one thing that we can decide is a uniquely american trait is the search for an identity or sense of self. america is in the grand scheme of things a young country. it is also unique among nations in so much as it is one of the few nations that chose to make itself exist. america declares itself loudly as the land of the free and this ideal bleeds into the writing of the country.
What americans seem to wish more then anything else is to have no set place in their world. To know that their lives can follow fluid and ever changing paths to new discoveries. Even when they are confident that they have found a settled place and identity it seems that anything can threaten that idyll. John Cheever embraces both of these concepts in his short stories . In "goodbye my brother" the Pommeroy family cling on to the crumbling beach house for the sake of nostalgia. When the pariah lawrence attempts to wake them up to harsh reality he ends up being violently assaulted for his attempts to shake them from their delusions. In "the common day" the gardener Nils defies his supposed role as a servant by refusing Mrs garrison's orders and pours out his long list of built up grievances against her to her face. In the enormous radio the past identity of Irene Wescott haunts the respectable housewife role she now assumes. While in "o city of broken dreams" the Malloy's break away from the honest small town life they had lived in the hopes of being part of the glamour of broadways elite but instead find that those that promise much riches are desperately poor themselves. In all of these stories one's identity is transient and uncertain and you may either fight to resist this fact or swim into the tide of uncertainty
in the case of English novels the issue of where one's place is is much more black and white. we have had thousands of years to establish a clear class system that define's ones place. in Oliver twist Oliver is not escaping from poverty to become a wealthy man. he is merely reclaiming what was rightfully his to begin with. his restoration to wealth redresses a temporal balnce in the well established class system. in the case of huckleberry finn he comes into wealth but is free to reject the trappings that wealth brings. he rejects what he considers civilization for a life of carefree adventure as he feels that is where he belongs. and that i would say is what makes a novel uniquely american. the notion of if not equality then freedom. freedom to carve out ones own destiny as it is never set in stone. to beat on boats against the current borne back ceaselessly into the past
I think what you've identified to be uniquely American is right, they are hesistant against anything that threatens their ideals. Great post :)
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