's death seemingly is a direct result of the choices he made earlier in his desire to get somewhere by a specified time, concerned less with the ramifications of those choices. But, as Americans before him and since, the man took on those chances in the wilderness willingly, with the chance of death surrounding him. Sometimes, London attempts to show us, man and nature do not have an unlimited joyous bond as Whitman saw it, but a relationship that often results in failure, in death. In the end, nature has won out. London, instead, focuses on the risks inherent when the American penchant for risk in the quest of perfecting himself, can also lead to death. Whitman, in his way, concedes this point and celebrates man's relationship with the larger world, and sees nature as having the ultimate say in things. London would likely agree, but shows us the result of the many moral or amoral choices that man makes that affects both positive and negative outcomes. Either way, the American mythology of perseverance and the will to survive in harsh conditions survived the life of his protagonist. But even being in that state of risk, with its rewards and punishments, the protagonist's life was richer still for experience. To London, and the American writer, even death-- under trying circumstances-- is preferable to a life of complacency. This penchant for perfecting ourselves, began in the Preamble, and made to come to fruition with the blood of our people in the Civil War, only helped to solidify this self-realization of American determinism. The struggle to survive in harsh conditions is itself a celebration, in a way, of the American will to persevere-- of the American desire to survive and the enduring spirit of this mythology. Man against nature is a common theme in London's writing, a theme which reflects the enduring struggles that Americans had in settling the American West, surviving or dying in often harsh conditions. Many survived, but many did not, and London breaks it down into a simple quirk of fate, or luck, even, that may determine whether someone survives or not. At times, the human spirit loses out to fate, but the will to survive resides within each living soul. It is this spirit of survival that London celebrates, in the best tradition of Whitman. As America expanded westward and built up the country while surviving the elements of settling the frontier, the great accomplishments of America are celebrated in works such as "Chicago," by themed-western poet, Carl Sandburg, Sandburg celebrates that American mythology within the confines of his city-- Chicago. For Sandburg, Chicago represents a perfecting of the American Union and a growing and expanding American society as it reaches westward. His work has echos of Whitman's song of the self, but in a broader sense of community and accomplishment outside of the natural world. It is almost a celebration of the taming of the wild natural world that Whitman reveled in and that London showed could take a life. Sandburg expands from the singular soul that Whitman and London celebrated, to the collective shoulders of a city, and of a region of the country. The city with "big shoulders" is forged from people with large expectations of what humans can accomplish and big goals and ideals upon which those accomplishments rest. It is upon those shoulders of giants that Americans of today trace their sense of "can do" and "if you can dream it, do it.." Sandburg adds another layer the the American mythology, and another way to perfect the Union. Chicago exemplifies this sense of limitless accomplishments and construction to Sandburg. It was--and is--a city which shed any eastern history for a sense of an invented present, with innovations in technology, industry, and agriculture, with his famous beginning of the poem: Hog Butcher for the World, Tool Maker, Stacker of Wheat, Player with Railroads and the Nation's Freight Handler Stormy, husky, brawling, City of the big Shoulders (Sandburg) In reality, Sandburg celebrates the American mythological spirit, just as Whitman did, but chooses to celebrate that manifestation in industrial and urban innovation, away from the natural, more to a more determinative reality. Today, Sandburg could just as easily, be writing of American ingenuity in technology and innovation in Silicon Valley or medicine. That spirit and sense of boundless thinking and production is a hallmark of Americanism, essential to our own collective mythology of ourselves that these authors tap into. This mythology flowered in the post-Civil War Iindustrial Revolution of the 19th century, and still carries on today, in the 21st century. Sandburg's celebration of Chicago seems to mirror Whitman's celebration of nature and the soul, with as much passion (and with less words), but with a similar zeal in his interpretation of the city and desire to show it all-- good and bad. Both lay the American person bare for the world to see; little is hidden or explained away. The American possibility is laid bare for examination by all.Both seem to be saying: "We are open, here we are. Examine us. We lay ourselves before you. With no apologies." As all-encompassing as Whitman and Sandburg attempt to be, it is in a remarkable simplicity that the poet Robert Frost excels. An old Yankee and New England poet, Frost succeeds in celebrating the choices in life and making them bare for all to