, Research Paper

When aliens think of America, they think of McDonald? s, the Statue of Liberty, Hollywood movie stars, and the list goes on. In footings of Americans, people associate Texans with cowpuncher boats, Californians with surfboards, and New Yorkers with a clannish smile on their face. It is true that all these things represent America in one manner or another, but what precisely is American individuality? Erikson? s analysis on American individuality has drawn attending to four subjects: Mom, stripling, foreman, and machine. He links all four subjects together by utilizing the myth of John Henry Hero. Goffman, on the other manus, develops dramaturgical analysis to understand human behaviours. He sees work forces as histrions with different functions and these histrions have to execute to different audiences. Even though Erikson? s attack and Goffman? s attack to understanding human individuality are really different, both of them consider American individuality alterations over clip because of the alteration in environment.

John Henry Hero is a representation of cowpunchers. Cowboy is a alone merchandise signifier American civilization. When people think about cowpunchers, they think of a carefree, independent white male, merely like the 1s on Marlboro advertizements. The birth and decease of John Henry, as Erikson analyzes, gives two cardinal factors of American individuality at the cowboy period: forsaking of and by parents, and rejections to adumbrate feelings.

Abandonment comes from Momism. A Ma is? a certain unsafe type of female parent? ( Erikson, P.289 ) that creates a mental or physical barrier for her kids to populate with. Erikson gives several illustrations on how parents can allow their kids down based on the John Henry myth. First, there are the outlooks that parents want their kids to accomplish. In John Henry? s instance, his parents have thought of all occupations possible for him to make when he grew up. However, kids, about ne’er, want to be what their parents want them to be ; or as Erikson said? he ( John Henry ) will non perpetrate himself to any individuality as predetermined by the stigmata of birth? ( Erikson, P.298 ) . Second, parents do non fulfill everything the kid demands, and the kid feels neglected and grows distant from his parents. John Henry left his parents because his parents fed the Canis familiariss before they fed him. Third, he left because he was certain that he could take attention of himself. John Henry took into his grave believing that? a adult male counts merely as a adult male? ( Erikson, P. 299 ) . Hence, in another point of position, he abandoned his parents merely as Erikson says, ? it was the kid who abandoned the female parent, because he had been in such a haste to go independent? ( Erikson, P.296 ) .

This forsaking besides lead to another factor? rejections to adumbrate feelings. Erikson finds? non merely the sorrow of holding been abandoned but besides the fright of perpetrating to deep emotions? ( Erikson, P.301 ) in cowpuncher because there is a mental barrier in cognizing that they have abandoned their female parents and have been abandoned by her. Cowboys, therefore, are normally instead alone people. Their occupation will non allow them see their household nor their friends really frequently. They are the? adult male without roots, the motherless adult male, the womenless adult male? ( Erikson, P.299 ) . The nonsensical common people vocals offer a amusing yet sarcastic position of cowpuncher? life? they are non bounded by relationships because they are non allowed to make so. This life style, hence, ? show a deliberate and obstinate paradox, a denial of trust in love, a denial of a demand for trust. It therefore becomes a more intimate declaration of independency? ( Erikson, P.304 ) . Since they view the remainder of the universe as a wholly stray entity from them, their love for the state is instead acrimonious as compared to in other states.

What if John Henry Hero is put in another set of environment, such as, the modern concern universe? In this new environment he can no longer merely run away from place. The turning point of his life will alter from the infant phase to the adolescence phase. In America, typically there will be a standardised function forced on striplings, viz. pupils. Erikson thinks that the? danger of this phase is function diffusion? ( Erikson, P.307 ) . Young people, unaware of their functions, may run away from school or work. American households are normally instead democratic that kids are given certain rights and they will larn about duties. However, even though there might be less? Mas? in the society, societal construction is more complex than earlier since there are the church and political relations involved. Therefore, in Erikson? s analysis, John Henry, turning up in such community, ? will ne’er be a true individualist? ( Erikson, P.320 ) .

Other factors that will alter John Henry? s individuality, and American individuality in general, are? Foremans? and? machines? . Foremans are the 1s who stay within the jurisprudence yet invade the infinite of other? s? fundamentally, they are tyrants. Machines, on the other manus, ? change over him into

a consumer imbecile, a merriment egoist, and an efficiency slave? ( Erikson, P.323 ) . This is why Erikson concludes that American youth, including our? transformed? John Henry, can merely be to the full cognizant of their individuality if they know the bossy tendency and non be uniformed because of the society? s increasing mechanization.

