Oursels as Others See UsThe American People: A Study in National Character by Geoffrey GorerReview by: Oscar LewisThe Scientific Monthly, Vol. 67, No. 2 (Aug., 1948), pp. 137-138Published by: American Association for the Advancement of ScienceStable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/22327 .

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aind applies good management he will average out over twenty to thirty years. There is little to tell him how to tide over that one or two years out of the thirty that may wipe him out entirely. It takes only one such decline in a farmer's lifetime to destroy his twenty-year accumulation of credit.

Price declines and area crop disasters don't disrupt the farm owner for his whole lifetime. It is the mis- management of credit that permits these two to cause a shift in the farmer's occupation. Some of the most efficient farmers on the best land on the fringes of the corn belt in the early thirties were forced off the land with only the family and the car. Many of them could write a chapter on how to be successful if credit is supervised. Their first item would be not soil manage- ment but credit safety. A poor, run-down, badly eroded, once-cultivated farm purchased at less than its potential productive value has made many a mediocre manager appear successful on the books of the farm- management association. In the same associations, the most efficient managers (some ex-county agents), who purchased the best land above its potential productivity value, were not so successful and returned sooner or later to some other occupation.

Good and poor management and good and poor farms make up the four general categories, all equal in opportunity for success if the purchase price is in line with potential productivity value. The amateur reader may get the impression that only good land should be purchased. We often hear the slogan "You can't pay too much for good land." The truth is, it has been done for all types of land.

HOMER J. HENNEY Colorado Agricultural Experinment Station Fort Collins

OURSELS AS OTHERS SEE US

The American People: A Study in National Charac- ter. Geoffrey Gorer. 246 pp. $3.00. Norton. New York.

M OST books on the American people by visitors from other countries have been written by

travelers, journalists, and writers and have been ad- mittedly impressionistic. As such they have generally been refreshing and useful. What distinguishes this book, written by an Englishman, is that it is presented to the reader as an anthropological and psychoanalyti- cal study and thereby lays claim to consideration as a scientific treatise. It appears to this reviewer, how- ever, that most of Gorer's generalizations lack docu- mentation and frequently tell but half the truth. Ex- cept for a few references to other societies, the fact that the author is an anthropologist has had no ap- parent effect on his methodology. Much of the ma- terial of the book is based upon discussions with uni- versity. colleagues and their wives (he lists the names of about fifty such informants), who are hardly repre- sentative of a cross section of the American people. As a result, most of the author's observations, at best,

August 1948

aind applies good management he will average out over twenty to thirty years. There is little to tell him how to tide over that one or two years out of the thirty that may wipe him out entirely. It takes only one such decline in a farmer's lifetime to destroy his twenty-year accumulation of credit.

Price declines and area crop disasters don't disrupt the farm owner for his whole lifetime. It is the mis- management of credit that permits these two to cause a shift in the farmer's occupation. Some of the most efficient farmers on the best land on the fringes of the corn belt in the early thirties were forced off the land with only the family and the car. Many of them could write a chapter on how to be successful if credit is supervised. Their first item would be not soil manage- ment but credit safety. A poor, run-down, badly eroded, once-cultivated farm purchased at less than its potential productive value has made many a mediocre manager appear successful on the books of the farm- management association. In the same associations, the most efficient managers (some ex-county agents), who purchased the best land above its potential productivity value, were not so successful and returned sooner or later to some other occupation.

Good and poor management and good and poor farms make up the four general categories, all equal in opportunity for success if the purchase price is in line with potential productivity value. The amateur reader may get the impression that only good land should be purchased. We often hear the slogan "You can't pay too much for good land." The truth is, it has been done for all types of land.

HOMER J. HENNEY Colorado Agricultural Experinment Station Fort Collins

OURSELS AS OTHERS SEE US

The American People: A Study in National Charac- ter. Geoffrey Gorer. 246 pp. $3.00. Norton. New York.

