Finding Patriotism

Finding Patriotism

Taking my English writing instructor’s advice, one day during my lunch break from work; I went on a short trip to Faneuil Hall. This historical building blends in with other red brick buildings in Boston. Therefore, you might pass it by, if it were not for the painted red line representing the Freedom Trail and a statue of Samuel Adams in the middle of the plaza. Before entering the building, one might compare this moment with, as Walker Percy says.

"Seeing the canyon is made even more difficult by what the sight- seer does when the moment arrives, when sovereign knower confronts the thing to be known. Instead of looking at it, he photographs it. There is no confrontation at all." (589).

This may also explain my expectations of Faneuil Hall, picturing how my friends had described it to me. As Waker Percy would say “the privileged knower” , “ the preformed complex”.

As the pamphlet describes:

“FANEUIL HALL TODAY

Into the 20th Century, Faneuil Hall has remained an active and important place for Bostonians. In the early 19th Century the three granite structures of the Quincy Market were built to the east of the Hall. These, along with Faneuil Hall’s market stalls, continued to be Boston’s wholesale food distribution center until the 1960s. During the 1970s the entire Faneuil Hall area underwent a major renewal, and today the stalls purvey food to the thousands of visitors each day.”

Entering the building, I was expecting to see a museum of some sort, but instead I encountered commercialism everywhere. They were selling things from tee shirts of Larry Bird (a famous basketball player), to Babe Ruth (a famous baseball player). It was disappointing to say the least. Does this have some significance to any sightseers who are expecting to see a historical site? It is a place where one should be inspired by what they are expected to find. Again I am inspired to what, as Walker Percy says “Will this as Walker Percy says “the sightseer measures his satisfaction by the degree to which the canyon conforms to the preformed complex”. I then went to the information desk and took a pamphlet, which described Faneuil Hall. I decided to return the following day.

Upon further reading the pamphlet, I overlooked the fact that the place had more to offer. The pamphlet describes a meeting room on the second floor and a museum on the third floor.