A patriotic american
This text is an extract from “the Pursuit of Happiness” by Douglas Kennedy published in 2002. Actually it is mainly a dialogue between the main character Eric Smythe who works for a TV network and an FBI agent who accuses him of being a communist.We should mention that the dialogue is set against the back-drop (toile de fond) of the Mc Carthy witch-hunts in the 50s. During the cold war, many US politicians were afraid of communism because the USSR represented a big threat to American security. US senator Joseph mac Carthy set up anti-communist committees to target people working in government, education and show-business. Many innocent people were persecuted and even lost their jobs.
Here we have in fact a confrontation between a man who does not immediately realize that his life is about to be turned upside down and a threatening FBI agent who wants to intimidate him into denouncing other people. Tension increases as Eric realizes that he is in a predicament and there is no way out except by denouncing other people.
The scene takes place in 1951. Eric Smythe, a TV comedy writer has been summoned to a meeting with an FBI agent and some TV executives who are his employers. The narrator of this text is Eric himself. We witness the whole scene through his eyes and we feel the growing tension in his body and mind; This point of view which here is the one of the good guy and the innocent victim gives much strength to the narration.
In the first part of the text, though the situation is quite unpleasant for Eric he seems to be in control of the situation. He is interviewed by an FBI agent named Brad Sweet -whose name by the way does certainly not reflect his personality!- Agent Sweet bluntly asks him if he is or has been a member of the communist party. When Eric answers NO without even thinking about it, Agent Sweet smirks and seems satisfied to have succeeded in trapping him. Eric –and the