M OST books on the American people by visitors from other countries have been written by

travelers, journalists, and writers and have been ad- mittedly impressionistic. As such they have generally been refreshing and useful. What distinguishes this book, written by an Englishman, is that it is presented to the reader as an anthropological and psychoanalyti- cal study and thereby lays claim to consideration as a scientific treatise. It appears to this reviewer, how- ever, that most of Gorer's generalizations lack docu- mentation and frequently tell but half the truth. Ex- cept for a few references to other societies, the fact that the author is an anthropologist has had no ap- parent effect on his methodology. Much of the ma- terial of the book is based upon discussions with uni- versity. colleagues and their wives (he lists the names of about fifty such informants), who are hardly repre- sentative of a cross section of the American people. As a result, most of the author's observations, at best,

August 1948

apply to the middle class. Furthermore, Gorer's glib explanations of American behavior in terms of psycho- analytic concepts applied en masse (the Freudian analysis was developed as an instrument for the treat- ment of individuals) leave much to be desired and detract from many of his otherwise keen and stimulat- ing observations.

The study of national character, at best a difficult task and one that lends itself more readily to literary than to scientific treatment, is especially difficult in the case of the American people, because of the hetero- geneity of the population and the marked regional, rural-urban, and class differences. Mr. Gorer avoids this complexity by limiting his study to a restricted area of the country and to certain groups that he quite arbitrarily identifies with "true Americanism." Thus, he rules out the Southern states, rural New England, and California and ". . . the more obvious minorities, whether ethnic, religious or social . . ." (p. 15). By eliminating the "obvious minorities" and other im- portant Americans who constitute more than a third of the nation's population, Mr. Gorer is no longer study- ing "The American People." A more accurate title for the book might well have been "Less Than Two Thirds of the American People." In line with this approach, Mr. Gorer distinguishes between "complete" and "in- complete" Americans and lists the Negroes, Jews, Mexicans, American Indians, Asiatics, and foreign- born as among those ". . . whose Americanism is for one reason or another considered incomplete . . ." (p. 211). The author does not raise the question "By what groups are these minorities considered 'incom- plete Americans' ?" Mr. Gorer, perhaps inadvertently, has adopted the criteria of "Americanism" of some of our most dubious flag-wavers and has mistakenly iden- tified their propaganda with the thought of most Americans. This is further evidenced in his statement that "Intolerance, racial discrimination, terrorism, are perfectly compatible with Americanism; . ." (p. 196).

The psychoanalytic tone of the book is set in the first chapter, entitled Europe and the Rejected Father. For the author the key to the understanding of the American character is the rejection of the immigrant father by his children, a process which he assumes has been going on since the arrival of the Mayflower. He derives many of the fundamental themes in Ameri- can life, such as the idea of equality before the law, equal opportunity, and the dislike of authority and consequently of government, to the early rejection of the immigrant father who was the symbol of authority and all that was foreign. In similar fashion he explains the high status of American women and the active social role of the middle-aged women. This type of oversimplified psychological approach is also used in his treatment of complicated political phe- nomena. Thus, he explains ". . . the pathological hatred felt for the late President Roosevelt and his family by so many of the most respected and respectable Ameri- cans . . ." (p. 35) in terms of the rejection of the father and hence of authority. But then he writes that

apply to the middle class. Furthermore, Gorer's glib explanations of American behavior in terms of psycho- analytic concepts applied en masse (the Freudian analysis was developed as an instrument for the treat- ment of individuals) leave much to be desired and detract from many of his otherwise keen and stimulat- ing observations.

