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Nation, and individual: the effects of capitalism on identity in Jimmy Corrigan

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  • Jimmy Corrigan is a work steeped in what it means to live in the United States as a capitalist nation. Within the novel, the United States presents itself as a grand world power through events such as the Chicago World Exposition. In direct contrast, individuals in the work are anything but great, making racist and sexist comments. However, in this paper I argue that, conflicting as they may appear, national and individual identity in Jimmy Corrigan are tied together through a system of appropriation that structures identity. I look at how Ware explores the construction of national identity as a world superpower, but, more importantly, I examine how this construction affects and influences individuals such as Jimmy Corrigan living under the influence of such a system. I argue that this system—based in cultural appropriation and reproduction, and repression of the appropriative source—is practiced by the nation and capitalism at large and is enforced into the personal identity of citizens through hegemony. I conclude that this system forces identity to be performative, leaving Jimmy and other individuals to deal with the conflict of losing their unique value in a capitalist driven nation.
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