examine but in a much more simplistic contextual setting: a simple country road. In his deceivingly short poem, "The Road Not Taken," Robert Frost breaks down that vastness of accomplishments and celebration of innovations that Sandburg extolls and simplifies them in a way that is almost brilliant in its construction. As a modern 20th century poet with a 19th century sensibility, (as opposed to Sandburg, an early 20th century poet with a truly modern 20th century approach) Frost celebrates a Whitman-esque victory of the human spirit , and the American penchant for choosing new and untested roads. It celebrates a life marked by taking chances, and taking roads that many others would not necessarily take. But Frost does so in the most simplistic of terms, focusing on "two roads diverged in the wood." Leading his one-horse sleigh on a cold winter night, the starkness of the individual's choices is felt-- alone in the cold, like London's protagonist, but with a much less daunting challenge on his hands-- but amazingly, with no less impact on his life. There is no outward struggle, no life-or-death drama, no western urban accomplishments to extoll, only a man and his horse, facing two paths on their way to somewhere-- is it home? a new life? an exploration? The reader is left to create that reasoning for himself, but that choice presented in the most simple of allegorical choices, and a continuation of the American mythology of freedom of choices and originality. Frost gives a sense of the wonderment to such a simple choice, and the realization that the less traveled road is often the best choice in life. Of course, he is correct, and has 150 years of American innovation in choices at his back, but still feels he has to celebrate this American desire to perfect the self by making hard choices. This realization may come towards the end of life, as the journey is being made at night, in the winter of life, but sometimes one looks back on a life well-lived and realized those simple moments in life where a seemingly innocuous choice had come to make a great difference in the person's life. Once again, the characteristic of the American spirit is celebrated, where a path is blazed, a trail is made, and chances are taken. But what would have happened if the other path was taken? In typical American fashion, Frost does not worry about that. He knew that he would never take the unchosen path again, and let it go in his mind. What might have been? He doesn't worry himself with such thoughts: And both that morning equally lay In leaves no step had trodden black. Oh, I kept the first for another day! Yet knowing how way leads on to way, I doubted if I should ever come back (Frost) The celebration of the individualistic choices and chances are shown to have made all the difference, not only in the life of an individual, but in the life of a country as well. It is this same spirit that Whitman and London celebrate: an ideal that settles not for the known--the safe-- but one that take chances in life, stands out, follows passions. Again, this simple choice defines the American life as one based on chance and choosing the unknown as much as anything, but even though bad outcomes are possible (London), at least the chances were taken- a typically American approach to life's choices. The connections from our Constitution's Preamble, to Lincoln's inaugural, to Whitman and London's celebrations, and Frost's simple choices, that this unending quest to better ourselves and to believe in ourselves becomes clear. This American trait and sense of mythological self is worth celebrating to these authors. Some authors, though, still see a lot of perfecting still to be done in this union, and see the American road still to be established and trod upon. Langston Hughes and Sylvia Plath both look beyond mere words, and examine the AMerican mythology with a more critical eye. They are content to look inside at themselves, but also look outside at the larger society, and do not like what they see. Neither holds back, and critique that American mythology of the self mercilessly. Both also see a chance of redemption, though, even with such imperfections in their experiences. Langston Hugh's poem, "Democracy," is a scathing criticism of the American system of democracy, with its inherent evils of racism, but he offers hope and longs to perfect this union, with all of its faults. As American literature matured in the 20th century, authors were able to assume the mantle of the American mythos, but were able to look inward to what issues we, as Americans, still needed to confront and perfect. Race, of course, was always on the minds of Americans, from the establishment of the country, through the CIvil War, and into the 20th century and Jim Crow laws and racial segregation. Hughes desires an America of the Constitution to emerge, one which focuses on perfecting itself and not being satisfied with the status quo and racial inequities. Hughes wants to glorify the individual, regardless of color, and allow each person to be able to enjoy the freedom of the self, just as Whitman enjoyed his existence and saw it singing in all the nature around him. He is unable to sing like Whitman sang, as he is held back by the plight of his brothers. Hughes wants that same sense of "the possible" that Whitman has, for black people, and his poem is a counter-response, in a way, to