The study of national character, at best a difficult task and one that lends itself more readily to literary than to scientific treatment, is especially difficult in the case of the American people, because of the hetero- geneity of the population and the marked regional, rural-urban, and class differences. Mr. Gorer avoids this complexity by limiting his study to a restricted area of the country and to certain groups that he quite arbitrarily identifies with "true Americanism." Thus, he rules out the Southern states, rural New England, and California and ". . . the more obvious minorities, whether ethnic, religious or social . . ." (p. 15). By eliminating the "obvious minorities" and other im- portant Americans who constitute more than a third of the nation's population, Mr. Gorer is no longer study- ing "The American People." A more accurate title for the book might well have been "Less Than Two Thirds of the American People." In line with this approach, Mr. Gorer distinguishes between "complete" and "in- complete" Americans and lists the Negroes, Jews, Mexicans, American Indians, Asiatics, and foreign- born as among those ". . . whose Americanism is for one reason or another considered incomplete . . ." (p. 211). The author does not raise the question "By what groups are these minorities considered 'incom- plete Americans' ?" Mr. Gorer, perhaps inadvertently, has adopted the criteria of "Americanism" of some of our most dubious flag-wavers and has mistakenly iden- tified their propaganda with the thought of most Americans. This is further evidenced in his statement that "Intolerance, racial discrimination, terrorism, are perfectly compatible with Americanism; . ." (p. 196).

The psychoanalytic tone of the book is set in the first chapter, entitled Europe and the Rejected Father. For the author the key to the understanding of the American character is the rejection of the immigrant father by his children, a process which he assumes has been going on since the arrival of the Mayflower. He derives many of the fundamental themes in Ameri- can life, such as the idea of equality before the law, equal opportunity, and the dislike of authority and consequently of government, to the early rejection of the immigrant father who was the symbol of authority and all that was foreign. In similar fashion he explains the high status of American women and the active social role of the middle-aged women. This type of oversimplified psychological approach is also used in his treatment of complicated political phe- nomena. Thus, he explains ". . . the pathological hatred felt for the late President Roosevelt and his family by so many of the most respected and respectable Ameri- cans . . ." (p. 35) in terms of the rejection of the father and hence of authority. But then he writes that

137 137

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i'. . . Roosevelt was loved by the less assimilated and less assured groups . . ." (p. 35) ; i.e., by Mr. Gorer's "incomplete Americans" who apparently had not yet learned to hate authority despite the fact that accord- ing to the author's scheme they should have been actively rejecting their fathers. Mr. Gorer's confusion arises from his failure to realize that many of the Roosevelt-haters did not fear authority as such, but feared that Roosevelt would not use his authority in behalf of their vested interests.

Another example of Gorer's psychological explana- tion of American behavior is his suggestion that be- cause American babies are bottle-fed by the clock they suffer hunger and frustration which in adulthood causes them to fetishistically admire women's breasts and drives them to drink-milk! (pp. 77-78). For all Gorer's sophistication, he seems to this reviewer to be a babe in the American woods.

OSCAR LEWIS

Department of Sociology University of Illinois Urbana

i'. . . Roosevelt was loved by the less assimilated and less assured groups . . ." (p. 35) ; i.e., by Mr. Gorer's "incomplete Americans" who apparently had not yet learned to hate authority despite the fact that accord- ing to the author's scheme they should have been actively rejecting their fathers. Mr. Gorer's confusion arises from his failure to realize that many of the Roosevelt-haters did not fear authority as such, but feared that Roosevelt would not use his authority in behalf of their vested interests.

Another example of Gorer's psychological explana- tion of American behavior is his suggestion that be- cause American babies are bottle-fed by the clock they suffer hunger and frustration which in adulthood causes them to fetishistically admire women's breasts and drives them to drink-milk! (pp. 77-78). For all Gorer's sophistication, he seems to this reviewer to be a babe in the American woods.

OSCAR LEWIS

Department of Sociology University of Illinois Urbana

i'. . . Roosevelt was loved by the less assimilated and less assured groups . . ." (p. 35) ; i.e., by Mr. Gorer's "incomplete Americans" who apparently had not yet learned to hate authority despite the fact that accord- ing to the author's scheme they should have been actively rejecting their fathers. Mr. Gorer's confusion arises from his failure to realize that many of the Roosevelt-haters did not fear authority as such, but feared that Roosevelt would not use his authority in behalf of their vested interests.

Another example of Gorer's psychological explana- tion of American behavior is his suggestion that be- cause American babies are bottle-fed by the clock they suffer hunger and frustration which in adulthood causes them to fetishistically admire women's breasts and drives them to drink-milk! (pp. 77-78). For all Gorer's sophistication, he seems to this reviewer to be a babe in the American woods.

