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The Great Gatsby, F. Scott Fitzgerald (1925)

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"Gatsby believed in the green light, the orgastic future that year by year recedes before us. It eluded us then, but that's no matter- to-morrow we will run faster, stretch out our arms farther... And one fine morning-  So we beat on, boats against the current, borne back ceaselessly into the past."

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"Gatsby believed in the green light, the orgastic future that year by year recedes before us. It eluded us then, but that's no matter- to-morrow we will run faster, stretch out our arms farther... And one fine morning-  So we beat on, boats against the current, borne back ceaselessly into the past."

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The "American spirit" is often aligned with hope and innovation, partly because of what an experiment the country was when it was first created. Gatsby is a parallel for this spirit, the endless chasing of a life with Daisy that started with that one night he spent with her in Louisville. In search of an innovation on the scale of our country's birth, we end up looking for something that we're constantly growing farther away from as the years pass, our "green light".

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"And how many years can some people exist    Before they're allowed to be free?     Yes, and how many times can a man turn his head     And pretend that he just doesn't see?     The answer, my friend, is blowin' in the wind     The answer is blowin' in the wind"  

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"And how many years can some people exist    Before they're allowed to be free?     Yes, and how many times can a man turn his head     And pretend that he just doesn't see?     The answer, my friend, is blowin' in the wind     The answer is blowin' in the wind"  

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https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MMFj8uDubsE

To me, this verse is about America's darker past (and present) and how it gets swept under the rug by the government. For example, even after indigenous peoples gained citizenship and some protections by the law, genocidal residential schools continued to operate and the targeting of indigenous peoples like the "Indian Business" in Killers of the Flower Moon ran rampant. This has all occurred (and continues to occur in America's support of other genocidal/colonialist contries) under the American flag, the supposed symbol of true freedom.

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The Significance of the Frontier in American History, Frederick Jackson Turner (1893)

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"Since the days when the fleet of Columbus sailed into the waters of the New World, America has been another name for opportunity, and the people of the United States have taken their tone from the incessant expansion which has not only been open but has been ever forced upon them."

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"Since the days when the fleet of Columbus sailed into the waters of the New World, America has been another name for opportunity, and the people of the United States have taken their tone from the incessant expansion which has not only been open but has been ever forced upon them."

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This excerpt is pretty self-explanatory: Americans' need to constantly be working towards a "new frontier", whether in our personal lives or as a country, comes from the forming of the nation as an ever-expanding frontier. Once that frontier ran out, we had to search for other ways to innovate and obtain, like the invention of flight or the stock market. While this search has produced incredible advancements over the years, it's also, at heart, an entire nation trying to recreate the excitement and change of an expansion that happened hundreds of years ago.

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Tyler Durden in "Fight Club", David Fincher (1999)

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"We're the middle children of history, man. No purpose or place. We have no Great War. No Great Depression. Our Great War's a spiritual war... our Great Depression is our lives. We've all been raised on television to believe that one day we'd all be millionaires, and movie gods, and rock stars. But we won't."

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"We're the middle children of history, man. No purpose or place. We have no Great War. No Great Depression. Our Great War's a spiritual war... our Great Depression is our lives. We've all been raised on television to believe that one day we'd all be millionaires, and movie gods, and rock stars. But we won't."

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https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Zi9ivZL7vmA

Americans have often been made to believe that we're immensely important to our country's military and economic efforts. This concept has certainly been authentic at points (the workers in FDR's New Deal programs created lasting infrastructure and social programs which helped pull us out of the Great Depression), but in recent years the idea of civilians and government being a "team" doesn't ring true. We don't have a common cause to unite against, and in the meantime huge portions of the population are negelected by government support or actively being suppressed in favor of the interests of those with more power.

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"Whoever You Are Holding Me Now in Hand", Walt Whitman (1860)

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"Whoever you are holding me now in hand, Without one thing all will be useless, I give you fair warning before you attempt me further,  I am not what you supposed, but far different."    

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"Whoever you are holding me now in hand, Without one thing all will be useless, I give you fair warning before you attempt me further,  I am not what you supposed, but far different."    

