American

The idea of The Great Gatsby as “The Great American Novel” somewhat connects to what we believe is “American.”  Undeniably, something about this book truly embodies what we think represents America.  This raises an important question: is the definition of “American” truly uniform, or is it far more subjective than we imagine it to be?  It is certainly hard to assess such a definition, since the answer lies within.  That is, what is considered to be “American” lies within each one of us on a subconscious level; we grasp it but cannot fully explain it.  The notion of “American” being a subjective quality also pertains to the topic of immigration.  Immigration has made America a literal melting pot, where numerous cultures are diffused into one.  This idea of a mixture means that each American may not be individually representative of all of American culture, but rather one part of the body, one ingredient in the pot.  One cannot merely describe an archetypal American because there really isn't one.  Perhaps “American” isn't what a person is but rather what a person belongs to, a melting pot.  Part of being American is to not be American, but rather to be something else that is somehow connected to America.  In fact, many immigrants were intent on not becoming American, but simply wanted to be in America.  Nonetheless, these people became American, and their children embraced American culture even more than they did.  Is being in America synonymous with being American?  Perhaps the future holds the answer; to quote The Melting Pot, “the real American has not yet arrived.  He is only in the Crucible…he will be the fusion of all races.”