The Relationship between the Narrator, the Characters, and the Reader in "In Search of America"

The relationship between the narrator and the characters in “In Search of America” from Nathan Asch’s The Road helps to relate the modern audience to the original purpose of the piece, to illuminate the inequitable distribution of wealth and power and the subsequent exploitation of the masses during the Great Depression. The modern reader may have difficulty relating to these themes because of the time period in which they are presented.

The characters are characterized by the conditions that they live in.The squalor is exemplified by the house of one of the characters described as “a sieve; light could be seen through the four walls and the ceiling.” Another condition throughout the account is the inability of the characters to escape the poverty. For example, one of the characters asserts that “[he] know[s] [his] place and [he] keep[s] it” (Asch 288)

Although the modern reader likely sympathizes with the characters, it is unlikely, post-Great Depression, that he or she is called to action in the same way that the workers were inspired by the union leaders in the account. But, because the narrator is distant from the other characters and is more likely to relate to the modern reader, he provides a connection between the intended purpose of the author and the reader.

The narrator is strikingly different from the other characters in the story because of his mobility. The narrator has “been traveling all over the country trying to find out what makes things run” (Asch 298), unlike the stagnant characters. He is never truly a part of the industries that he tries to explore as is evident by his wearing of “city shoes” in the lumber camp. The narrator’s distance is great enough that the modern reader may relate to his alienation from the cultures that he is exploring, but unlike the reader’s uncertainty, the narrator is able to interpret the events in the context of the times.

The reader’s connection with the narrator makes him or her likely to accept the interpretation. For example, the narrator comes to the conclusion that “‘the worse you exploit somebody, the worse you hate him.’ You have to. Your conscience wouldn’t let you alone” (Asch 286) This reaction and understanding of the broader theme of exploitation and its psychological effects is both believable to the reader and applicable to modern times.