Jada Kimple

Mrs.O’Keefe

American Literature

June 5, 2017

The years from the end of World War II to the end of the 1950s were dominated by

modern middle-class culture and society; even an attack on rationality itself.​The years of the

1950s were dominated by American life. When reading text such as ​“America in the 1950s”, ​A

Raisin in the Sun, One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest to ​“Race: The House We Live In”, “How

We Built the Ghettos”,and my own exit tickets, I have come to the realization That America had

a fear. Fear according to the dictionary is ​an unpleasant emotion caused by the belief that

someone or something is dangerous, likely to cause pain, or a threat. and / or to be afraid of

(someone or something) as likely to be dangerous, painful, or threatening.​ In the 1950s

America’s biggest fear was Power: ​ability to act or produce an effect (2) : ability to get

extra-base hits (3) : capacity for being acted upon or undergoing an effect.​Those in power,

feared losing power. While those without power feared those in power.

America feared power. A film, “America in the 1950s” showed a commercial called “

Duck and Cover”. Within this commercial was a turtle, whenever he felt threatened he’d duck

and cover and hide in his shell. The commercial stated“ Burt is a very careful fellow when

there's danger this is the way he keeps from being hurt, sometimes it even saves his life.” What

this is saying is that we have no power and when not having no power you must live in fear and

hide. You don’t ever know when one of higher power will make an action so you must be alert,
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Mrs.O’Keefe

American Literature

June 5, 2017

the only way to stay safe. This goes back to what Americans fear: power. In this case children

are having to stay alert because they have no power of what happens.

A novel​, A Raisin in the Sun ​by ​Lorraine Hansberry,​ ​With much protest from the main

character Walter, a family moves into the white populated neighborhood. They do not receive

the money but they all agree they will move. Walter stands up to Lnider and sets a good example

for his son Travis, he states,​ “Talking ‘bout life, Mama. . . . Mama, you know it’s all divided up.

Life is. Sure enough. Between the takers and the “tooken.” I’ve figured it out finally. Yeah.

Some of us always getting “tooken” (Hansberry,Act 3). What Walter is saying is that ​We can

take or be tooken. In other words you can have power or be powerless and surrender to those

with power. The novel also states, “​Son – I come from five generations of people who was slaves

and sharecroppers – but ain’t nobody in my family never let nobody pay ‘em no money that was

a way of telling us we wasn’t fit to walk the earth. We ain’t never been that poor. We ain’t never

been that – dead inside” (Hansberry,Act 3). Mama shows fear in what she states. Fear of power

lowering down to showing who is in control. She fears to let these people know her weakness.

When saying “em no money that was a way of telling us we wasn’t fit to walk the earth.” you are

basically giving up power to whomever if you show weakness.

A novel, One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest by Ken Kesey, ​shows​ A sense of

empowerment and/or wanting to be in control can really start a war between two people, groups,
 Jada Kimple

Mrs.O’Keefe

American Literature

June 5, 2017

etc.“All weekend,and the next week, he was just as hard on her and her black boys as he ever

was, and the patients were loving it. He’d won his bet; he’d got the nurse’s goat the way he said

he would, and had collected on it, but… “ (Kesey,159). McMurphy needs this feeling of power,

and being able to control one. As humans we often do this we love the idea of having power and

when fighting for this power it can cause war between two people. As it did for McMurphy and

the Big nurse. In the novel it also states, “Those are the rules we play by. Of course, she always

wins, my friend, always. She’s impregnable herself, and with the element of time working for

her she eventually gets inside everyone. That’s why the hospital regards her as its top nurse and

grants her so much authority; She’s a master at forcing the trembling libido out into the open” (

Kesey,65). I feel as though the theme for part 1 was, men feel vulnerable towards women who

take control, and are blinded to women in control being a fear of theirs. This is shown throughout

part 1 between Big Nurse and McMurphy and/or the guys in general.

A article ,“How We Built the Ghettos”, talked about redlining which is ​the practice of

denying services, either directly or through selectively raising prices, to residents of

certain areas based on the racial or ethnic composition of those areas​. The text stated,

“Redlining ​is the practice of denying key services (like home loans and insurance) or increasing

their costs for residents in a defined geographical area. In theory, this could be used against

anyone. In reality, it was almost exclusively a tool to force blacks (and other minorities) into
 Jada Kimple

Mrs.O’Keefe

American Literature

June 5, 2017

particular geographic areas.” Whites were afraid of the blacks overpowering them. Though the

black were scared of the whites taking advantage and there not being a change in life.

A certain amount of controlling behavior is a healthy natural survival instinct, but after a

point it becomes harmful. When that happens normal survival is no longer the motivator.

Underlying the quest for power is fear, and the desire for power is to eliminate fear. America in

the 1950s were afraid of power. The society was in a human war because of this fear.Those in

power, feared losing power. While those without power feared those in power.