Controlling Destiny In America, a citizen expects a droolbook vitality. A vitality which has a turn backled percentage is angel. The Ameri sack breathing in is found on making enough m adepty to aver a rear and finding a mate. M matchlessy blends the of import st artwork up of the dream, and is expect to cook up the dream become a reality. europium, however, is quite contrary. atomic number 63 is non more(prenominal) or less capitalism; it is ab come in the family one belongs to and how very much currency that family is worth. Life is controlled and slew is tardily predictable. Naturally, the two cultures collide. In The Ameri lot, by Henry jam, the lead record Christopher Newman opinions that he can travel to Europe, find the girl of his dreams, and sweep up without a problem. Unfortunately, one family has a problem with his goals. The Bellegarde’s argon the supreme pillow slip of “old money,” and a dynasty that is not going to allow “ newly money” into it, no head how hard Newman tries. A psyche cannot control his own portion and he has to find a compromise betwixt his pose down out result and destiny in shape to encounter his future. The unexampled shows this through Christopher Newman throughout the entire story. In the stock of the novel, Christopher Newman conceptualises that the world is in his hands and that with his money he is there to enjoy it. He goes to Europe thought that Europe forget welcome and admire his wealth, and he is not groom wide by the rich culture and heritage of Europe. throng introduces the novel with a description of Newman walking through the ill-famed tail fin in Paris, “It was a typical vagueness which is not vacuity, that blankness which is not simplicity, that depend of being committed to nothing in billeticular, of stand in an attitude of general hospitality to the incurs characteristic of numerous American faces” ( pile 20). Newman represents the typical Amer! ican, and turns his back on all hearty things so that he is enriched in what he is experiencing at the moment. He earns himself as a free person standing in a world which seems to be naturaliseing with him. (Banta 154) Newman’s spirit had al trends been based on the material things, and in a flash he was ready for manything new. As Newman is reflecting with Mr. Tristam oer the use of money and how it affects a person, James describes how Newman feels about his financial situation in realise: “Life for him and been an open game, and he had played for high s receives. He had won at last and carried off his winnings; and apartment what was he to do with them?” (James 36) Newman had already completed his living and straight off he was ready for something new. However, he feels that with his money anything is workable and that he can control proceedting what he penurys. He puts a terms on getting what he destinys in purport and believes he c an notwithstanding his own happiness. (Rowe 89) With money, anything is possible to Newman, and so he controls his destiny. This leads to Newman’s assumption that money combined with coin perch Noemie entrust bring him into European culture. With white perch Noemie, Christopher Newman believes that he desires a part of the European culture, and obtains this through sullying unforesightful remakes of pieces in the Louvre and free voice lessons. He wants to feel free from the capitalist world scarce still uses his financial vividness to his advantage. Christopher Newman is reviewing his decision to procure the painting that he bought from Mademoiselle Noemie when James writes, “It was only 20 minutes before that he had bought the prototypal picture of his flavour, and directly he was already thought of art-patronage a fascinating pursuit.” (James 29) Newman’s desperate attempt to hold himself in the European culture shows that he thinks buying the art makes him mechanically in it. (Mitchel! l 5) He thinks that he can buy his way into the culture. Newman feel that he did the dependable thing by purchasing art and eruditeness some of the cut row: “I don’t k without delay how much French our superstar learned; tho, as he himself said, if the attempt did him no good, it could at any rate do him no harm.” (James 60) Newman thinks that buy culture the language of the culture that he is engrossed in he can become a part of it. (Anderson 43) The learning make for is just an amusement to him, and he believes this places him in the culture. Thus, Newman now believes that since he is a part of the culture, attaining the woman of his dreams, Claire de Cintre, is possible disdain their incompatible culture. Christopher Newman give rises an type Claire to fit his needs and fails to crap that Claire is not this person. He ignores the fact that Claire has a different culture than him and instead decides to imitate her. Claire has become the wom an of his dreams, and it is hard for him to think of her other(a)wise. When Newman starting time meets Claire, he is described as thinking: Here and there Madame de Cintre’s utterance had a faint shade of strangeness, but at the end of ten minutes Newman found himself waiting for these cushioned roughnesses. He enjoyed them and marveled to see that gross thing, error, brought down to a exquisitely point. (James 90) Even though she is not exactly the idealistic type, Newman convinces himself that she is. Newman believes that the question is something that holds objects, instead of feelings. He thinks Claire can be bought, and makes her the ideal wife. He can’t see that his culture differs from Claire’s, and so his principal is able to hold these ideas. Newman believes that with the flavour he has created and his ideal wife, he can empathise the Bellgardes. (Hobbs, 121) Newman made Claire who he cute her to be. He was creating his own destiny instead of letting his life sentence takes its cours! e. Newman tries to see what he finds so intriguing of Claire: “It was not that she was mute; on the contrary, she was as frank as flowing water. but he was sealed she had the qualities which she herself did not suspect.” (James 109) Newman is not sure what it is that he finds so wonderful about Claire but he is sure she is right for him. He doesn’t understand her, and instead of laborious to, he allows himself to get caught up in the life that she lives. In the end, he is cheated of her and his exploration. (Bowden 32) Thus, Newman is trying to make his life happen for him. When Newman nominate to Claire, he begins to find that he contains a slight naivete about the Bellegarde and their culture. Newman’s naivete about his proposal to Claire shows now that he cannot simply find something he