America's Fears

A librarian's collection can form historical arguments and create “debates of the day”. Librarian Sean Quimby, has collected an assortment of material in an attempt to identify the root of fear. Ideas of alien invasions, guns, cutthroat politics, terrorism, anarchy and chaos accompany the emotion of fear. Sean Quimby will be teaching a course on American fear and there are literally hundreds of books, and even works of art, that can be used to teach the course. Sean Quimby's lecture called “Phobia: Collecting in the History of Fear” begins by identifying the Boogie Man, and then describes isolation as a driving force behind fear. What can be scarier than sleeping alone in your bed at night as a scary monster attacks you? Edward Munsch's famous painting called “Scream” is a perfect example, besides the Boogie Man, of how fear is linked to isolation. The subject of “Scream” ironically remains surrounded in only a shroud of nothingness. Charles Darwin describes fear as a terrible, horrible, raw and animalistic nerve interruption. Barry Glasner's book called “Culture of Fear” blames the advent of guns for fear and Peter Stearns “American Fear: The Causes and Consequences of High Anxiety” identifies the roots of fear as relating to non-whites and apocalypse disrupting lavish American lifestyle.

These ideas lead to the history of fear, events involving Joe McCarthy's vicious anti-communist attacks and George Bush's presidential term. Fear first appear in British literature in “Beowulf” and the Oxford dictionary identifies fear as “peril” or a “sudden and terrible event”, just like how the monster Grendel in “Beowulf” suddenly attacks, or as an emotion involving “pain, evil and dread”. Sean Quimby then begins to identify Mary Rowlandson's idea of a “paranoid American invasion fantasy” to explain such events and ideas in history such as aliens, John Wayne, terrorism, the anti-Masonic party and Saco and Venzetti. Were Saco and Venzetti accused of murder only because they were Italian immigrants? An exhibit on the sixth floor of Syracuse University's E.S. Bird Library displays many books on Saco and Venzetti and according to Quimby, it does seem like Americans have some sort of visceral fear of people with dark skin, possibly thought to be carriers of disease. This “invasion fantasy”, according to Hadley Cantril's book “The Invasion From Mars” is a national character flaw and the radio is not responsible for it. Is it implied that natural fear is?

Finally, Sean Quimby moves on to the second part of his lecture about the causes of fear. He states one idea about an increased “therapeutic culture” where we need solace from a higher power, like God, and fear is an antidote that cures this desire for solace. According to John Vasso's “Phobia” fear is only psychotic madness. And, in psychoanalysis, fear is attributed to selfish, sexual desire, further impacted by material consumption.

In a world of wiretaps and assault rifles, a librarian's collection attempts to create new debate, in particular by referring back to history and collecting numerous different manuscripts. Quimby focuses on collecting books about Saco and Venzetti. Did America's fear destroy the lives of two innocent immigrant workers or were these two men actually guilty of anarchy? The lecture significantly fails in forming any type of conclusion, only mentioning a breadth of further references. I think hardly any debate was created by the lecture because I could not understand many of the references to a long American history. Even though a large display of books about Saco and Venzetti exists on the sixth floor of Syracuse University's E.S. Bird Library, Quimby never even begins to explain their story. Additionally, the extremely long list of author's theories all seemed to generalize Americans as whites crazily afraid of difference. Today, an amalgam of different types of people inhabit America and many citizens have embraced diversity. Although Sean Quimby's lecture is particularly strong in a time where we are at war against terrorism, Quimby never connects today's War on Terrorism to America's illegitimate and intuitive fears. Unfortunately, after the lecture, I am more confused as ever about fear and cannot make any conclusions. I think fear is only an emotion that everybody can have. Quimby never responds to anything significant that applies to life today and this is why I believe Quimby's lecture fails to respond to my generation's concerns.