OSCAR LEWIS

Department of Sociology University of Illinois Urbana

CATALYSIS, ESPECIALLY IN RELATION TO LIFE

Life, Its Nature and Origin. Jerome Alexander. vii + 291 pp. Illus. $5.00. Reinhold. New York.

S CIENTIFIC books range between two extremes. There are some that quickly lead the reader into

the very heart of their subject, by skillfully displaying its most important features, in logical sequence. Their success is in being orderly. At the other extreme are books that carry such a burden of detail that they are of profit only to those who are already familiar with the subject. To such readers a book of this class may be especially rich in suggestions, from the very fact that the author industriously collected ten thousand more or less pertinent facts, then could not bear to discard a single one of them in order to clarify his main story.

This book is of the second type. Its title should have been "Catalysis, Especially in Relation to Life." The author's thesis may be summarized by brief quota- tions, beginning near the middle of the book:

Life is fundamentally a product of catalytic laws acting in colloidal systems of matter throughout long periods of geologic time [quoted from Leonard Thompson Troland].

The simplest living units of which we have indisputable evidence are the genes.

It is possible that in some cases the gene itself is an aggregate of simpler units. . . . The smaller and simpler the living unit considered the greater the probability that the atomic and molecular units composing it might have come together by mere chance.

The original living catalyst was able to initiate its own duplication.

[To explain the development of complex organisms from simple ones, and the possibility of organic evolution]: Biocatalysts are subject to modification which involves the fixation, at an active catalyst area of a gene or other

CATALYSIS, ESPECIALLY IN RELATION TO LIFE

Life, Its Nature and Origin. Jerome Alexander. vii + 291 pp. Illus. $5.00. Reinhold. New York.

S CIENTIFIC books range between two extremes. There are some that quickly lead the reader into

the very heart of their subject, by skillfully displaying its most important features, in logical sequence. Their success is in being orderly. At the other extreme are books that carry such a burden of detail that they are of profit only to those who are already familiar with the subject. To such readers a book of this class may be especially rich in suggestions, from the very fact that the author industriously collected ten thousand more or less pertinent facts, then could not bear to discard a single one of them in order to clarify his main story.

This book is of the second type. Its title should have been "Catalysis, Especially in Relation to Life." The author's thesis may be summarized by brief quota- tions, beginning near the middle of the book:

Life is fundamentally a product of catalytic laws acting in colloidal systems of matter throughout long periods of geologic time [quoted from Leonard Thompson Troland].

The simplest living units of which we have indisputable evidence are the genes.

It is possible that in some cases the gene itself is an aggregate of simpler units. . . . The smaller and simpler the living unit considered the greater the probability that the atomic and molecular units composing it might have come together by mere chance.

The original living catalyst was able to initiate its own duplication.

[To explain the development of complex organisms from simple ones, and the possibility of organic evolution]: Biocatalysts are subject to modification which involves the fixation, at an active catalyst area of a gene or other

CATALYSIS, ESPECIALLY IN RELATION TO LIFE

Life, Its Nature and Origin. Jerome Alexander. vii + 291 pp. Illus. $5.00. Reinhold. New York.

S CIENTIFIC books range between two extremes. There are some that quickly lead the reader into

the very heart of their subject, by skillfully displaying its most important features, in logical sequence. Their success is in being orderly. At the other extreme are books that carry such a burden of detail that they are of profit only to those who are already familiar with the subject. To such readers a book of this class may be especially rich in suggestions, from the very fact that the author industriously collected ten thousand more or less pertinent facts, then could not bear to discard a single one of them in order to clarify his main story.

This book is of the second type. Its title should have been "Catalysis, Especially in Relation to Life." The author's thesis may be summarized by brief quota- tions, beginning near the middle of the book:

Life is fundamentally a product of catalytic laws acting in colloidal systems of matter throughout long periods of geologic time [quoted from Leonard Thompson Troland].

The simplest living units of which we have indisputable evidence are the genes.

