E. L. Doctorow makes a very frank comment on the culture of our society in The Book of Daniel. At first glance the reader might not understand how to take the critique of the impurity and the supposed nefarious nature of Disneyland. After reflection on this piece it becomes apparent there are a number of things that Doctorow is trying to accomplish through the character Daniel. What is certain is that Doctorow is making a forward statement about our culture and society.

Just before Doctorow delves into the intensely sophisticated section on Disneyland he comments that "they drove me to Anaheim, a town somewhere between Buchenwald and Belsen, where Dr. and Mrs. Selig Mindish were spending the day at Disneyland" (285). In saying Buchenwald, a well-known concentration camp, and Belsen, a transit-center which was later turned into a concentration camp, Doctorow is already putting a negative connotation on Disneyland. The comparison to a Nazi concentration camps may be a little over the top but nonetheless the reader realizes that Doctorow does not like Disneyland.

Within the first paragraph Doctorow refers to those visiting Disneyland as customers. I believe that Doctorow is

Right after the comment on the naivete of Americans Doctorow makes a hilarious observation about what a study of cartoons from the twenties, thirties, and forties would reveal about American's thought process. These observations range from believing that people are animals, the flesh can be sawed, crushed, frozen, stretched, burned, bombed, and plucked for music, or even that we are able to walk on air, but only as long as our illusion supports us. Doctorow is saying that Disney created these cartoons as a way of letting the viewers escape the realities of the day; these realities would have been the Depression and the Second World War, two rather sobering times in America. In making light of the mutilation of the human body that occurred in Nazi concentration camps, Jews in particular would have been spiritually trampled after World War II could experience the fantasy world put forth by Disney and could have been temporarily transported out of their present, grim world.

Next in the piece Doctorow names various companies that offer shows or exhibits at Disneyland. It's apparent that Doctorow finds it disappointing that so many corporations are closely tied with Disneyland when Disneyland is supposedly held up as a wholesome enterprise. Doctorow obviously wants the audience to recognize that America is becoming over commercialized. It's a shame if some people don't already see this.

After the discussion of the problems of Disneyland Doctorow goes on to talk about some rides of the park that correspond with American literature. Then the piece takes a distinctive turn when Doctorow writes, "The animated cartoon itself, except for Disney's subsequent climb into the respectability of public domain literature, came to express the collective unconsciousness of the community of the American Naive" (289). The animated cartoon itself that Doctorow refers

Some common words found in the essay are:
Doctorow Doctorow's, Daniel Disneyland, Doctorow Disneyland, American Naive, Americans Doctorow, Selig Mindish, Disneyland Doctorow, Street USA, Alice Wonderland, Huckleberry Finn, huckleberry finn, alice wonderland, twain wrote book, feel doctorow, doctorow disneyland, doctorow goes, doctorow saying, concentration camp, nazi concentration, nazi concentration camps, animated cartoon, public domain literature, concentration camps,
Approximate Word count = 1264
Approximate Pages = 5 (250 words per page double spaced)