Poem Analysis:
Rudyard Kipling’s “An American” presents a complex and deliberately contradictory portrait of the American character. Rather than describing America in purely national or political terms, Kipling personifies the “American Spirit” and allows it to explain the strange mixture of qualities that shapes the American identity. The poem combines admiration, criticism, irony, and humour to suggest that American civilization is energetic and powerful precisely because it is full of contradictions.
One of the poem’s central ideas is that the American cannot easily be defined. The speaker declares that neither a labour strike nor a war can adequately explain what the American is like. The American is presented as both “the Jester and the Jest”—someone who mocks the world while also becoming an object of mockery himself. This paradox is important throughout the poem. Kipling portrays the American as confident yet insecure, rebellious yet law-making, generous yet selfish, and ambitious yet capable of sudden despair.
Kipling also emphasizes the mixed cultural origins of the American. The American contains elements of several European traditions: “The Celt,” “The Gaul,” and other inherited influences. At the same time, the poem refers to the “Redskin,” reflecting the period’s racial vocabulary and attitudes toward Indigenous peoples. The American is therefore imagined as a cosmopolitan figure created from different peoples and traditions. This mixture contributes to his distinctive character but also makes him difficult for others to understand.
Another striking feature of the poem is its portrayal of American restlessness and ambition. The American moves across a vast geographical and social space, from “Labrador to Guadeloupe.” He is described as ruling in an “unkempt, disreputable, vast” manner. Kipling suggests that American society is energetic and expansive but not always orderly or refined. The American may proudly challenge kings and established institutions, yet at another moment he may anxiously seek approval or praise.
The poem’s most important theme, however, is contradiction. The American “flouts” the laws that he himself makes, and he may resist authority while simultaneously creating new forms of authority. His emotions also shift rapidly. He can be “enslaved, illogical, elate,” and he is capable of both violence and childlike delight. Kipling does not present these contradictions simply as weaknesses. Instead, they are part of the American vitality. The American’s ability to change, improvise, and continue moving forward becomes a source of strength.
The “American Spirit” ultimately adopts a protective attitude toward its creation. Despite all his faults, the American is saved by an “ancient humour”—a skeptical, ironic quality that prevents him from taking himself completely seriously. Humour allows him to survive failure, confusion, and criticism. The final declaration, “I — I shall save him at the last!”, gives the poem an unexpectedly sympathetic conclusion. The speaker acknowledges the American’s flaws but believes that his resilience and self-questioning nature will ultimately preserve him.
Kipling’s language is highly ironic, and some of the poem’s descriptions reflect the racial and imperial assumptions of the early twentieth century. Modern readers therefore need to distinguish between the poem’s artistic portrayal of cultural character and the historical attitudes embedded in its vocabulary. Nevertheless, the poem remains interesting because it does not offer a simple celebration or condemnation of America.
“An American” portrays the American as a figure of enormous energy, ambition, contradiction, and resilience. Kipling suggests that the American cannot be understood through conventional categories because he is continually changing and challenging established rules. The poem’s final message is therefore neither straightforward praise nor criticism: the American survives because, despite his contradictions and failures, he possesses the humour, adaptability, and determination to keep confronting an uncertain world.