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Ashlyn Thurston

Prof. John D. Rall

American Literature II

25 May 2018

The American Identity

American literature is unique in that each story transgresses the works created

before its time. Influenced by a variety of factors such as the time period, the audience,

the writer, current events, environmental circumstances, societal beliefs, and culture as

a whole; each narrative finds a way to stand out from the others and delineate a fresh

perspective while presenting an original American theme in a new way. The canon of

American literature has transformed and evolved as other genres emerged, but within

each text holds a conceptual pattern that repeats itself over time. One American theme

that recurs throughout literature is the internal conflict of identity. A collection of works

written during various literary movements that deal with the crisis of identity include Kate

Chopin’s novel ​The Awakening​ composed in the literary movement of Realism, T. S.

Eliot’s modernist poem “The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock”, and Flannery O’Connor’s

Southern Gothic short story “Good Country People” which was drafted during the period

of Postmodernism. What earns these stories their place in the canon of great American

literature is their portrayal of the human condition within the protagonists of each work

as they struggle with the existential dilemma of finding their true selves.

Kate Chopin was an American author influenced by classical and 19th century

contemporary French writers like Guy de Maupassant who she described had “escaped

from tradition and authority and looked out upon life through his own being and with his
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own eyes” (537). These authors had reacted against the earlier Romantic movement

and shifted its focus on nature and emotion to people and the truth which resulted in the

creation of a new literary movement, Realism. It first developed during the middle of the

17th century in France and then later spread throughout Europe. It was the Realist

writers and their revolutionary ideas that influenced Chopin’s major work published in

1899, ​The Awakening,​ though the story also includes elements from the Romanticism

period. Because it was written in the last decade of the 19th-century when men believed

they were the superior sex and women were expected to be the happy housewife with

no other aspirations than to please her husband, have children, and take care of the

house, the novel was not well-received by critics of the time, even other women writers

described the story as “essentially vulgar and unhealthily introspective” (538). This is

important to note because it directly correlates with the American theme of identity.

Back then, women were expected to have one identity, the stereotypical housewife, and

Chopin’s ideas went against that belief. She was one of the first female writers of her

time to publish a novel in which the protagonist questioned her role as a woman. It is

also worth noting that Chopin and Edna share some striking similarities as they both do

not fit within the standards of their respective time periods and are judged and chided

for going against societal norms in discovering one’s true identity.

The Awakening​ follows the story of Edna Pontellier, a traditional housewife and

mother who comes to the realization that she is not happy with her life and wants more

from it. This story is all about identity and the hardships that come with finding one’s self

in a society where such liberating ideas are looked down upon​. As Edna begins to
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question her expectations as a woman and her desires as an individual, “a certain light

begin[s] to dawn dimly within her” (558). ​A​ good portion of the women are satisfied with

their role in society as a mother and wife, but Edna does not share this view and finds

herself at a crossroads living a “dual life—that outward existence which conforms, the

inward life which questions” (559). Once Edna is aware of this internal conflict, she

works to embrace her individuality and assert her sexuality by declining her husband’s

desires, reviving her passion for art, flirting with a younger man, among other things. ​In

her search for her identity, ​Edna ‘awakens’ her true self, her real humanity, and identity.

The tragedy though is she cannot change the expectations of her society. Edna realizes

she will never be able to completely fulfill herself as an individual or as a member of the

society she is part of. In the end, ​she​ commits suicide and chooses to sacrifice herself

for her identity because her true nature does not fit within the realms of her repressive,

patriarchal society.

T. S. Eliot was an American publisher, essayist, playwright, and poet that fellow

expatriate and writer Ezra Pound described as a man “who had trained himself and

modernized himself on his own” (352). Eliot is one of the most recognized writers from

the Modernism literary movement that began in the late 19th and early 20th centuries.

Influenced by Arthur Symon, Jules LaForgue, and other French Symbolist poets, Eliot

altered his perspective of poetry and rebelled against traditional form and rhetoric and

took the direction of breaking all the rules, a very modernist idea. His free verse style of

writing shows in what literary critics describe as the magnum opus of Modernism poetry,

Eliot’s “The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock”. The poem is a dramatic monologue by the
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unhappy narrator, Prufrock, who wanders around bored, contemplating his identity, and

the cruel passage of time.

