Wealth+of+Nations+and+Edgar+Huntly

What is a society and what are the hidden forces that shape it? //An Inquiry into the Nature and Causes of the Wealth of Nations// by Adam Smith and //Edgar Huntly// by Charles Brockden Brown comment on society and analyze its aspects from different perspectives.



It is important to note that //The Wealth of Nations// was not written on economics, but on the //political-economy//. When this work was written, specifically 1776, politics and economics were linked and inseparable. One could not be talked about without the mention of the other, unlike the present day, where we operate in a free-market society, and the government plays a small role in economic regulation. Governments in this time period controlled the commerce of their nations and a theory like mercantilism demonstrates the political body's connection to its nation's economic identity.

Because politics and economics are inseparable, one may also conclude that social aspects and structures are also inter-connected with this system. Together they create a dynamic entity which effect each other interminably, which we call a society.

The relationship between //The Wealth of Nations// and //Edgar Huntly// consists of Adam Smith determining the foundations and ground-rules of a specific economic, and therefore social, circumstance. What is relevant to this discussion is the adolescent United States. Brockden Brown then explores the actual manifestation of the circumstance. Smith gives the nature of the point, while Brown records its journey, with a little opinion and conjecture thrown in.

The two key points which will be discussed on the relationship of //The Wealth of Nations// and //Edgar Huntly// are:


 * **The advantages and manifestation of being at "perfect liberty"**


 * **The disadvantages and its effects of not being at "perfect liberty"**


 * -//Do you think that other valid points could be made about the connection of the two texts without first illuminating the interconnected relationship between economics, politics, and societal mechanisms?//**

"Perfect liberty" is described by Smith as, "a society where things are left to follow their own natural course, where there was perfect liberty, and where every man was perfectly free both to choose what occupation he thought proper, and to change it as often as he thought proper," (10.1). This is obviously the foundations of capitalism and the United States upholds this "perfect liberty." This is the fundamental aspect in Brown's exploration of the new American identity.

What is important here with regards to this relationship, and the two key points already stated, is the distinction between them. Smith writes about the wages in America and the wages in England and their immense difference. "The wages are higher in North America than in any part of England. In the province of New York, common laborers earn three shillings and sixpence currency, equal to two shillings sterling, a day; ship carpenters, ten shillings and sixpence currency, with a pint of rum worth sixpence sterling... These prices are all above the London price; and wages are said to be as high in the other colonies as in New York. The price of provisions is every where in North America much lower than in England. A dearth as never been known there. In the worst seasons, they have always sufficiency for themselves," (8.22).

Because of these economic differences, there are social differences (one may postulate that the economic differences are attributed to the social differences, but it is irrelevant with regards to the order, as they are just two aspects of a whole). The perfect liberty of the economy is a result of the main constituent of the American ideology, which is liberty first and foremost.

Brown in //Edgar Huntly// then explores this liberty and its effects upon the individual and marks the distinctions between the American society and the British society and its effects upon the individual.

Edgar in Brown's novel is the embodiment of the American spirit. His feats and epic journey is directly linked to Brown's opinion on the effects of being American and the majority of its impact is of greatness. Edgar claims to be a master of the tomahawk (a symbol incorporating exposure and experience with the natives into this national identity), an expert frontiersman, he saves an innocent American girl from the hands of savages, kills five Native-Americans single-handedly, and lives to tell about it.

The individuals in the novel also are leveled to the status of simply //American//, with some minor fluctuations of course in wealth and things of the sort. A distinction is made by Brown concerning the two key points above, in the early chapters of the book. "The neighborhood was populous. But, as I conned over the catalogue, I perceived that the only foreigner among us was Clithero," (p. 8).


 * -//What do you feel is Brown's intent for making this distinction?//**

Brown subtly singles out Clithero as being un-American. He is changed from the akin and balanced status of Edgar's fellow Americans to someone and something else. On this note, the subject of the discussion moves towards the second key point.

Smith in //The Wealth of Nations// says of Europe, "...the policy of Europe, which no where leaves things at perfect liberty," (10.2). Europe is the antithesis of American thinking and it is absolutely natural and expected because the United States was settled and defended because of the fear and aversion towards European society. Europe operates in an extremely stratified and hierarchical social structure. One reason given for these vast social differences by Adam Smith is, "The workmen desire to get as much, the master to give as little," (8.11). The fact that society in Europe is run by polar opposite desires and powers creates a world in which conflict is ingrained into the hearts and minds of its population.

Brown explores the impact on man in this backwards method of society deeply in //Edgar Huntly//, with the character Clithero. Clithero was a peasant-boy on a farm in Ireland where Mrs. Lorimer, a wealthy and virtuous philanthropist, takes him to be educated with her son. The impact of status does not wisp away from Clithero ever. "There were certain accomplishments, from which I was excluded, from the belief that they were unsuitable to my rank and station," (p. 20). Clithero admires his suitor with intense fervor, and because of his adamant place in society, he is subjected to circumstances which turn him to madness. "These circumstances alone would have rendered it more eligible than any other, but it had additional and far more powerful recommendations, arising from the character of Mrs. Lorimer, and from the relation in which she allowed me to stand to her," (p. 21). Clithero is never pardoned to forget his place in European society and he never feels worthy of the affection he is given by his suitors. Because of this inflated and abstract sense of self, he is lost to demonic influence.

Brown plays no subtle tone in his creation of the fundamental European individual. Clithero ends up attempting to murder Mrs. Lorimer in her sleep to save her from the pain of losing her brother. The result of an individual living in a society which does not exist in "perfect liberty" is one which is conflicted and torn by a million irrational devils. The impact on human existence is evident in this passage from //Huntly//, "... Clithero stopped (his narrative). His complexion varied from one degree of paleness to another. His brain appeared to suffer some severe constriction...," (p. 32). Clithero then withers away to barely more than bones in a remote cavern after ending his horrible telling.

The distinction between Edgar and Clithero, the United States and Europe, and their societal facets is made lucid and sharp in Edgar Huntly by Brown, and these distinctions are attributed to Smith's theory of "perfect liberty" and whether it is present or absent in society.


 * -//After discussing these points, do you think that Brown's symbolism and characterization is biased?//**