Author: Sophie Langa

I found the first section of this reading to be a really interesting interpretation of a more modern America. The main character has decided to go to Mexico to escape his reality in America. His family farm is being sold off because his grandfather, who owned it, has died. The boys mother is an actress trying to make a name for herself in the city and has abandoned her son for her own dreams. The reason for the ranch being sold is because it has become an economic burden on the family. In the time period that this book takes place it is important to acknowledge that this was a time of industrialization in America. People were no longer growing food on their family farms, big companies were taking over and putting the little guys out of business. I feel that this family shows how this affected the average ranch family out in the west at this time in our history. 

This movie showed a great sense of nationalism and patriotism. The men that were portrayed risked and lost their lives for their country without question. WW2 was one of our biggest wars to date and it not only brought the country together, but it made us stronger. Both of my grandparents lived through WW2 and the stories they tell of the country at the time are crazy. My grandmother who was 19 at the time saw 75% of her school disappear to the war over night. The morning announcements in her school on a Monday morning told them they had declared war with Germany and that all the boys were being drafted this week, and within the week all of her friends were gone. She had to stay at home and take all the jobs that the men had held before so the country could keep running. My grandfather was drafted as a 19-year-old to be an airborne medic with only a year of medical training. His medical infantry was dropped into all the battles that were filmed in this movie. It is amazing to be to get a glimpse into the situations that my grandfather was dropped into. The movie not only shows the battles, but it emphasizes the feelings felt by all the soldiers. The scene that impacted me the most was when the group of soldiers was searching through a bag of dog tags, with the line of soldiers walking by. You could see it in their faces that that bag of dog tags would be all that is left of them, they would be degraded to a single piece of metal in a bag. The emotions that came out in that scene showed how degrading the war was to individuality. The soldiers were sent to basically be killed and no one would care except their families who most likely would not be able to see them again, just a piece of metal with their name on it. 

This chapter is titled Emergence, Triumph, Erosion. Just from the title of the section you see a life cycle of a nation and it’s struggles. There is the emersion of a new nation, that can only happen when a group collectively decides it is going to be a nation. The triumph, or the ruling success of a nation in its global, economic, and cultural influence over the world. Then lastly the erosion of its power and glory in the world view. Some nations have long life cycles where they are in the triumph phase for generations, where as there are some nations that will only be influential for a few years when the political climate is right. These nations are as Huntington says constantly being constructed and deconstructed, upgraded and downgraded. 

Huntington points out that there were five historical movements that pushed America into the creation of their national identity, away from just being a territory and now a society. First in the 1730s when the Great Awakening hit, there was anew sense of ‘trans-colonial’ ideas and themes. Then there was the almost eighty years of wars between America and the Indians with their French allies. Thirdly there was the Seven Years war with Britain due to taxation laws. Fourthly, the colonies grew communication between them and focused less of outside battles and more on creating stronger ties with each other. Then lastly there was a great abundance of land for these new colonists to farm and develop, creating less of a competition for resources between the colonies. All of these things previously listed are what drove the colonist closer together and created their strong national identity. 

America grew in triumph by their economic developments, reconciliation, and their rituals/symbols. These things brought the new nation together and brought a new sense of patriotism to the people. Rituals brought people together and made strangers friends because they had something in common, and the American people grew closer to each other making a stronger national identity of who they are. As the melting pot of the world the Americas were previously not to nationalistic and found that they were all so different, but as a people under one nation they found that they all wanted a better world and they were willing to make one, so they found a way to succeed. 

            Even though there was a triumph and it still feels like today we are in the phase, Huntington points out our fading nationalism. He says in the 1960s our nationalism began to fade from one that dominated other countries to one that was not enthusiastic. This was because all of the implications that were made to rise America were not fading in the background. Immigration was decreasing due to our political involvement and a gap deepened between the social and economic classes in America. 

This movie was a really interesting point of view on the new settlers of America. The movie focused on a single family of eight and their lives once in America. The family had been exiled from their settlement because of their religion. Which is interesting because all that came to the Americas, came in order to escape religious prosecutions in their homeland. The family had to pack up everything a basically flee. Yet, the father was unconcerned with fleeing and leaving the settlement, his sense of individuality was fascinating. He showed no concern for this family’s well-being. One of the first scenes was the family praying to the woods once they had left their home. It seemed as though they could be praying for salvation and sanctuary in the woods. If I were put in this position, I would not want to the leave the settlement in order to stay alive. I would think that if we left then our chances of survival would go down to slim to none. Another part of the movie that was really intriguing was the scenes of the oldest daughter and the witch interacting. The witch took the shape of the rabbit, and then the  overall demonic goat leader of the cult. At the end of the movie the oldest daughter completely leaves her religion behind to find safety and life in that of the satanic practices taking place in the woods. The goat brings her to the woods and shows her all the naked women waiting for her. Eventually all the women begin to levitate and fly away. This could symbolize so many things.  Flying in many contexts usually shows a sense of freedom and liberation. To me this showed a freedom to be who every you want to be in the new world. The daughter was finally free from the religious chains that her family and society of the new world had bound her in.