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https://www.poetryfoundation.org/poems/49204/whoever-you-are-holding-me-now-in-hand

Americans are known for being individualistic, and part of that individualism is a need to escape and defy expectations. For example, one of the main reasons Chris McCandless went on his "Alaskan Odyssey" was that he couldn't stand the oppressive environment of his home life anymore- his parents had always expected him to be someone he wasn't. We look for the freedom to define ourselves, and that comes with a certain resentment for control and restriction.

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The Nickel Boys, Colson Whitehead (2019)

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"He who gets behind in a race must forever remain behind or run faster than the man in front."

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"He who gets behind in a race must forever remain behind or run faster than the man in front."

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Much of our reading this year has shown us the American experience from the perspective of racial minorities (KotFM, The Nickel Boys, and our lit. circle books, namely). To these people, the search for personal freedom often has more to do with advancing their rights and treatment by society, which is even more difficult considering how deep systemic racism runs in America. Their freedom has been and continues to be fought for over decades and centuries- the fact that these movements have continued on despite so many struggles is what, in my opinion, cements them as part of the American identity.

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How it Feels to be Colored Me, Zora Neale Hurston (1928)

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"The terrible struggle that made me an American out of a potential slave said 'On the line!' The Reconstruction said 'Get set!' and the generation before said "Go!" I am off to a flying start and I must not halt in the stretch to look behind and weep. Slavery is the price I paid for civilization, and the choice was not with me."

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"The terrible struggle that made me an American out of a potential slave said 'On the line!' The Reconstruction said 'Get set!' and the generation before said "Go!" I am off to a flying start and I must not halt in the stretch to look behind and weep. Slavery is the price I paid for civilization, and the choice was not with me."

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America is known as the "Land of Opportunity" despite many, even most Americans having been denied opportunities here because of who they are or where they come from. This quote takes the perspective that the suppression these people (specifically African Americans) have faced is all the more reason to strive for better. After so long with little freedom or agency, every year provides more chance to advance racial equality and improve their lives.

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"The American Cowboy", Joseph Nimmo Jr. (1886)

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"But among the better disposed of the Texas cowboys, [...] there were true and trusty men, in whom the dangers and fortunes of their lives developed generous and heroic traits of character. The same experiences, however, led the viciously inclined to give free vent to the worst of passions. Upon a slight provocation, they would shoot down a fellow man with almost as little provocation as they fired upon the wild beasts.

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"But among the better disposed of the Texas cowboys, [...] there were true and trusty men, in whom the dangers and fortunes of their lives developed generous and heroic traits of character. The same experiences, however, led the viciously inclined to give free vent to the worst of passions. Upon a slight provocation, they would shoot down a fellow man with almost as little provocation as they fired upon the wild beasts.

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Cowboys are often used to represent the essence of America itself- independent, masculine, brave, "masters of the frontier"- and I actually think it's an accurate comparison, if a bit idealized. Cowboys and indigenous peoples are pitted against each other often in classic movies and stories, and the colonisation and genocide of Native Americans was essential to the expansion of our country to its current size. We tend to admire the lawlessness and self-management of cowboys, but that must include the violence and lack of accountability that could come with the lifestyle.

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"Let America be America Again", Langston Hughes (1936)

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"ME- Who made America, Whose sweat and blood, whose faith and pain, Whose hand at the foundry, whose plow in the rain, Must bring back our mighty dream again."

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"ME- Who made America, Whose sweat and blood, whose faith and pain, Whose hand at the foundry, whose plow in the rain, Must bring back our mighty dream again."

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This poem takes the position that America can be remade in its original intended image- a land of freedom, equality, and opportunity for all, without tyranny. Hughes believes this can be done by acknowledging and giving power to the people whose struggle and hope built this country. He's referring to black Americans I believe, because of the integral role slavery paid in developing the American economy and the oppression that has continued in its legacy, but it applies to all Americans who haven't received their fair share of the "mighty dream"- indigenous peoples, immigrants, women, etc.

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"My life, old sport, my life... my life has got to be like this. It's got to keep going up."

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"My life, old sport, my life... my life has got to be like this. It's got to keep going up."

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This quote sums up the American mindset of endless advancement perfectly. Compared to other countries, we tend to put less of a focus on leisure and more on work because we have the idea that working is the best way to make your life the way you want it. I think this makes it harder for us to "live in the moment", much like Gatsby, because our goals overshadow our achievements- in the pursuit of the "American Dream", we miss out on the American experience.