The Discovery of what it means to be an American
...in New York (The New World), Baldwin was fearful of his surroundings. He was unable to cope with the racial tension, and the lack of intellectual stimulation around him. As stated in this quote “we have a very deep-seated distrust of real intellectual effort (probably because we suspect that it will destroy, as I hope it does that myth of America to which we cling so desperately). An American writer fights his way to one of the lowest rungs on the American social ladder by means of pure bull-headedness and an indescribable series of odd jobs. He probably has been a “regular fellow” for much of his adult life, and it is not easy for him to step out of that lukewarm bath.” (Baldwin 42) The society of the new world was one of intellectual bondage, preventing a writer from reaching their full potential. In Europe (The old world), Artists are looked upon more favorable than in America. “The American writer, in Europe, is released, first of all, from the necessity of apologizing for himself. It is not until he is released from the habit of flexing his muscles and proving that he is just a “regular guy” that he realizes how crippling this habit has been. It is not necessary for him, there, to pretend to be something he is not, for the artist does not encounter in Europe the same suspicion he encounters here.” (Baldwin 42) Baldwin found him self more fascinated with the simple life of Europe and its citizens. “I was born in New York, but have lived only in pockets of it. In Paris, I lived in all parts of the city—on the Right Bank and the Left, among the bourgeoisie and among les misérables, and knew all kinds of people, from pimps and prostitutes in Pigalle to Egyptian bankers in Neuilly. (Baldwin 43). Everyday brought about new and exciting possibilities, from a conversation with an Algerian taxi-driver to being asked about life in America. These experiences and encounters fuelled his desire to explore more of the culture and its people. He finds common ground with other American writers who were neither black nor poor, who came to Europe in search for the same cause. And all trace their origins to America. It was in Europe that Baldwin found, much to his astonishment, that he was "as American as any Texas G.I." I strongly agree with Baldwin statement, that a writer not a statesman is better suited to wed the visions of the old world with that of the new world. The role of a writer requires that one approaches every endeavor with an open objective mind. The writer has the luxury of writing as an outsider, observing from a distance what is happening in society. Writers have the potential to see how a society is struggling by analyzing every rocky path they take. They will write only what they can observe and not support a particular group. Just like the way journalists sit in the background of state ...