The Ugly American

Rose D’Angelo

HST3131        

March 15, 2015

The Ugly American:

What is it?

        The work of fiction by William J. Lederer and Eugene Burdick, The Ugly American, is a timeless lesson for Americans in political and governmental ways. The book takes place in the made up country of Sarkhan in Southeast Asia during the 1950’s. It portrays how the United States is losing the battle against communism; this is because of the political people in powerful positions and their lack of interest of adapting to the culture and understanding the necessities of the native people. The assignment is to identify American characters within the book, who display a dual nature that transcends time, meaning that they could be the type of person seen throughout America’s history. The dual nature of some diplomatic Americans; where they are loved, hard-working and educated at home but in a foreign country, they lack respect and empathy towards others. These “Ugly Americans” are described, by locals and peers of political status, as; ostentations, loud, unabashed, party-goers that have no actual want to help the people in the country they are stationed in nor essentially contribute in creating a safe and plausible Foreign Policy. This state of mind and thinking can be seen in the likes of; Louis Sears, Joe Bing, Captain Boning, and George Swift. Ambassador Louis Sears is the first character to be introduced in the book as well as our first Ugly American.

        Known as “Lucky Louis” by his U.S. political peers, because of his successful eighteen year career as a popular senator where each election had luck on his side, he had the knowledge to know that the National Committee owed him. What Sears wanted was a judgeship with a long tenure but since there would be no openings for two years, he was convinced; with receiving a good salary, free liquor, and living expenses covered to accept two years of being a U.S. Ambassador in Sarkhan. What you can immediately take away from Sears is that he is racist and ignorant as he points out, “…you know I’m not prejudiced, but I just don’t work well with blacks.” ^[1] after hearing he would be stationed in Sarkhan, which is in Asia. He is quick to display his disapproval of Colvin, when discussing the abuse that had happened that morning, saying he was too quiet and serious then immediately turned his attention back to the political cartoon made by the Sarkhan paper regarding Sears’ physique. Sears had no interest in learning the language or getting to know the Sarkhan people and their needs since he believed it would be impractical as he would only be there two years. This meant he was unable to understand the cartoons and made a big deal out of them. He is the prototype of what an “Ugly American” is; he attends too many cocktail parties, he is uneducated about the people and country he is stationed in, and he makes no effort to create a better Foreign Policy nor lessen the communist outlook in Southeast Asia. Sears gets his judgeship and is replaced by MacWhite who is then replaced by Joe Bing, our next talking point.