Crevecour Essay

Michel-Guillaume-Jean de Crèvecoeur writes and records his opinions of his attitude toward Europeans and Americans in his non-fiction passage, “Letters from an American Farmer”. (1782) Crèvecoeur uses his choice of diction to emphasize the opportunities and new life the Americans have. He also uses symbolism also express his views on the Americas’ past lives in Europe. Crèvecoeur mainly expresses his thoughts of how the American’s lives in Europe were unfair and brutal. Comprehensively, Crèvecoeur compares the terrible living conditions and suffering the Americans had to endure in Europe. “Can a wretch who wanders about, who works and starves, whose life is a continual scene of sore affliction or pinching; can that man call Europe or any other kingdom his country?” (Lines 7-11) In this passage, Crèvecoeur clearly states that Europe couldn’t be home because the conditions were terrible. “A country that had no bread for him, whose fields procured him no harvest, who met with nothing but the frowns of the rich, the severity of the laws, with jails and punishments; who owned not a single foot of extensive surface of this planet?” (Lines 12-17) Clearly, Crèvecoeur makes obvious that England was not suitable and fair. In this quote, Crèvecoeur’s diction is revealed with the use of words such and “frowns” and “harvest” and also the clear examples of struggling times. Included in his passage, Crèvecoeur also uses a comparison or symbolizes the Americans’ past life in Europe to show his thoughts on their new life. “…in Europe they were as so many useless plants, wanting vegetative mold and refreshing showers; they withered, and were mowed down by want, hunger, and war…” (Lines 22-26) Crèvecoeur compares the Americans’ previous life in Europe to a withering plant. He uses words such as “withered and “mowed” to force the reader to imagine their poor life and how helpless they were; he uses diction to create emotion. “…but now by the power of transplantation, like