Bill Bryson: A Review of Greatness

                                                       Bill Bryson: “Made in America”

                                                           The Language of History

Bill Bryson the left handed author of Made in America (2001) gives an informative look at American language and its historical background. Along his journey of discovery he traces the roots of language and dispels many myths and urban legends. In his newest book of nine, Bryson goes on to tell humorous tales of youth that you can chuckle along with if you’re old enough to remember when these tales were told to you as a child (pp 357).

Bryson begins quickly as he unfolds the truths behind the noting nursery rhymes people often told and sang as a child that gave children those images they may never have had of that part of history if it wasn’t laid out in song. Such nursery rhymes were about pilgrims and the rich heritage of the backdrop in history. 

Bryson describes the images that only history could tell a fable from a smile song. How else may we have known if the pilgrims crossed over in the first place? What would they have worn, sang and what types of food would they have eaten (p.1-2).

Bryson further dialogs that much of what you do and say in today’s world , reflects that of what the colonists had experienced as they tried to name everything in sight to prevent from getting lost in the new world and to be able to describe how to get there again ( p.11).

Another wonderful example of heritage described in this tale of language, is Bryson’s own ethnic talent he brings into this book by describing the colorful artful and eve en musical past of the historical people from our past. 

The music that they sang and poetry they wrote demonstrated the true nature they were living in and the ultimate intelligence level they had. Many were very illiterate Bryson says (p.358), to the point they further complicated issues surrounding language origin such as proper meaning, grammar and sentence structure in the first person or intended towards someone else’s. It was hard to diminish who they were really writing for or telling stories for. If they mispronounced a word it was done so well into the next generation unfortunate because ignorance only breeds more ignorance and language has a lot to do with that.

Another interesting point within the enticing pages of Bill Bryson’s book is the entertainment within this rich heritage of historical language and how it affected the strength of our language today. Many sought other ways to describe the movements they were living in and entertainment was one of them.
The motion picture association and the movies were an exact replica of the culture and peoples language and behavior skills. It showed how they communicated and used body language to describe what they saw as self expression. Even back in the caveman days they used images to describe emotion.

According to Bryson, political correctness has reached n all time limits in the public’s eyes; some might even say if you’re not speaking like us then it is not correctly spoken. Bryson says this new era of political correctness we see today has people judging one another and placing them in a category of good or bad people based on their language skills. This is very much like the colonists used do during the era of the war between the north and the south. You say tomoto and I say tamato literally meant what side of the tracks you were raised on and hence you’re standing in society (p.352).

Overall, language is an expressed desire to communicate what is going on with you. Weather thesis done through nursery rhymes or urban legends is of no matter. Your grandmother may tell you stories or sing songs from her mother. You may have some paintings on your wall of the great Mona Lisa, in your attic. This entire memorabilia is historical evidence that you were here once and it speaks volumes about your characteristics and religious backgrounds. Your familial lineage is instilled in these photographs and letters so don’t ever let them get destroyed. Our history is our lineage and that is our gift of ancestry we leave behind for our children.


Sources

Bryson, B. (Vol.2.2001 pp.417.). Made In America. Newyork, NY: Haper Collins.