In front of Winterbourne [Randolph] paused, looking at him with a pair of bright, penetrating little eyes.
"Will you give me a lump of sugar?" he asked in a sharp, hard little voice-- a voice immature and yet, somehow, not young.
Winterbourne glanced at the small table near him, on which his coffee service rested, and saw that several morsels of sugar remained. "Yes, you may take one," he answered; "but I don't think sugar is good for little boys."
This little boy stepped forward and carefully selected three of the coveted fragments, two of which he buried in the pocket of his knickerbockers, depositing the other as promptly in another place. He poked his alpenstock, lance-fashion, into Winterbourne's bench and tried to crack the lump of sugar with his teeth.
"Oh, blazes; it's har-r-d!" he exclaimed, pronouncing the adjective in a peculiar manner.
Winterbourne had immediately perceived that he might have the honor of claiming him as a fellow countryman. "Take care you don't hurt your teeth," he said, paternally.
"I haven't got any teeth to hurt. They have all come out. I have only got seven teeth. My mother counted them last night, and one came out right afterward. She said she'd slap me if any more came out. I can't help it. It's this old Europe. It's the climate that makes them come out. In America they didn't come out. It's these hotels."
Winterbourne was much amused. "If you eat three lumps of sugar, your mother will certainly slap you," he said.
"She's got to give me some candy, then," rejoined his young interlocutor. "I can't get any candy here--any American candy. American candy's the best candy."
"And are American little boys the best little boys?" asked Winterbourne.
"I don't know. I'm an American boy," said the child.
"I see you are one of the best!" laughed Winterbourne.
"Are you an American man?" pursued this vivacious infant. And then, on Winterbourne's affirmative reply--"American men are the best," he declared.
- A conversation between Randolph and Winterbourne
Upon reading the above passage from Daisy Miller, in which Randolph Miller, Daisy Millers younger brother first meets a man by the name of Winterbourne, one can see that Americans are very boastful, boorish and very nationalistic in Europe and abroad. In years after the Civil War, the Gilded age gave rise to a new class of Americans: businessmen. These businessmen and their families were very eager to take a tour around the world and expose themselves to the variety of arts and cultures, especially that of western nature. The sight of Americans in Europe became quite common and it was inevitable that the two cultures were to clash.
Daisy Miller is a young American girl who finds herself traveling around Europe with her mother and younger brother Randolph. Randolph is a very ill-mannered boy with a very devilish personality. Daisy miller on the other hand is often seen as representing America; young, naive, innocent, flirtatious and having an inapt ability to totally ignore the needs of others. They all decide to stay at a small hotel in the resort town of Vevey, Switzerland.
While at the resort, a young American man who had lived most of his life in Geneva became strikingly intrigued by Daisy Miller. Though he was not necessarily intrigued because of her looks, he was so because she is very flirtatious and energetic, unlike many of the European girls he had encountered prior.
This young American man goes by the name of Winterbourne. It is quite fitting to say that he practically fell in love with Daisy at first sight, and like many other times, he sought approval from his aunt, Mrs. Costello. She strongly urged Winterbourne to stay away from American tourist families such as the Millers. So strong in fact that she refused to even meet the young Daisy or her family. At first, Winterbourne was naive and neglected his aunts advice to stray clear, but he later realized how naive he had been when it was too late.
After completely neglecting his aunts advice, Winterbourne continued to flirt with the young American Daisy Miller, even going so far as to accompany her to the Chillon castle, one of the most famous tourist attractions in Switzerland. Their flirtatious endeavors kept getting more intimate as the days went by.
When entering the scene where the quote took place, Daisy and Winterbourne still had not formally met. Randolph is just passing by when he sees lumps of sugar sitting on the coffee table next to Winterbourne. Tempted by the morsels of sugar, Randolph stops and quaintly asked for some. Winterbourne reluctantly gave Randolph one morsel of sugar, warning him that it is just not good for "little boys."
After taking one morsel, Randolph complains about the sugar and how it is too "har-r-d" for his teeth. Warning Randolph, Winterbourne paternally tells him to "Take care you don't hurt your teeth." Randolph responds by arguing "...I can't help it. It's this old Europe. It's the climate that makes them come out. In America they didn't come out. It's these hotels." This sentence is one example early in the book that provides insight as to how nationalistic Americans are in Henry James' eyes.
Further down in the passage, Randolph again complains about how he "can't get any candy [in Europe]--any American candy. American candy's the best candy." Once again Randolph sets a tone of nationalism by insinuating that America simply has the best of everything.
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