T. S. Eliot’s poem “The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock” tells the story of a man

who has struggled with his identity his whole life. Whereas Edna goes on a self-aware

journey to discover her true identity, the speaker of this poem lacks the courage in

finding his own and instead, remains quiet and hides in fear of being judged by “the

eyes that fix [him] in a formulated phrase” (356). The theme of identity presents itself as

a conflict of inaction by the protagonist as he submits to the familiar comforts of safety in

passivity and conformity to avoid the self-perceived embarrassment of asserting who he

truly is. Though Prufrock consistently questions himself and his decisions with thoughts

of “Do I dare?” and “Shall I say”, conveying his inability to express his inner feelings

because of the apprehension that stems from his uncertainty (356). It is not that

Prufrock does not know who he is, he just lacks the courage to be who he truly is and

therefore, is doomed to a life of despair and loneliness. The unresolved tension within

himself prohibits him from defining his true identity and becoming someone. Instead,

Prufrock becomes nothing more than a bug “pinned and wriggling on the wall” or a crab

“scuttling across the floors of silent seas” (356). While ​The Awakening​ highlighted the

struggles that come with finding one’s self, Eliot’s poem exhibits the suffering and regret

that comes along with dismissing one’s identity in fear of what others may think.

Flannery O’Connor was an American writer and essayist that began to publish

her stories in the mid-20th century during the commencement of Postmodernism. It was

a time where writers recognized the lack of originality as most stories had already been
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told. In result, they rebelled and tested the boundaries by using those classic texts for

inspiration in creating new stories and thus, Postmodernism was born. O’Connor was

more of Southern Gothic writer with a focus in “Christian realism where the ugly, the

stubborn, and the sinful take center stage,” yet her stories employ postmodern

characteristics such as intertextuality, irony, and fragmentation (426). Influenced and

shaped by textbook scripture, Southern culture, and literary formalism, O’Connor wrote

stories riddled with religious symbolism, cultural observation, and black-humored

comedy. Her short story “Good Country People” takes on these attributes while delving

further into the American theme that is identity. The plot revolves around a few “good”

country characters living in rural Georgia who aren’t as “good” as they think they are. In

this story, the struggle with identity presents itself in how the complex characters identify

themselves and others, most importantly the protagonist, Hulga.

In “Good Country People”, the mother of Hulga, Mrs. Hopewell, sees the world

simply. Each person falls into two castes, the poor, uncultured criminals of society which

she refers to as trash and the good country people who she describes as “the salt of the

earth” (440). However, Mrs. Hopewell believes she is above both as her self-perceived

superior identity remains stagnant throughout the story. In contrast, Hulga is an

educated, stubborn woman who goes out of her way to not fit in, yet still struggles with

her identity as a result of her health issues and pretentious nature. In comparison, both

Mrs. Hopewell and Hulga have opinions about every person they come across and love

to throw labels around. When Manley comes into town and Mrs. Hopewell learns he has

the same condition as her daughter, Hulga’s identity is put to the test. Sadly, a large
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part of her identity is her leg which she takes “care of as someone else would his soul”

(447). It is one of the reasons she decides to go on a picnic with Manley as she believes

since they share the same health issue, they may share the same identity. Though just

as she struggles with her own identity, Hulga is tested by her false perceived identity of

others. She believes she has Manley all figured out and even goes as far as to say “that

she seduced him” (444). Because of her oblivion, Hulga’s trust is betrayed and Manley’s

identity is revealed to be an act, stealing her leg and a part of her identity. Hulga is left

in the barn questioning herself, her beliefs, and her choices, void of an identity and one

wooden leg.

In American literature, the theme of identity is closely tied to the beginning of

America itself. Thousands of years ago, when not a single person lived in the Americas,

and the land was blanketed in a sheet of ice, the New World did not have an identity. It

was not until the last Ice Age that adventurous humans began to explore and establish

a new home within a place with no identity. Identity is an American theme because

discovering one’s true nature is the very basis of what America is all about. It is the

people who imprinted themselves onto this land and gave America its identity, its

culture, and its legacy. Though it has changed and transformed as migrations took

place, colonization happened, and time passed, America continues to search for its true

identity because just as people change, so does America. One thing that will never

change though is the internal drive to find one’s self. Kate Chopin’s realistic and

romantic novel ​The Awakening,​ T. S. Eliot’s modernist poem “The Love Song of J.

Alfred Prufrock”, and Flannery O’Connor’s Southern Gothic postmodern short story
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“Good Country People” all portray a variety of characters suffering from identity crises

as they attempt to resolve the cognitive dissonance within themselves over who they

are and who they want to be. It is an American theme, but also a universal motif of the

human condition. Every human being struggles to find themselves in this world.
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Works Cited

Chopin, Kate. “​The Awakening​.” ​The Norton Anthology of American Literature,​ by

Robert S. Levine et al., 9th ed., C, W. W. Norton & Company, 2017, pp. 537-639.

Eliot, T. S. “The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock.” ​The Norton Anthology of

American Literature,​ by Robert S. Levine et al., 9th ed., D, W. W. Norton &

Company, 2017, pp. 352-358.

O’Connor, Flannery. “Good Country People.” ​The Norton Anthology of American

Literature,​ by Robert S. Levine et al., 9th ed., E, W. W. Norton & Company, 2017,

pp. 426-449.