The American Cain: an alternative national archetype

339 Pages·2008·0.98 MB·English

by  Brett Wiley

THE AMERICAN CAIN: AN ALTERNATIVE NATIONAL ARCHETYPE
by
W BRETT WILEY
(Under the Direction of James Nagel)
ABSTRACT
There is a national archetype based on Cain, the son of the Biblical Adam. The figure,
the offspring of R. W. B. Lewis’s American Adam, appears when a character exhibits specific
Cainian traits and reenacts his life experiences, most notably the murder of a double, either in
pursuit of the American Dream or as a result of a failure to attain the opportunity suggested by
the national ideology. There are a number of examples of the archetype, in particular, Frank
Norris’s McTeague, Caroline Gordon’s Rion Outlaw, and John Steinbeck’s Caleb Trask. The
evidence of a second national archetype is a significant addition to the study of American
literature, providing a necessary addendum to Lewis’s seminal work, The American Adam. The
American Cain, who serves as a representative of the consistent conflict in the country that can
often turn violent, provides perspective on the overt hope and idealism of the figure Lewis
identified in the early writings of American authors and reveals the inherent issues with the
dream to which he corresponds.
INDEX WORDS: American Cain, American Adam, American literary archetypes, American
Dream, Frank Norris, McTeague, Caroline Gordon, Green Centuries,
Penhally, John Steinbeck, East of Eden, The American Adam, Cain, Abel
THE AMERICAN CAIN: AN ALTERNATIVE NATIONAL ARCHETYPE
by
W BRETT WILEY
B.A., Berry College, 1998
M.A., The University of Georgia, 2002
A Dissertation Submitted to the Graduate Faculty of The University of Georgia in Partial
Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree
DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY
ATHENS, GEORGIA
2008
© 2008
W Brett Wiley
All Rights Reserved
THE AMERICAN CAIN: AN ALTERNATIVE NATIONAL ARCHETYPE
by
W BRETT WILEY
Major Professor: James Nagel
Committee: Douglas Anderson
James Kibler
Electronic Version Approved:
Maureen Grasso
Dean of the Graduate School
The University of Georgia
August 2008
iv
DEDICATION
For Elizabeth and Olivia
v
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
My sincere thanks to Dr. James Nagel, Dr. James Kibler, Dr. Douglas Anderson, and
Professor Jere Morehead who provided support, encouragement, and advice during my graduate
studies.
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TABLE OF CONTENTS
Page
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS........................................................................................................ v
CHAPTER
1 The Son of the American Adam ............................................................................... 1
2 McTeague: The Dentist and the American Dream................................................... 77
3 Green Centuries: Progress, Tradition, and the American Cain............................... 128
4 East of Eden: Paradox and the American Cain...................................................... 199
5 The Continued Relevance of the American Cain................................................... 275
REFERENCES...................................................................................................................... 323
CHAPTER 1
THE SON OF THE AMERICAN ADAM
“Few literatures can compare with America’s for sustained analysis of national character, and for
regular discussion of alternative societies. . . . Through the phenomena of independence,
republicanism and the melting-pot, the Old/New polarity became, and remains, a social and
literary fixation. There was, of course, no single New World, no single Old: reactions and
expectations varied from individual to individual, from one national to another. But the sense of
a fresh start of gigantic potential and proportions, the chance to create the world over again, an
Eden without a Fall, without an Eve, was common to everyone.”1
“Generally, what emerges from the antislavery moment, the Civil War, and the inequities of
Reconstruction is the problem of democracy in a nation whose destiny was no longer so clearly
manifest.”2
“The [Cain-Abel] myth itself . . . is a foundation myth[,] and the emergence of . . . Cain presents
the character best suited to lead his time into a new order of being.”3
I. A New American Hero
From its beginnings, America has been characterized as a place of opportunity and freedom
2
for all those who seek a new start, whether they are natural citizens or immigrants arriving in the
United States for the first time. Many of the earliest arrivals viewed their journey to the “New
World” in Biblical terms, uniting the Genesis account with their trip to the land of promise and
potential. As a letter writer in the anonymously scribed Mourt’s Relation declares, the country
where the separatists landed on that first journey to what was to become Plymouth was “one the
most pleasant, most healthful, and most fruitful parts of the world.” It was as Scott Donaldson
and Ann Massa articulate, “in the passage across the Atlantic, [the pilgrims] believed themselves
transformed, lifted by God out of history and into a new Eden.”4 Richard Slotkin echoes these
comments, arguing that the new inhabitants not only believed they were in a second “Garden”
but further accepted the idea that “the New World was . . . an Eden from which the serpent and
forbidden trees had been thoughtfully excluded.”5 David Noble suggests that those early ideals
created a pervasive belief that anything was possible for the citizens of the country, a perspective
that remained ubiquitous as time passed:
The soaring faith of the American romantic affirmed the ability of the average
citizen to rise above his personal weakness and the traditions and institutions of
his European ancestors because, in the United States, every individual was in
close contact with nature; the West was a limitless national reservoir of spiritual
strength.6
A seemingly uncorrupted “nature” offered the original settlers the chance for a new beginning;
the frontier, which appeared to stretch infinitely to the West, only expanded those initial beliefs.
The “soaring faith” of the citizenry increased the possibility that a re-creation of Eden could be
achieved, inhabited by Adams and Eves seeking a better life.
The attitude first perpetuated by William Bradford and others in early texts, and then
3
described by Donaldson, Slotkin, and Noble, was adopted by many of the first arrivals to the
land. No matter their original intentions, whether for religious liberty, economic opportunity, or
just a new beginning, the first immigrants risked death, disappointment, and financial ruin for the
chance to improve their situation in that second Eden. Their efforts and idealism produced a
shared belief, the genesis of the American Dream, that setting foot on new soil would free them
from the hardships they left behind and would offer them a better, more prosperous life. As
William Bradford writes in Of Plimouth Plantation, the “New World” promised “vast and
unpeopled countries” that were “fruitful and fit for habitation,” a welcomed replacement for the
persecution the pilgrims faced in England and the temptations and “great licentiousness” they
found in Holland.7 In some cases, the experiment worked to great success. Despite considerable
obstacles and some questionable methods, communities, towns, and eventually a nation grew out
of these first ventures, and roots were laid for commercial, political, and societal development.
Those who journeyed across the ocean for the right to practice their beliefs in their own way
found the space to do just that. Others who sought business opportunities discovered a viable
location in which to pursue such ends. Those who merely wanted to have a fresh start met that
desire amidst the burgeoning society. Settlements were established, commerce flourished, and
citizens reveled in freedom as they pursued their dreams in a growing country. For those willing
to take the chance, the developing states provided space to pursue individual desires; it was, in
fact, a new Eden of sorts.
The ideals of future opportunity and freedom from the past pervaded the developing land;
as a result, they came to be represented by an archetype that, according to R. W. B. Lewis, was
defined in the early writings of the nation. In 1955, he published what was to become a seminal
investigation of early American writing, arguing that a national icon did exist that embodied such