Whitman's celebration of life. He knows that true "Democracy" must come from the people, from a place in the heart that is pure and unstained by the thought of suppression or inequities. Will this true democracy ever come? Will America truly create "a more perfect Union?" Was the Civil War fought for naught? Hughes is not singing any song of the self just yet. His answer? No, democracy may never come for all Americans: Democracy will not come Today, this year Nor ever Through compromise and fear (Hughes) For Hughes, that celebration of the self must wait until all people have the freedoms that Whitman enjoyed and sang about from the soul. Until then, one cannot imagine Hughes extolling the human spirit, or celebrating an American mythology as Frost, Sandburg, or London did. Indeed, Hughes says that democracy will not come "today, this year, nor ever" if we ever compromise our principles or live in fear of each other. In a way, he makes Whitman seem whimsical--even silly-- celebrating the soul while such human injustices still remained. Inequality, hardship, death and unmet human potential are Hughes' reality. But, on the other hand, as American writers, it can also be said that Whitman and Hughes do sing the same song. It is a song of hope, of renewal, of possibility. Hughes is not lamenting the loss of the democratic experiment as much as he is attempting to remind of of our American desire to perfect it. He knows that much potential still lies within the American spirit, and that this experiment, with all of its flaws--terrible flaws-- can still be one that reflects the ideals of the founding fathers and Lincoln. The possibility of true democracy for all still exists for Hughes, in theory, if not in reality, and it still exists for his people. Without that uniquely American trait of hopefulness and optimism, it would have been quite easy for Hughes to lament the loss of what could have been, and be resigned that it is never to be. Sylvia Plath, in her poem, "Daddy," laments a more personal past lost, in a similar sense as Hughes laments his present, but she attempts to take on the inherently American characteristic of examining one's life and identifying connections between the generations--father and daughter in this sense--and attempting to make sense out of one's life within this context. Where Whitman, Frost, and London extoll the virtue of nature and the human spirit, Hughes and Plath look inward and examine the difficulties of living an "American life" with its inherent inequities and psychological obstacles. The myth is reality for Plath, and she has no time to let her reality be subsumed by a larger American myth. She has bigger fish to fry. It is this maturation of American literature as evidenced in the writings of Plath and Hughes that represents a 20th century reality that was not possible in the 19th century. Plath is compelled to write of her dead father, and must evict from her persona the man he was and the effect he had on her. From the beginning of the poem, she says that she is "done" with him. In the first stanza, she writes, "You do not do, you do not do/Any more, black shoe." Her father, now dead is discarded as one would, with an old shoe. She has no use for the confines of his past on her, anymore. It is this lifelong struggle with her relationship with her father that drove Plath to attempt suicide in her early years (she finally succeeded in mid-life). As Whitman laid out a life, bare for all to see, writers like Plath took it a step further, and turned that American mythology on its head and took a more psychological inventory of how that mythology was effecting them. Now, in the mid-20th century, American authors took on their demons with a purity and willingness that is striking. Throughout this poem, Plath is brutally honest, introspective, and crying for help, as she comes to terms with her life spent trying to love her father and living up to his-- and America's collective expectations for her-- and finally burying his memory, so she can move on with her own life. Her father, a German immigrant, obviously lived his life as many of his generation lived it, collectively living out the American mythology. She led a life that was spent trying to eschew itself of that pressure of living up to expectations of a father that most cannot meet. He dies when she was young, but she spent her life trying to live her life without that sense of lost expectations from her father. Even attempts at suicide failed to rid her of this shadow her German father had over her. I was ten when they buried you. At twenty I tried to die And get back, back, back to you. … So daddy, I'm finally through. (Plath) In a psychological examination of her existence, Plath must come to terms with her relationship with her father, and must move on. It is the writing of this poem, and the frank examination of their relationship that allows her to concede a lost opportunity, but also to see a hopefulness in her future. It is the physical act of writing this poem that gives Plath the ability to move beyond her relationship with her father and to move on to living her own life, apart from him. It is literature that serves as a vehicle for personal growth in Plath and Hughes, that allows them to vent their frustrations with life, but also, by venting those frustrations, to be able to move beyond them. It is both a lament for what is or