De Crevecoeur's Agrarian Utopia
J. Hector St. John De Crevecoeur came to America in 1759 and in1769 settled in New York, inhabiting the life of an American farmer. Naturally, being given a fresh start in the world, De Crevecoeur wanted to achieve the role of an ideal American. This role for him was not to become an eminent businessman or a wealthy landlord, but a simple orderly farmer. De Crevecoeur undoubtedly, saw the utopian society revolving around the farming industry. Instead of speaking as himself, De Crevecoeur relays his feeling and thoughts through a fictitious character, farmer James. Philbrick describes the farmer, as "a figure endowed with a depth and complexity sufficient to persuade us that he moves and breathes and is not merely the mask through which the auctorial voice speaks" (75). In "Letters from an American Farmer," through this fictitious character, De Crevecoeur displays his view of this perfect agrarian society. Throughout the letters, by using plant metaphors and describi!ng the other industries, James makes it clear that he truly believes farming is the perfect way of life. In De Crevecoeur's third essay entitled "What it is to be an American", farmer James begins to describe his new land. As this life of new opportun
The farmers main concern as he starts his new life is asking God to "shed his fertilizing dew on [the family's] little crops, and...be pleased to restore peace to [the family's] unhappy country (664). James decides he would begin life as an American Indian, simple and united with his family. He realizes that his children shall have to learn to swim and to shoot with the bow to fit in, but makes a point to let us know that to prevent the evils that come with such a practice, he will "employ them [his children] in the labor of the fields as much as [he] can...to make their daily subsistence depend altogether on it." James believes that " As long as we keep ourselves busy in tilling the earth, there is no fear of any of us becoming wild; it is the chase and the food it procures that have this strange effect" (662). After seeing these different types of unstructured people his utopian view is smashed, and life to him "is physically unsupportable and psychically unendurable" (Philbrick 87). James says he no longer can be happy because of the "remembrance of the dreadful scenes" (660) that he has witnessed. He says, " I wish for a change of place; the hour is come at last, that I must fly from my house and abandon my farm!" (660) James decides that because of the " thousand streams of evil with which [he is] surrounded" (661), he would rather go elsewhere. American Literature. Ed. Nina Baym. New York: W.W. Norton & Company, Inc., 1998. ity has opened up to him, he is overwhelmed with the beauty and aesthetic value of this land that he can now call his own. The way the farmer thinks is an indication of his agrarian love. When describing his new country, he does not dwell on the social aspects or the well-to-do housing, but rather describes the land that lies before him: "Extensive fields, an immense country filled with decent houses, good roads, orchards, [and] meadows" (De Crevecoeur 641). Still describing America, except in contrast to Europe, he relates the men to plants saying, " in Europe they were as so many useless plants, wanting vegetative mold and refreshing showers
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Approximate Word count = 1416
Approximate Pages = 6 (250 words per page double spaced)
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