It is possible that in some cases the gene itself is an aggregate of simpler units. . . . The smaller and simpler the living unit considered the greater the probability that the atomic and molecular units composing it might have come together by mere chance.

The original living catalyst was able to initiate its own duplication.

[To explain the development of complex organisms from simple ones, and the possibility of organic evolution]: Biocatalysts are subject to modification which involves the fixation, at an active catalyst area of a gene or other

catalyst unit, of some particle which changes the nature and/or rate of the catalytic change occurring there.

In brief, life is viewed as the result of, and as acting by imeans of, self-duplicating but alterable catalyst surfaces.

The final chapter is a philosophic glance at the creature whom, in our more optimistic moments, we hail as evolution's greatest masterpiece. Robert Louis Stevenson sixty years ago described this masterpiece more dramatically:

What a monstrous specter is this man, the disease of agglutinated dust, lifting alternate feet or lying drugged with slumber; killing, feeding, growing, bringing forth small copies of himself; grown upon with hair like grass, fitted with eyes that move and glitter in his face; a thing to set children screaming; . . .

It seems a pity that the author's views, so often reasonable-or at least thought-provoking-are ob- scured by needless details, or details presented in the wrong places. How life first appeared in what was then a sterile culture medium, the entire earth; how life spread and developed; how catalysis has shaped its destiny-that would have made a dramatic story! It would have been easy to leave the reader with the impression that God, who is worshiped by astrono- mers as a great mathematician, must really be a master biochemist, putting catalysis to a multitude of ingenious uses, in every living cell of all the vast creation.

HORACE G. DEMING

Department of Chemistry University of Hawaii

catalyst unit, of some particle which changes the nature and/or rate of the catalytic change occurring there.

In brief, life is viewed as the result of, and as acting by imeans of, self-duplicating but alterable catalyst surfaces.

The final chapter is a philosophic glance at the creature whom, in our more optimistic moments, we hail as evolution's greatest masterpiece. Robert Louis Stevenson sixty years ago described this masterpiece more dramatically:

What a monstrous specter is this man, the disease of agglutinated dust, lifting alternate feet or lying drugged with slumber; killing, feeding, growing, bringing forth small copies of himself; grown upon with hair like grass, fitted with eyes that move and glitter in his face; a thing to set children screaming; . . .

It seems a pity that the author's views, so often reasonable-or at least thought-provoking-are ob- scured by needless details, or details presented in the wrong places. How life first appeared in what was then a sterile culture medium, the entire earth; how life spread and developed; how catalysis has shaped its destiny-that would have made a dramatic story! It would have been easy to leave the reader with the impression that God, who is worshiped by astrono- mers as a great mathematician, must really be a master biochemist, putting catalysis to a multitude of ingenious uses, in every living cell of all the vast creation.

HORACE G. DEMING

Department of Chemistry University of Hawaii

catalyst unit, of some particle which changes the nature and/or rate of the catalytic change occurring there.

In brief, life is viewed as the result of, and as acting by imeans of, self-duplicating but alterable catalyst surfaces.

The final chapter is a philosophic glance at the creature whom, in our more optimistic moments, we hail as evolution's greatest masterpiece. Robert Louis Stevenson sixty years ago described this masterpiece more dramatically:

What a monstrous specter is this man, the disease of agglutinated dust, lifting alternate feet or lying drugged with slumber; killing, feeding, growing, bringing forth small copies of himself; grown upon with hair like grass, fitted with eyes that move and glitter in his face; a thing to set children screaming; . . .

It seems a pity that the author's views, so often reasonable-or at least thought-provoking-are ob- scured by needless details, or details presented in the wrong places. How life first appeared in what was then a sterile culture medium, the entire earth; how life spread and developed; how catalysis has shaped its destiny-that would have made a dramatic story! It would have been easy to leave the reader with the impression that God, who is worshiped by astrono- mers as a great mathematician, must really be a master biochemist, putting catalysis to a multitude of ingenious uses, in every living cell of all the vast creation.

