Lederer And Burdick's Relationship In The Ugly American

Throughout the years of a communist typhoon, Americans have been trying to prevent the flow of it from flooding Southeast Asia. Desperately, they’ve been trying to clean the stain that communism had left behind. In the Ugly American, one charismatic and major American character, Ambassador Gilbert MacWhite, has been trying to save the country of Sarkhan from drowning in the red waters of communism. However, ruthless and ugly American diplomat, ex-Ambassador Louis Sears, did nothing to prevent the flow. This questions whether or not if it was necessary to have a Foreign Service abroad. Simply, the authors, Lederer and Burdick, portrays and specifies the ugliness, yet beauty of a certain character and their duty overseas.

Lederer and Burdick,

All the way through the Ugly American, Louis Sears only acknowledged how “lucky” he was because of his luck in his political career; however, he couldn’t even acknowledge the instability of “the damned little monkeys” (page 12). “The damned little monkeys” are the Sarkhanese, and he displays disgust towards them. Instead of caring for them and their well-being, Sears obsesses and rages over a pointless comic, from the Eastern Star, that resembles his idiocy, and his tantrum shows how much he only cares for himself and not others. Also, does he even know anything about Sarkhan, and where he is at? Surely, he doesn’t. Due to his incompetency, Louis Sears lacks the ability to understand their language, culture, and history. Including with that, he sent his report to Washington, and he falsely claimed that “Sarkhan is more firmly than ever on the side of America”; yet he hardly interacted with any of the natives (page 78). This imbecile’s ignorance is as repulsive as Homer Atkins’s liverish-freckled and veiny hands. Though, he had no desire to exterminate communism, he purposely intended to waste two years in Sarkhan, until federal judgeship opened up. After all, Louis Sears is a prime example of an imprudent and unaccustomed human, and the authors chose to characterize him this way because they wanted to demonstrate the uselessness of some

In all honesty, Lederer and Burdick clearly understood and detected the real personalities of individuals abroad. Truthfully, “ugly” Americans- who care about the people, who are interested in helping, and who want to impact the lives of others- ironically aren’t unpleasant in nature. Gilbert MacWhite is a true American who represented the beauty in his nation. On the other hand, distasteful Americans like Louis Sears are the ones who should be discouraged for their inner ugliness. Only thoughtful people who genuinely care and are eager enough to cooperate with others should be considered for diplomatic and obligatory services in a foreign country. Rarely do they ever get chosen. They are the ones who defy the dangers of the red