Supernatural in American Fiction Essay

Fear is one of the strongest emotions for every human being; like love or hate it can distort our mind, causing us to not think or act logically in different circumstances.

The definition of fear is an unpleasant emotion resulting in being afraid of someone or something that is a dangerous threat. However, fear can come in many forms and affect people in several different ways. Fear is evident in all areas of life. Everyone experiences fear whether the outcome is positive or negative. Fear is no doubt inevitable. For example,whenever you have to present a speech, you may fear ridicule or judgement. Or when you are walking to your car late at night by yourself, you fear many dangerous situations that can happen. According to Mary C. Lamia in “The Complexity of Fear” in Psychology Today, fear in terms of psychology is described as the fear of the unknown, fear of death, and catastrophic fear. Mary C. Lamia has found

Fear is a common emotion that humans feel when something that they don’t understand occurs.

People believe that there are more immigrants coming to the United States now than has ever been the case before. Many also think that the majority if immigrants are in the country illegally but this is not the case. In the Messner article (2012), it is stated that two-thirds of the immigrants are in the United States legally while many of the other third came to the country on legal visas but overstayed their visas (page 2). The Pakenham article (2004) agrees with this assertion (page 1). Americans tend to overestimate the number of immigrants who are here illegally; often the motivating factor for

The American government felt threatened by the Ghost Dance and the prophecies that the Indians

They feel as if there is “a real threat of cultural invasion”5 from the American culture.

No matter what I tried, I could never truly have an objective mindset if I continued defining the term American as I was. If I clung to my own preconceived notion that there was something unique about Americans, I could never be objective. So instead, I began to look at other countries, trying to find parallels. To my shock and dismay, I found that America is actually similar to North Korea in some ways: citizens of both countries are raised on nationalistic pride and are told that they live in the greatest country in the world, that there is no place better. This corrupts one’s ability to look at their country with a truly objective eye. From this, I discerned a troubling fact: all people are the same, regardless of nationality or personal beliefs. There is no true separation between individuals of different countries, helping to develop my current belief that the term American holds no special regard in comparison to the rest of the world. It is simply a term used to allow an individual to feel

that it is fear, but we miss it when we read the title. We find also

This quote is important because it gives valuable data that provides information about how American citizens feel about immigration today. Throughout the many years that immigrants have been in America, they have influenced society, becoming part of what identifies America as a “melting pot” of cultures. The American culture is now more diverse because of the infusion of different cultures.

Throughout history, the fear of the unknown has been a driving force behind many fearful leaders. As said

Realized or not, it is in the innate nature of humans to fear something that they are unfamiliar with. A surgeon fears his first time in the operating room. An expecting mother is apprehensive of her first delivery. A new student is trepid about his first day at a new school. The fear of the unknown has for long defined and constrained the boundaries of societies and the actions of man, and has been, is, and will continue to shape and affect our decisions. Fear of the unknown creates, promotes, and maintains paranoia and disunity in a community in times of crisis.

One of the things we fear the most is the loss of or lack of control. Even if we really don’t have control, we like to think we do, and when we lose that sense of control, fear rushes in. For example, an alcoholic will say " I can quit any time; I’m in control." The fear comes when he realizes for the first time that he is an alcoholic and that he is not in control. We all fear uncertainty and the unknown. We arm ourselves against it with candles in the dark, or faith against the uncertainty of death. Then, when we think we’ve conquered our fear, it comes invading our minds again, let in by a smell or a taste, a sound or a thought Fear is always there, just waiting right under the surface, to awaken those memories which frighten us the most.

The beginning of the nineteenth century was also the start of a legendary movement in literature, known as Romanticism. Authors during this period created their own worlds by using their imaginations. Individuals no longer saw themselves a measure of everything around them, but rather as one more component of the great source of life and creativity: nature. The Romantics placed emphasis on emotions such as apprehension, terror, and awe as an authentic source of aesthetic experience, as well as the feelings that accompany confronting the sublimity and beauty of nature, especially. Supernatural elements are not present in all Romantic literature; however, the supernatural approach was an important and arguably crucial strategy for Romanticism to achieve its purposes.

We humans are scared of the unknown. The unknown could be something you just found out about and don't clearly understand, or something you can't understand so you decide to avoid. “So many things seem filled with the intent/to be lost that their loss is no disaster.”(1.2-3), the speaker feels as if things are not meant to last. She has no control of what stays and goes in her life, because she has no clue of what will stay she is afraid to admit that

When one has a fear of something, one normally does not spend much time thinking about it, and it only affects one when one is forced to confront it.