Comparative Studies

English : Comparative Studies

In these two texts  "Call me Arnold" and "God Bless America", there are two ways to see what America is representing for two different people within two differents lives.

In "Call me Arnold", Arnold is the man who wants to chase his dream in the land of milk and honey , and in "God Bless America", Nicola's father went in America because he was thinking he could be rich, while that was the opposite of the reality.

To every immigrants, America was the promise land where hard work was rewarded with gold, compare to Greece where civil war and poverty was daily.

Instead of that reward, he had two work sixteen hours a day, moreover he had two jobs, he should have become rich, but he was just a little peddler, disdained by the rich Americans yankees. As far as his return to home was expected, he was adulated, and workshipped by his village, they were overjoyed. He made his family the wealthiest in Lia with just a modest income. Although he was a poor peddler earning little money he nevertheless was richer contrary than if he stayed in Greece. He earned his living in America far away from the ethicos of greeks and the village's people morality where no lapses was permitted. However he was deeply believed that Americans are nice and open-minded people. Even though in America he had a bachelor life, fallen women, and gambling even if he has no relative and answer to in the USA , he had to send money to his family in Greece . Inspite of the scorn from rich Americans, he kept believing America was a land of opportunities for him.

To my mind, "Call me arnold" is the gold side of the coin and "God bless America" is the seamy side. In the one hand, you have a land of abundance where all is possible with hard work and you could become rich. On the other hand, you have a point of view from a poor immigrant who has worked very hard and became rich only in his country. It's the law of the fittest.

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