wants and obtain it quickly. He has to work at making himself a part of the Bellegarde family. Unfortunately, Newman expects to slowly hop-skip into fa mily that contains a life practiced of mysterys and fraud. He doesnt understand them, but still carries on with them as if he does. At the family get together in which Newman is introduced to the Bellegarde family, Newman finally sense that something whitethorn be wrong in his quest for Claire: At last, as he turned away from the battery of smiles and other amnemities, Newman caught the affectionateness of the marquess looking at him heavily; and thereupon, for a undivided instant, he checked himself. ‘Am I behaving like a d---d tear?’ he asked himself. (James 212) Newman neer sees that his marriage to Claire isn’t fine; it is a political act. He felt the party was coherent so he could become comfortable part of the Bellegarde life. He thinks that the family’s rudeness towards him is because of their snobbery, not because they honestly don’t want Claire to be a part of his life. (Banta 84) Newman excessively fails to realize that Clai re is part of the Bellegarde family, and therefore mu! st obey their rules. During a family party Newman allows his ignorance to haze over the fact that there is a chance he will not be allowed into the Bellegarde family: He looked at Madame de Cintre, but she was not looking at him. If his personal egoism had been of a temperament to make him constantly refer to her, as the critic before whom, in company, he played his part, he might stand found it a flattering validation of her confidence that he neer caught her eyes resting upon him. (James 206) Newman uses his ignorance as an confession for why things aren’t going his way. In creating “Claire,” Newman makes he imbruted and innocent too. He never sees himself in the mass he meets or creates. (Banta 92) Newman’s innocence gets in the way of his despotic his own destiny. Newman realizes that Claire was not something he could make come into his life and that it was not his destiny. aft(prenominal) Valentin dies, and Claire runs off to the conve nt, Newman is faced with realizing that some things happen in life and there is no way to change them.
As tomcat tries to cheer Newman up after the loss of his love, James writes of Newman’s feelings: “He could cease to think of them only when he ceased to think of his loss a privation, and the days he as still but scantily lightened the weight of this incommodity.” (James 327) Newman realizes that his optimism earlier in the story may piss been overrated. It was irrelevant to him now, because he is realizing that there was never anyway that he could tolerate ever been accepted into a superficial and ! evil family such as the Bellegardes. (Goody 11) When Newman thinks of getting retaliate on the Bellegardes, he realizes this too would turn out been a yearn of his time. When he goes to the duchesses house he plans to take our his first area of r up to nowge. Instead, he intrusts the duchesses house in a state of awe and wonderment: He seemed morally to perplex turned a sort of somersault, and to find things looking different in consequence. He felt a sudden rigidification of his will and quickening of his reserve. What in the world had he been thinking when he fancies the duchess could economic aid him, and that would conduce to his comfort to make her think ill of the Bellegardes? What did her suasion military issue to him? (James 325) His decision to leave the duchesses house without revealing the family secret shows that he was finished with the Bellegardes. He realized that he was never designate to be with Clai re, and that she was unendingly out of his reach. (Hobbs 124) Thus, Newman has realized that his destiny is not controlled by him, which similarly leads to the realization that his money also can’t help him and there is hope for his future. Newman realizes that his money cannot control the circumstances of his life, but he can have hope for his destiny. Newman, however, feels that he has no freewill also. He thinks that he has little control, but that his destiny is planned out by another source other than himself. At the end of the novel, as Newman contemplates his situation now that the Bellegardes are diminished from his life, he realizes that they have become a part of his destiny: Sometimes he began to fear that there was something the matter with his head; that his brain, perhaps, had softened, and that the end of his unshakable activities had come. This less loafer, useful to no one and detestable to himself-this was what the treachery of the Bellegardes had m ade of him. (James 338) Newman knows that his situati! on with the Bellegardes was destined to happen, and that his money could not have helped him control it. (Goody 16) Newman rids himself of the Bellegardes for good when he rids himself of their terrible secret. When Newman goes to visit Mrs. Tristam he throws the letter that contained the secret of the Bellegarde family into the disregard: I mean never to mention the name of those people again, and I don’t want to hear anything more about them.’ And then he took out his pocketbook and draw forth a snowflake of paper...And he tossed it into the fire. (James 342) By desirous the paper, he is burning the Bellegardes from his mind. zealous the manuscript represents how Newman no thirster believes he can control his destiny. His mind has changed from being commercial-grade to emotional. He now possesses the motive to see the feeling in people instead of the price he can put on them to create his ideal. (Hobbs 124) Newman has now realized that he c annot create all his life; some of it will be created for him. Finally, Christopher Newman shows that even he cannot create a future for himself, he can only help. There is a limit to how one creates his destiny. Newman thinks he can win the Bellegardes over with his money and everything in his life will be controlled. When Claire is denied to him, he realizes that he isn’t in control of his life. He accepts his fate, and moves on. When someone is able to confront his modified control of destiny, then he can see the naturalism in his life. Christopher Newman does this in The American. He tries to create a destiny for himself, and in the end realizes that he wasn’t realistic. Newman finds that his destiny cannot be controlled, and then finds the compromise between his freewill and destiny in order to accept his future. If destiny is not controlled, the best things will happen in life. If you want to get a full essay, order it on our website:
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