The Decline of Patriotism

English 1302

Monday, April 25, 2011

The Decline of Patriotism

“The land of the free and the home of the brave.” Those are the famous last words of our national anthem, but is brave really a word that can be used to describe the current generation of Americans? Patriotism has been very prevalent throughout America, especially in each of the World Wars, but as each generation passes us by, we are left with an increasingly declining sense of Patriotism. Through extensive looks at “Ogichidag” and “next to of course god america i,” one can determine that the current generation of Americans have been losing their sense of patriotism and love for their country so much that they are either putting on an act, developing a lack of interest, or do not really care what happens to the country at all.

E.E. Cummings is considered by most as a “visual poet” (Kidder 1). In one of his poems, “next to of course god america i,” Cummings shows through lack of punctuation and organization that Americans are really not who they used to be. At a first glance, the poem looks like a jumbled up text box with no grammar or capitalization, but as one looks closer, the individual can begin to see how Cummings is mocking the individual who knows nothing about what standards America was founded on, only what he knows and thinks he knows. For example, “...oh say can you see by the dawns early my country ‘tis...(Cummings line 2)” you can see the national Anthem in there somewhere, but it is clumped up with other patriotic things that do not even make any sense. Our country is losing its sense of honor and dignity. This “patriotic hero” has no idea what they are even saying, as Cummings describes in the last statement, “He Spoke. And drank rapidly a glass of water” (Cummings line 13). In reviews from Illinois.edu, Brian Docherty describes Cummings’ poem as politicians “closing the face of liberty.” These people are who our country lies in. Politics have been around as long as our country...