Common Themes Of American Individualism

Over this course I have found some common themes. One of the most common themes is the focus on American ideologies mainly patriotism and what it means to be an American. It is what is to be expected from American Literature, where the focus is on individualism and patriotism. Rarely do the authors depict a group of people. It is always concentrated on one being. I believe individualism comes from American ideologies because of our national history. We as Americans have a sense of the “American dream”. This is when one individual can overcome any circumstance and obstacle and climb the social and financial ladders to the top and make their mark in not only American history but perhaps world history. This was obvious in Benjamin Franklin’s autobiography and my response to it. “Ben Franklin tested himself, with great ambition and striven to climb the social ladder. Where's Rip Van Winkle avoided politics” (Reading Response 2). We see Ben Franklin as a hero in United States history. We see him as a pinnacle individual with great ambition who is the quintessence of the rags to riches story. We idolize these rags to riches stories whether it be Ben Franklin or an up and coming musician. However, we Americans do not like being a Rip Van Winkle …show more content…
Americans take great respect in their flag. Their is almost always a debate about how to respect the flag and it is prevelant in this short story as well when Captain Delano says “‘The castle and the lion,’ exclaimed Captain Delano- ‘why, Don Benito, this is the flag of Spain you use here.’”(Reading Response 6). Delano has great respect for the flag and when talking about symbolism in my sixth reading response I noted how important the flag was the Captain Delano compared to the Spaniard, Benito Cereno, who treats his flag as a garment to protect his clothes from his hair. Americans take great pride in their flag and what it stand for and it was very