next to of course god america i

#11



This piece of poetry was definitely my favorite our of this section. I have always believed that if people don't truly think about what they are saying when they say it, they don't really mean it. The words we all utter in songs about our country or even the pledge to our country are some of the most beautiful and meaningful words we will ever utter. Even though they are extremely important and people die for these words, I would have to say that most Americans just recite these words like "The Night Before Christmas" poem. I would venture to say that most people don't think about it, they just say it. This is a satirical poem because it is trying to change the way people view these forms of honor to our country, the land of the free. There is no capitalization in the quote from the man speaking. I believe this represents the lack of respect that we give our country when saying the pledge. Also, there is almost no punctuation which represents the speed that we utter these songs and the pledge. We go so fast sometimes that we are saying words just to say them.

America gets the Cold Shoulder

" Do you know the American ambassador?" - Montoya
" Everybody knows the American ambassador." - Jake
"I've just had a message from them at the Grand Hotel that they want Pedro Romero and Marcial Lalanda to come over for coffee to-night after dinner." - Montoya
"Don't give Romero the message," I said. - Jake
"You think so?" - Montoya
"Absolutely." - Jake (pg. 175)

Here Jake, who is an American himself, tells Montoya to keep this message given to him by the American ambassador. Jake just thinks that foreigners will get in the way of Romero's career. If Hemingway just wanted to emphasize that any "foreigners" would corrupt Romero, he could've picked any country. He chose America. Ernest was raised in America, so I am not sure why he used this example. Hemingway just practically threw his home country under a bus.

Hemingway must have not really enjoyed his days in America or maybe he was just trying to make a point. I think that even today America is looked down upon. It's the land of the free where people can do whatever they want whenever they want. This all sounds wonderful, but I truly think that our country is going downhill. People have begun to put more emphasis on material items and money than what is really important in life. The whole "family aspect" is being lost. When people acquire more money, families seem to get spread apart. Even though this part of the book makes America look bad, I probably would have told Montoya the same thing.