Goffman? s dramaturgical attack to understanding human dealingss is really different from Erikson? s attack since Goffman concerns himself with the manner of presentation employed by the histrion and its significance in the broader societal context. Interaction is viewed as a & # 8220 ; public presentation, & # 8221 ; shaped by environment and audience, constructed to supply others with & # 8220 ; feelings & # 8221 ; that are harmonic with the coveted ends of the histrion ( Goffman, P.17 ) . The public presentation exists irrespective of the mental province of the person, as feeling is frequently imputed to the person in malice of his deficiency of religion in, or even ignorance of, the public presentation. In this manner, the single develops individuality or feeling as a map of interaction with others, through an exchange of information that allows for more specific definitions of individuality and behaviour.

The procedure of set uping societal individuality, so, becomes closely allied to the construct of the forepart, which is described as & # 8220 ; that portion of the single & # 8217 ; s public presentation which regularly maps in a general and fixed manner to specify the state of affairs for those who observe the public presentation & # 8221 ; ( Goffman, P.22 ) . The front Acts of the Apostless as the a vehicle of standardisation, leting for others to understand the person on the footing of projected character traits that have normative significances. As a & # 8220 ; corporate representation, & # 8221 ; the forepart establishes proper & # 8220 ; puting, & # 8221 ; & # 8220 ; visual aspect, & # 8221 ; and & # 8220 ; manner & # 8221 ; for the societal function assumed by the histrion, unifying synergistic behaviour with the personal forepart ( Goffman, P.27 ) . The histrion, in order to show a compelling forepart, is forced to both make full the responsibilities of the societal function and pass on the activities and features of the function to other people in a consistent mode.

This procedure is predicated upon the activities of & # 8220 ; feeling direction & # 8221 ; ( Goffman, P.208 ) , the control and communicating of information through the public presentation. In building a forepart, information about the histrion is given off through a assortment of communicative beginnings, all of which must be controlled to efficaciously convert the audience of the rightness of behaviour with the function assumed. Believability, as a consequence, is constructed in footings of verbal meaning, which is used by the histrion to set up purpose, and non-verbal meaning, which is used by the audience to verify the honestness of statements made by the person. Attempts are made to show an & # 8220 ; idealized position of the state of affairs & # 8221 ; ( Goffman, P.35 ) . Information covering with performing artist? s secrets is concealed from the audience.

Goffman besides notes that a group of people with a common end, of whom he calls? squads, ? will collaborate in order to accomplish a squad public presentation. In fact, this is the most common instance in existent life ; for illustration, when pupils try to rip off in a trial, they tend to hide for, or even assist, each other and pretend they are making the trial usually. Men all concern their visual aspects on phase, portion presenting jobs in footings of both an person and a squad public presentation, experience shame when there is a bad public presentation, and are close about their wing towards the audience. As Goffman says, ? these are some of the dramaturgical elements of the human state of affairs? ( Goffman, P. 237 ) .

Despite the differences in Erikson? s attack and Goffman? s attack to understanding human individuality, and American individuality in peculiar, they both agree that the alteration in individuality is closely related to the alteration of societal scenes, that is, the environment. Erikson uses the John Henry Hero myth to show how American individuality alterations from the cowpuncher period to the modern concern scene. He concludes that John Henry? s destiny will be different if Momism is non merely forced on the kid but the full household, viz. asserted by the church and political relations alternatively. Besides, function diffusion in the stripling and the addition in mechanization and tyrants in the society contributes significantly to the alteration in societal milieus, which consequences in the transmutation of individuality. Goffman employs the dramaturgical attack and depict how an person, in different? phases, ? will hold to execute harmonizing to a book for his societal function and seek to convert his audience about his function. Goffman notes that there are times where persons will hold to work together as squads in order to convert the same audience. However, these squads change as the phase alterations. Therefore, as a decision, American individuality alterations through clip as the environment alterations? aliens may really likely to believe of America based on the Clinton-Lewinsky dirt alternatively of the Statue of Liberty!