Keywords
American literature, American authors, English classes, American spirit
Submission Type
Research
Preview
In 1822, the American actor, poet, and playwright John Howard Payne wrote a song called “Home! Sweet Home!” It became an instant hit, and its refrain, “[b]e it ever so humble, there's no place like home,” has become etched in our cultural memory. The author L. Frank Baum echoed this sentiment with a twist at the end of his novel The Wonderful Wizard of Oz. Most people are familiar with Dorothy’s chant as she clicks the heels of her ruby slippers together in the 1939 film, but Baum’s literary version is even more powerful. "No matter how dreary and gray our homes are, we people of flesh and blood would rather live there than in any other country, be it ever so beautiful. There is no place like home." America was colonized in part by displaced groups of people looking for a place to call home. The push against the frontier that led Americans from one shore to the other was also a search for home. It is no wonder, then, that home plays a key role in American Literature.
Recommended Citation
Robertson, Shauna
(2010)
"At Home with American Literature,"
The Utah English Journal: Vol. 38, Article 3.
Available at:
https://scholarsarchive.byu.edu/uej/vol38/iss1/3