America's Manifest Destiny

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Once Upon a Time Carter Revard relates the tale of “humans” being dominated and effectively killed-off by an “alien” species invading Earth in his poem, “Discovery of the New World.” The poem allegorizes America's Manifest Destiny, and the colonizers' belief that it was their right to destroy a civilization in the name of progress. Revard employs symbolism in “Discovery,” by drawing parallels between the “humans” and “aliens” to the Native Americans and English colonizers, to demonstrate his theme; most certainly, if humans do not stop oppressing one other then a history will continue to repeat itself. The “humans” in Revard's poem are symbolic of the Native Americans. The “humans” have not discovered what the “aliens” have in mind for them. They, like the Native American people, believe the invaders will uphold their “agreements” (Revard 42). The “humans” are seen as “helpless creatures” (Revard 53) that “can’t be made to grasp” (Revard 5) the plans that have been…show more content…
Robin Fast agrees, “Revard has drained the poem of any of the complex and appealing personal element that infuses most of his work in order to force us face to face with the unreal reality and whatever it means to each of us” (518). The possibility to be an “alien” is in every human. If humans do not stop their imperialistic behaviors toward one other then, history will continue to repeat itself, as it has for centuries. It is the author’s purpose to reveal this to the reader, in hopes they will choose to be humane
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