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
By living in or near the woods, their actions are regulated by the wilderness of the neighborhood. The deer often come to eat their grain, the wolves to destroy their sheep, the bears to kill their hogs, the foxes to catch their poultry. This surrounding hostility immediately puts the gun in to their hands; they watch these animals, they kill some; and thus by defending their property, they soon become professed hunters; this is the progress; once hunters, farewell to the plow (649). put the blame on the men, but he actually blames the meat for their behavior. He says, " Eating of wild meat...tends to alter their temper" (648). But the farmer's explanation for the settlers acting as they do is not only because of the wild meat eaten but he also believes it is a result of the following: The last and most disgusting of the different districts is the woods, the frontier. Here it is said that the inhabitants are not anywhere near being orderly, but are "often in a perfect state of war" (645). James definitely describes this kind as the worst. He says they are "no better than carnivorous animals of a superior rank, living on the flesh of wild animals....[and having] few moral rules" (645). These people live mainly off of meat, which is the opposite of vegetation. Obviously this is not a way the farmer could ever live. The farmer is quite distressed at the mannerisms of these frontier men. He does not American Literature. Ed. Nina Baym. New York: W.W. Norton & Company, Inc., 1998. around James's agrarian way of thinking. Philbrick, Thomas. St. John De Creveoeur. Ed. Sylvia Bowman. New York: Twayne Publishers, Inc., 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 64
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Approximate Word count = 1416
Approximate Pages = 6 (250 words per page double spaced)
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