The American Character

Trying to define "the American character" is like trying to describe water. The American has been shaped by years of war, mistakes, immigrant experience, and national culture. As America grows ever more diverse, the question of what it means to be an American yields an increasingly complicated answer. How do Americans really see themselves today, and how does the world see Americans? Do we have a culture that is based on well accepted American values, or is our culture now a battleground among competing and opposing ideologies and subcultures? To what degree is “mass media” America the real America? And although it seems difficult to define the American, many still try to investigate what it means to be American. The question of American identity is partly a question of character. In many instances an American can be described as greedy, conservatives and fearful. In several occasions, an American has been described as greedy. The American is well known for being power hungry and materialistic. Just look at the history of the past. And albeit, the American character is an all-out complicated definition, sometimes it is as transparent as anything. Since the beginning of time, Americans have always wanted to be the best at anything. Americans want power, fame and money. Whatever they must do to flourish and flourish richly, they will do. In having power, an American will be ruthless, because they feel they have to. It is what society has shown over time. They keep their faith in God, but sometimes (Americans) lose that faith when the prayers of hardship don’t happen. Even though it is known it should not be done , sometimes it just gets too hard. In example, there are many literary work proving this, like "The life you save may be your own" by Flannery O'Conner. The whole point if the character's journey is to find his meaning for life, yet when he finds it he rejects the opportunity for a car. In the story this man, Shiftlet, does whatever it takes