The main idea of “Paradoxes of American Individualism” is the individualism of Americans and the contradiction in them. When it comes to group activities or opinions, although Americans are seen as more individualistic than people in the rest of the world, they tend to conform to others. In individualism, if someone doesn’t fulfill the “American Dream,” it’s on them rather than society. However, it seems that Americans will follow the law more and look down on those that don’t, or don’t follow society’s conformities. This shows that we are not nearly as individualistic as we seem, and that the actions of the group affect us greatly.

I enjoyed the Langston Hughes poem, “Let America be America again.” Here, he talks about how the American Dream doesn’t exactly apply to everyone, depending on one’s race and sexuality. The American Dream creates a false sense of equality, when he says “There’s never been equality for me, Nor freedom in this “Homeland of the Free.”” The model of individualism is that anyone can achieve the American Dream on their own. However, the fine print here is that one must fit into a very specific demographic, being straight and white. The American Dream is advertised as accessible to everyone, but it truly isn’t.

In his poem, Walt Whitman is talking to the human race about the “American Citizen.” Here, he talks about how great they are and how the US is the center of equality and opportunity in the world. This is opposite from Hughes’s poem, as Whitman doesn’t mention the problem with the American Dream. It only speaks for straight white men, as they have the most opportunity in America, and it leaves out virtually everyone else, depending on color, creed, race, gender, and sexuality. People that fall into these categories don’t have the same privileges and opportunites.