was, and a song of hopefulness for the future that both share. Hughes, for racial equality; Plath, for the confrontation of her own personal demons. Both poems are cathartic for the authors, and also show the inner feelings of the poets at that time. Very little is hidden from the reader-- and the world-- and it is this voyage of introspection that allows American literature to really claim its throne. Whitman said, "Here I am, examine me." But these introspective authors gave us the guts of it all, stipend in realities that shook the reader into examining the self. It is this duality of thought-- limitless expansion, but with a certain inward introspection and critique of the American system, that allows the American sense of expression to mature, and in this sense, to fulfill the symphony of human emotions that Whitman extolled a century earlier, although on a more personal scale. American authors are not afraid to critique the American experiment, the American mythology, but they also are not afraid to extoll the virtues and possibilities inherent in the American soul. As American literature matured throughout the 20th century, authors moved from a larger celebration of the American mythos to a more introverted and sophisticated examination of our faults and lost expectations. By examining and confronting their pasts, and presents--and the inherent human failures within each of those-- the American persona's inherent optimism was allowed to develop and reach its potential on its own. Yes, issues of life are examined and dealt with before any human existence can be seen as freeing, but throughout the survey of American literature, there is this unyielding sense that life is unfinished. There is perfecting of the Union that continues to take place, and the American author knows that this perfecting will never come, that as human beings, we will always be imperfect, but it the attempt to perfect that marks us as Americans. We are not doomed to this or that, and that even the most dire of circumstances can be changed with action, ideals, ideas, and hard work. As our founding fathers wrote in our founding document, the quest for "a more perfect Union" would take us well beyond political aspirations. When they were referenced by Lincoln, those words were then allowed to come to life, and the American personality began to take shape. It is this song of ourselves that Whitman celebrated. He set the stage for this boundless, eternal optimism present even in the most critical of works by American authors. Of course, Whitman had his demons, but he instead focused on the exquisite joy of celebrating this American mythology and its relation to nature and the larger world. The words seemed to come flowing out of his pen, uncontrolled, like a mighty river, as he saw the unlimited potential of the human spirit within this new American continent. Frost and Sandburg were less focused on exorcising those demons and more focused on completing Whitman's sentences, with a realization and celebration of choices, accomplishments, and deeds, as they relate to the individual and the larger collective. London echos Whitman, perhaps, in his examination of man's relationship with nature, but also shows us, as does Hughes, that the human experiment is not all roses and celebrations. Authors like Hughes and Plath matured the AMerican point-of-view, and saw certain failures inherent in American experiment, but always fought for a sense of bettering themselves, if not their country. Realists like London, Plath, and Hughes saw the human spirit as able to survive through difficult and challenging times. There is always a sense of hope in their words, even when focusing on events that cause them pain.Life is met with difficulties and death, and it is up to those of us with that fore burning within ourselves to chose to meet challenges head on. Collectively, these authors represent a segment of the theme that marks American literature as truly "American." It is this sense of mythology that we have about ourselves--that anything is possible. Even though we have faults, we never stop attempting to perfect ourselves. There is room to grow, but much of American literature is marked by this inherent sense of optimism. It is boundless, and permeates much of our literature throughout the 19th and 20th centuries. Authors such as WHitman, London, Sandburg, Frost, Plath, and Hughes have reminded us that we may not be successful all of the time, but it the American sense of the possible that fuels us. The fact that no "Union" will ever be "perfect" is irrelevant. It is the quest to form "a more perfect Union," not a perfect Valhalla, that fuels the American mythology of ourselves that we see reflected throughout post-Civil War literature. Works Cited Frost, Robert. "The Road Not Taken." Poets.org. Academy of American Poets. Web. April 20, 2013. Hughes, Langston. "Democracy." Poemhunter.com. January 3, 2003. Web. April 20, 2013. Lincoln, Abraham. "First Inaugural Address." Abraham Lincoln Online.org. Speeches and Writings. Web. April 25, 2013. London, Jack. "To Build a Fire." Loudlit.org. Web. April 18, 2013. Plath, Sylvia. "Daddy." Shmoop.com. Web. April 20, 2013. Sandburg, Carl. "Chicago." Poetryfoundation.org. Poetry Magazine. Web. April 19, 2013. Whitman, Walt. "Song of Myself." Illinois Department of English.Edu. Modern American Poetry. Web. April 17, 2013. Read More