“America is a Nation of Paradoxes”

Before the duration of this unit, I perceived America to be a liberating nation and gave no deeper thought into this perception. However, as I have been catapulted into an abundance of American Literature, I have now come to realise that although it still remains an invigorating country, at its very core lies issues of racism, oppression, human turmoil and more bluntly – great sadness. Hence, allowing me to notice that America is in fact, “a nation of Paradoxes”, an ideology that has become increasingly prevalent throughout my blogs.

The realisation that “America is a nation of Paradoxes” begun in my first blog through the analysis of transcendentalist themes in Waldo Emerson’s essay ‘nature’. In this blog I focused on a particular line of the essay and  correlated it to a profound experience of my within nature which can be found at: https://thebestofliterature.art.blog/category/my-best-america-writing-blog/, allowing me to acknowledge the importance of nature. However, more than this, in exploring this text and writing this blog I have now come to notice that Emerson wrote in hopes of pushing his readers to revitalise and purify their soul through engaging with nature as societal constructions took control. Thus, this directly highlights the way in which “America is a nation of paradoxes” as Emerson makes it clear that America is not just the land of the free and – as there were clear issues within in society that needed to be addressed which is still prevalent to today’s American society.

In my second blog I decided to put my creative ability to the test and create a poem that reflected the writing of Emily Dickinson in which can be found at this link: https://thebestofliterature.art.blog/2019/09/05/the-return-of-the-sun/. In this poem I aimed to encapsulate Dickinson’s short stanza structure, use of the dash, rhyme as well as existential themes. Whilst reading over my blog it has come apparent to me that the structure and themes of Dickinson’s poem is what highlights the way in which “America is a nation of paradoxes”. By bringing forth existential themes that juxtapose the notion of ‘freedom’ in America, Dickinson directly illuminates the way in which “America is Paradox”. Hence, although America claims to be a liberating country, authors were still (and continue to) write with great sadness as the nation is infiltrated with major oppressions and corrupted systems, contrasting the ‘free’ country it presents itself as.

My third blog further highlights the way in which “America is a paradox” as I critically discuss these major oppressions and corrupted systems through Dubois concept of the “color-line”. As stated in my blog, to me the ‘color-line’ is a clear visualisation of the discrimination and segregation of African American people that had stemmed widely through America’s history through organised gangs and corrupted systems such as slavery. Thus, DuBois justifies the ideology that “America is a paradox” as he highlights that although America is supposedly a state of equal opportunity, beneath this surface level concept lies deep historical and cultural complexities. My fourth blog further laments this ideology and DuBois “color-line” as I discuss William Faulkner’s “As I lay dying”. Here I dissect Faulkner’s idea of the human heart being in constant battle with itself. I believe this battle of the heart is due to America being a paradox itself. Although the nation claims to revolve around freedom, the heart is trapped due to oppressions that surround it.

Finally, for my fifth blog I delved into modernism particularly looking at Ezra Pounds short poem “In a station of the metro”. This is another piece of literature that also demonstrates how paradoxical the United States is as Pounds illuminates the way people are stripped of their own identity due to technological advancements. Pound critiques the way humans are so fixated on the gloomy modernistic industrial creations around them, disregarding the natural world. In doing so, I realise that Pound truly highlights a major paradox within American society – that being the idea that wealth and advancements in society cannot actually bring happiness, instead these things are suppressive for American society.

To conclude my summary, over this semester through engaging with different pieces of American literature and the creation of my blogs, I have truly come to realise that “America is a nation of paradoxes”. I have always perceived the United States as a liberating and country and while this has not changed I have certainly come to see the deep historical and cultural complexities that lay deep within as well.