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Ellen Goodman captures the essence of family values in her piece “No Room for Scrooges this Thanksgiving.” As a journalist and a columnist, the author employs a style that appears to be a paradox to bring out the characteristics of the American nation. She uses various comparisons and real life situations to bring out the meaning of thanksgiving. One may argue that the need to create a more cohesive American nation inspired the title of Goodman’s piece (Goodman 10).
The seeming individualism in the American society is the bond of unity that keeps it strong. Goodman observes that American values not only emphasize individual freedoms and rights (Tipton and Witte Jr. 47) but also unite people. She seems to assert that the same values do not contemplate a situation where one should work in isolation but with others as one American family.
To begin with, the author observes that thanksgiving has a way of bringing various families together. She notes that although some American families could be living separately, thanksgiving usually bridges them together. Such is a gap occasioned by circumstances like occupation and passions. She points out that although everyone may go out of the family unit to satisfy their passions, Thanksgiving Day “arrests” the concept of “I” and replaces it with its plural form. Goodman offers that such is the time when a common meal brings together various individuals to catch up with one another. This, she notes, is usually out of their volition (Goodman 10).
The author also observes that as individuals, American family will come together and each will contribute to the benefit of each. For instance, Goodman (10) points out that they play complementary roles such as having fun together, cooking for others, and revisiting memories of the past. One could argue that the author implies that the fact that American families may seem to be far apart, they are actually united by strong bonds. Probably it is the desire to pursue various dreams that render them apart. They seem to go apart in the recognition that they are different and that everyone is responsible for shaping his/her own destiny.
In what appears to be a paradox of the whole piece, the author sheds more light on the dilemma of the individualism and American family values. She clarifies that the “I” and the “we” in various ironical situations come down to a basic argument that the two are complementary. For example, she appears to assert that people should balance how they carry themselves as individuals and as a group (Tipton and Witte Jr. 112).
This, it appears, is something that they should do with caution so that individualism does not render the need to align with others as one difficult. A balance between the heavy load of “we” and the apparent self-centeredness of the “I” is indeed the foundation of America’s unity. Through such a prism, one may observe that everyone is always welcome into a family. The individualism is itself the criteria for belonging.
In conclusion, one may observe that the seeming individualism in the American family is the bond that keeps it strong. This is because the society recognizes the complex nature of various individuals and accepts them the way they are. In return, accepted and appreciated individuals also do so to others in a chain of give and take (Goodman, 10). The product is a society where families foster strong bonds and offer refuge for its members. Thanksgiving offers the opportunity to cultivate and nurture a complementary “I” and “we.”
Works Cited
Goodman, Ellen. Paper Trail: Common Sense in Uncommon Times. New York: Simon and Schuste, 2007. Print.
Goodman, Ellen. “No Room for Scrooges this Thanksgiving”. The Free Lance Star. 1985. Web.
Tipton, Steven M., and John Witte Jr. Family Transformed: Religion, Values, and Society in American Life. Washington D.C.: Georgetown University Press, 2005. Print.
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