literature in America

When I think of America, I think of freedom. We live in a country where we can do what we choose. We can express our opinions and live our own lives. Individuals can form their own individual beliefs and they can do what they want and pursue what they wish. They can play basketball, go to school, get a job, have a family, buy a house, or go to church. We are free. We have opportunity to be whatever we want to make ourselves. When you ask, what is an American? I find it no different to ask, what is freedom? America and freedom are intertwined and this relationship is evident in American literature.

The notion of freedom and everything relating to freedom unites all of the American literature we have read. In Twain’s Huckleberry Finn, Huck leaves the cuffs of society so he can live in his own freedom. He doesn’t let society dictate his life and opinions. Huck himself determines what is right or wrong, and does what he believes is right; that is freedom. This is just like the Pilgrim’s in Bradford’s Of Plymouth Plantation, who came to American solely to be free and find new opportunities. In Cooper’s Deerslayer, we see the devotion the Native Americans had toward the land on which they lived, American land. They valued their land, just like we do today. We are proud of where we live and what we stand for. Natty, a character in the story, had to kill one of the Indians in self-defense and felt a sense of brotherhood and sorrow when he watched him die. Freedom and equality are p...