"I, (now) too, Sing America"

I have to admit that at the beginning of the semester, I was a little less than excited to open another American Lit anthology. In my past experiences with American Lit, I had never took much time to appreciate or even think deeply about the writers that came from my own country. I always desired something new and unfamiliar, something that would transport me into a new culture of new ideas and a new way of thinking. What I never truly realized until this semester was that American Literature is the perfect example of all those things.

Whitman describes America in an idealistic way which many of us concluded was too wishful and self-contradictory. Yet comparing this author with Twain, the values and inspiration behind Leaves of Grass and Huck Finn matched up on certain levels. Each author wrote about freedom, power, principles and the common people. Each author clearly casts a vision for humanity, saying this is how we should be or this is how we should act. It is evident that many American authors such as Twain and Whitman saw themselves as the poets who can see and give a voice to what Whitman described as each person’s “kosmos.”

Similarly, the poets of the Harlem Renaissance saw themselves in such a way that resembled the earlier authors we studied. Although these poets can be studied and looked at as a uniquely separate part of American literature, they fully encompass what sets American literature apart. Their works include themes of motivation, overcoming difficulty, freedom and the realistic hardship of urban life. These authors also depict the struggle to rise up as a minority and fight for justice and equality—principles that our nation was founded on.

Freedom
Is a strong seed
Planted
In a great need.
I live here, too.
I want freedom
Just as you. (Hughes,”Freedom,” lines 15-20)

Hardship, struggle and motivation to rise above the circumstances proves to be a major theme throughout American Lit, no matter the time or author. In “Mowing,” Frost speaks of work as a good thing, something that makes living worthwhile. He declares that working and earning whatever it is that is desired is better than “the gift of idle hours” or “easy gold at the hand of fay or elf” (lines 7-8). The same pleasure in work is seen in Chaplin’s Modern Times and Sandburg’s “Chicago.”

We see that the concept of the American Dream is sought after continuously, no matter what race, time period or class. Chaplin’s factory worker raising his eyebrows and declaring that he will find a home even if he must work for it put a comical spin on the hard realities of the time. Sandburg speaks about the variety of craftsmanship in the city as he mentions the “hog butcher for the world, tool maker, stacker of wheat,” and so on (lines 1-2). But what makes this mindset different from that of industrial cities in other parts of the world is the peoples’ individuality and responsibility they must put on themselves in order to overcome their struggles.

The head note to Sandburg mentions that he “believed that the people themselves, rather than a cadre of intellectuals acting on behalf of the people, would ultimately shape their own destiny” (p. 1436). This is true for many of the authors that make up American Lit, even today. In recognizing this, I have come to appreciate American Literature as whole on a much deeper level, while also becoming more aware of what makes up the voice of America. Though skeptical and critical of American Lit to begin with, I came out at the end of this semester saying, “I, too, sing America.”