Assignment 2

“In other words most people never challenge their own superficial first impressions and are content with getting by on that. This second reaction he regards as clearly better than aggression or hostility, and argues that under certain conditions amusement can be constructive.” “What is America?” in the book What I Saw in America, by British writer G.K. Chesterton (1874-1936)

My interpretation of what the author is saying is that Americans use superficial stereotypes to a lot of times create a first impression of an individual. This thinking mechanism makes it easier for people to establish a safe opinion that is somewhat generally accepted. He continues to elaborate about people emotions and that using stereotypes makes people feel like they are right and it is sufficient for people to be self-confident. Furthermore, he explains that this type of thinking mechanism can be “constructive” because “it is better than aggression or hostility”.  

I believe the main focus of the passage can be explained by a personal example from our modern day society. Initially when I first moved to New York City at a young age, I became aware of the mass diversity in the city. As I familiarized myself with the residents of the city, I learned of how people perceive each other by stereotypes. Residents are strongly opinionated and most of the time are satisfied with these labels as form of describing someone in a factual manner.  Also these labels can be a form of breaking the ice and it “creates conditions of amusement that can be constructive” as Chesterton said.

I chose this quote because I was fascinated by how people’s ways thinking now are somewhat similar to Chesterton times. This quote relates to the class because I think our politicians use “superficial first impressions” and are “content with getting by with that”.