Introduction
The poem “America” by Tony Hoagland is an example of a verse that represents the topics of conformity and rebellion. The author emphasizes the connections between economic issues and conformity, showing that people do not see their natural desires and inclinations because they are busy consuming products. In the beginning, the narrator in the discussed poem opposes people who are rebellious towards the consumerist culture and feel its pressure. He changes his point of view after reflecting on this topic. Life-long attempts to improve social and economic conditions to achieve success led to the loss of meaning in life that is not connected with gaining money. The narrator is concerned with social and economic inequality that people do not see because they are concentrated on the needs imposed on them by the consumerist culture. In the poem “America,” Tony Hoagland shows emphasizes the connection between conformity and consumerist culture that makes people work and spend money without understanding their real desires.
Discussion
The narrator of the discussed poem is judgmental at the beginning of the text. He disagrees with the idea expressed by a young student that consumerist culture deprives him of the opportunities to express himself and to understand his true desires. The narrator describes his student as the one “with blue hair and a tongue stud,” which is a sign of the protest against the way the average citizen should look (Hoagland 1). This student calls the United States the “maximum-security prison,” explaining it with the idea that people cannot even distinguish reality from the commercials (Hoagland 1). These lines mean that mass culture significantly influences the human mind and self-perception because it imposes the views on the appropriate way of living on them. The commercials show people how to live, what things make them happy, where to eat, and which musical movies they should enjoy. People have no opportunity to avoid these images of the successful American lifestyle that every individual should follow to be a part of society. These details make people feel that they are put into prison, even though their needs are satisfied.
At the same time, the narrator understands that the image of the rebel against the consumerist society the student has is also the conformist option people can choose. The mass culture also imposes the main attributes of belonging to the counter-culture and rebellion against consumerism. For instance, the student drives to the local mall on Isuzy, listening to rap music, and these elements are also quite typical for the youth (Hoagland 1). This situation makes the narrator feel that he “suffocated in the folds of the thick satin quilt of American” that captured him (Hoagland 1). The narrator is an adult man, and he understands the price of the actual rebellion against the consumerist culture. The attributes, including blue hair and pierced ears, do not convince him because he knows that people’s true desires are substituted by the needs the economy imposes on them.
Economics and providing for his needs is the central concern of the narrator in “America.” They cannot quit their job because they will not have money to support themselves, but the surrounding cultural discourse imposes the image of a decent life on them. At the same time, the narrator sees that not all people can earn enough money to buy the things critical to their existence. His focus on his profit and need to support his economic position make him disregard the existing inequality. This idea is reflected in the following lines: “When each day you watch rivers of bright merchandise run past you/ And you are floating in your pleasure boat upon this river/ Even while others are drowning underneath you/ And you see their faces twisting in the surface of the waters” (Hoagland 2). These lines show that the consumerist culture gives more ideas concerning the goods average Americans should have, which makes them continue working more. Without these images from the commercials that show the merchandise, individuals might not even know they need to buy something. It is especially striking when this constant pursuit of consumer goods as opposed to living in poverty.
Therefore, people prefer to disregard social and economic inequality and focus on their attempts to maximize their success and survive. The narrator says: “And yet it seems to be your hand/ Which turns the volume higher” (Hoagland 2). In other words, people do not want to think about serious questions, including inequality and injustice in society, when some individuals live in prosperity while others starve. The mass culture provides them with the convenient option of increasing the volume of commercials that impose new superficial desires on people instead of thinking about complicated topics. It allows assuming that the narrator is critical concerning the attitude to work and consumerism because, in this case, the amount of work is inadequate.
The dream about the narrator’s father is the symbolic representation of the poem’s main idea. The narrator sees in the dream that he stabbed his father, but he did not have blood: “It was not blood but money/ That gushed out of him… Spilling from his wounds” (Hoagland 1). After a while, his father thanked the narrator for making him free from money because it did not allow him to breathe (Hoagland 1). It is possible to illustrate this claim with the following lines: “He gasped ‘Thank god ‘those Ben Franklins were/ Clogging up my heart / And so I perish happily,/ Freed from that which kept me from my liberty” (Hoagland 2). This symbolic scene represents the attitude of the narrator’s constant pursuit of economic success. His father dedicated his life to earning money to support his economic and social status, and the need to pursue consumerist desires made him conform to this situation. Though he is not accessible in his actions and desires, the narrator understands it.
The narrator’s views on the role of work in human life can be described as Marxist because he refers to this philosopher in the text. In addition, the narrator talks about the severe economic and social inequality that most people tend to disregard. He is especially critical of consumerism which creates artificial privileges for social classes. The main point is that most individuals might not think they need to consume certain goods and services if they do not see it in mass culture and commercials. Therefore, economic prosperity is connected with the abundance of goods the person can buy, but at the same time, the individual loses their desires and lives only to work and consume.
Conclusion
The narrator in the poem “America” understands why people conform to the economic pressures of the consumerist society and the causes of their rebellion. The need to provide for own living is the fundamental reason that makes people work, but the consumerist culture pressures these individuals’ consciousness. They agree to work more to buy the things they do not need because the mass culture imposes these attributes of economic success on them. At the same time, the constant change of desires and the need to work without having sufficient rest makes people forget about such social problems as inequality and poverty. While some individuals consume the products they do not need, others starve.
Work Cited
Hoagland, Tony. “America.” Poetry Foundation, 2003. [PDF document]. Retrieved from Poetry Foundation.