Fanny Fern, the author of Ruth Hall, and J. John de Crèvecœur, the author of Letters from an American Farmer both wrote novels that illustrate the contrasting ways of life in the city and the country. Fern and Crèvecœur both use parallel imagery through their portrayal of the country and the city. While the novels both have very different plots to them, they both follow the same writing styles in terms of the way the authors use the setting to influence the characters and the world around them. Both Fern and Crèvecœur depict the country as being a positive place with a lighthearted connotation to it, while the city is described as a more negative place with a heavy and depressing feeling attached to it.
In the beginning of the book Letters from an American Farmer, Crèvecœur makes you aware that "America", as he knows it; meaning the countryside, is a very exciting, new, and respectable place to be. Crèvecœur states, " We are the most perfect society now existing in the world. Here man is ought to be free as he ought to be" (41) This gives the reader the initial impression that the country is a positive place. Crèvecœur decides to connect the country to positive imagery because many people imagine animals, nature, and quietness as "free" in the sense that life is easier. A world where no one has to be bothered and each man can have the right to do as he pleases is what the author chooses to relate to a sort of "happy place." Crèvecœur takes a drastic step in his writing when he says that "We are the most perfect society now existing in the world" (41) At this point in the novel, everything that Crèvecœur has chosen to disclose to the reader about the country has been positive. Therefore, the reader has no reason to believe otherwise and would have no choice but to agree with his statement.
