In a 3-4 page essay you will compare Crevecoeur’s Letters from an American Farmer with one of the texts we have read thus far. You must use one of the prompts to develop your comparison. Please use MLA citations, proper margins, 12 point TImes New Roman font. If you neglect any of these requirements it will effect your grade.
1) Crevecouer’s Letters develop how both human nature and the natural world are represented in both a rural/pastoral landscape and a urban setting. How does each environment affect Farmer James? How does human nature, especially the description of slavery in Charles Town compare with androids in Do Android’s Dream of Electric Sheep?
2) How does the pastoral and rural utopic ideal in Letters compare to the terrifying and dystopic landscapes Parable of the Sower? Is Lauren similar to Farmer James? Are corporate town’s like Olivar similar to Charles Town? How is 21st century slavery different from 18th century? How does Butler’s use of nature in 21st century America compare to Crevecoeur’s description of 18th century America?
3) In Margaret Atwood’s Oryx and Crake how is nature represented? Is there any semblance of the pastoral, like in Creveceour’s early letters? What about extinction? If Crevecoeur were alive today, how would he respond to Atwood’s vision of America? How does the corporate culture of Atwood’s dystopia relate to the culture of greed and excess in Charles Town? Are the CorpSeCorp’s the new slavery?
You must support your argument(s) with evidence from both texts. I will also attach the cour readings here for the comparation
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Crevecoeur’s Letters from an American Farmer
The utopian and dystopian ideas represent the perfect and unpleasant places, respectively, depending on the prevailing conditions. The two works, Parable of the Sower and Crevecoeur’s Letters, demonstrated these two ideals in their landscapes as depicted by its primary characters, Lauren and farmer James, respectively. The American landscape in the Letters is described as divided such that people live completely different in their different sections. This difference is evident because those at sea will focus on fishing while those in the lands will focus on agriculture. The utopian lifestyle allowed the American farmer to live a positive life since being the landowner means that he enjoys a great sense of freedom and pride from the fruits of his labor. The American utopian ideal is also demonstrated when Farmer James speaks about the small island Nantucket founded via cooperation.
Conversely, the Parable envisages a dystopian future with the government collapsing and armed gangs roaming around the streets. In this world, society experiences extensive global warming and chronic shortages of water with pervasive drugs. Lauren, the protagonist, is forced to live in a world facing abrupt violence since her community was invaded, her family members killed, and their home destroyed. She needed to flee to survive. Notably, the book would illustrate that pain is not permanent and that some form of utopia can exist even in sadness. Lauren had keen instincts to ensure she survived. However, her ability to successfully redefine the sustaining philosophy regarding service, the oppressive present and the unpredictable future demonstrated the beauty of the Parable of the Sower. Despite Lauren living in devastating times, she never gave up on creating an intense philosophy of rooting to go forward regardless of the bad situations.
The similarities between Lauren and Farmer James start from the point where they both leave a dangerous environment filled with violence and war. Farmer James left the dangerous environment where he lived with other North Americans while Lauren left North Carolina. Despite the two engaging in different economic activities for survival, their commitment and hard work towards their work were evident. They understood that there are respective fruits of labor for the work put in. Farmer James focussed on horticultural farming wickeLgren engaged in mixed farming, animal keeping, and horticultural farming. Lauren was also actively involved in selling her products which Farmer James did not get involved much.
Regarding the corporate towns in the two works, an analysis of the Olivar in the Parable of the Sower and Charles Town in the Letters would show that they did exhibit their similarities. The first similarity is their relation to the institution of slavery, where each town depicted it distinctively. Charles Town in the Letters enforced mechanisms that had its people physically abused and used as slaves. The slaves were forced to obey their masters and be subjected to tortures, pain, and even death from opposers. Also, Olivar’s town had an American Company which privatized the town such that the people would get jobs, help, and defense from the company (Butler 117). This kind of control could be likened to a company town slavery since the people would not receive sufficient income. The conduct of the company asserted a form of slavery against the community.
Regarding the climate in Charles Town, farmer James indicated that the sun became too scorching whenever there was no sea breeze. A similar trend was evident whenever the town faced excesses of all kinds of weather with which its people had to live . (Crèvecoeu et al, 9). Olivar town in the Parable also faces a difficult climate since its unstable and challenged lands prompted people to live by the sea. However, the land may crumble into the ocean or be deeply saturated with saltwater (Butler 118). A warmer climate prompted an increase in sea level to cause an occasional earthquake.
Comparing slavery in the 21st century and the 18th century, which are the different times depicted by the two works, would show that slavery is still happening and very severe even if it happens in different forms. The 18th century would, however, show a worse form of slavery than the 21st century. It involved a lack of freedom for the overworked people while not being paid properly for their work. Women were also sexually abused constantly by their masters, and those that obeyed were given favors. The rebellious individuals were punished. Slavery in the 21st century involved getting payment for engaging in dangerous activities that were exhausting and humiliating. The slavery happening in the 21st century relies on social insignificance, financial exploitation, and it is smartly that the victims may not realize that they are slaves to a master.
Butler’s use of nature in 21 st century follows a contemporary mode where their social environment influences the individual’s character ((Gochberg 445). This is a similar approach in the Crevecoeur Letters despite them being written a long time ago. Crevecoeur’s description of 18th century America specifically focussed on explaining the country’s forms rather than focusing on the enumeration characteristics of the American character. This outlook on nature informed both rationalism and material sums such that even his work fit into the present world.
Works cited:
Butler, Octavia E. “Parable of the Sower.” New York: Warner Books, 1995
Gochberg, Reed. “Circulating Objects: Crevecoeur’s” Curious Book” and the American Philosophical Society Cabinet.” Early American Literature 54.2 (2019): 445-476.
John De Crèvecoeur, J. Hector, William P Trent, and Ludwig Lewisohn. “Letters from an American farmer.” New York, Fox, Duffield & Company, 1904