HORACE G. DEMING

Department of Chemistry University of Hawaii

AFRICAN PRIMITIVES Tribes of the Liberian Hinterland. George Schwab.

xix+526 pp. Illus. $7.50, paper; $10.00, cloth. Peabody Museum. Cambridge, Mass.

HIS is the report of the Peabody Museum Ex- pedition to Liberia, conducted by Mr. and Mrs.

George Schwab in 1928. It covers two trips to Liberia's inner border, during which ninety-two days were spent in the interior: first, from Monrovia on both sides of the St. Paul River; and, second, from Cape Palmas along the Cavally River in the south- east. Nine of Liberia's twenty-three tribes were studied, namely, the Gbunde, Loma, Mano, Ge (Gbe), Gio (Ngere), Tie, Sapa (Sapo), Grebo, and the "Half Grebo." Two maps of tribal distribution are in- cluded, one after that of Dr. Struck, and a larger one (1:534,000) prepared by Dr. G. W. Harley, whose contribution in "editing, revising, and supplementing of the data of the Schwab manuscript makes him in effect virtually a collaborator if not a co-author."

The basic similarities between these peoples have made possible a composite topical treatment of their cultures, rather than separate discussions of the indi- vidual tribes. Variations are mentioned where these have been noted, and care has been taken to indicate to which tribes specific statements pertain. The peo-

AFRICAN PRIMITIVES Tribes of the Liberian Hinterland. George Schwab.

xix+526 pp. Illus. $7.50, paper; $10.00, cloth. Peabody Museum. Cambridge, Mass.

HIS is the report of the Peabody Museum Ex- pedition to Liberia, conducted by Mr. and Mrs.

George Schwab in 1928. It covers two trips to Liberia's inner border, during which ninety-two days were spent in the interior: first, from Monrovia on both sides of the St. Paul River; and, second, from Cape Palmas along the Cavally River in the south- east. Nine of Liberia's twenty-three tribes were studied, namely, the Gbunde, Loma, Mano, Ge (Gbe), Gio (Ngere), Tie, Sapa (Sapo), Grebo, and the "Half Grebo." Two maps of tribal distribution are in- cluded, one after that of Dr. Struck, and a larger one (1:534,000) prepared by Dr. G. W. Harley, whose contribution in "editing, revising, and supplementing of the data of the Schwab manuscript makes him in effect virtually a collaborator if not a co-author."

The basic similarities between these peoples have made possible a composite topical treatment of their cultures, rather than separate discussions of the indi- vidual tribes. Variations are mentioned where these have been noted, and care has been taken to indicate to which tribes specific statements pertain. The peo-

AFRICAN PRIMITIVES Tribes of the Liberian Hinterland. George Schwab.

xix+526 pp. Illus. $7.50, paper; $10.00, cloth. Peabody Museum. Cambridge, Mass.

HIS is the report of the Peabody Museum Ex- pedition to Liberia, conducted by Mr. and Mrs.

George Schwab in 1928. It covers two trips to Liberia's inner border, during which ninety-two days were spent in the interior: first, from Monrovia on both sides of the St. Paul River; and, second, from Cape Palmas along the Cavally River in the south- east. Nine of Liberia's twenty-three tribes were studied, namely, the Gbunde, Loma, Mano, Ge (Gbe), Gio (Ngere), Tie, Sapa (Sapo), Grebo, and the "Half Grebo." Two maps of tribal distribution are in- cluded, one after that of Dr. Struck, and a larger one (1:534,000) prepared by Dr. G. W. Harley, whose contribution in "editing, revising, and supplementing of the data of the Schwab manuscript makes him in effect virtually a collaborator if not a co-author."

The basic similarities between these peoples have made possible a composite topical treatment of their cultures, rather than separate discussions of the indi- vidual tribes. Variations are mentioned where these have been noted, and care has been taken to indicate to which tribes specific statements pertain. The peo-

THE SCIENTIFIC MONTHLY THE SCIENTIFIC MONTHLY THE SCIENTIFIC MONTHLY 138 138 138

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