Enforcing fragments : a critical analysis of the mythological messages in Frank Capra's Why we fight series

This thesis is a rhetorical analysis of Frank Capra's World War II information film series, Why We Fight, produced from 1942-1945. The series' mythological messages are examined using the four national parables as defined by Robert Reich (1987), namely The Mob at the Gates, The Triumphant Individual, The Benevolent Community, and The Rot at the Top. The values conveyed through the national parables are analyzed using a delineation of 17 core American values provided by Steele and Redding (1962). The analysis reveals the basic narrative structure of the series constituted by the myths, The Battle of Good and Evil and The Foundation Myth of America. Particularly, these two myths are crucial for America's shift from an isolationist to interventionist paradigm in foreign policy. This change in the mythical system initiated America's emergence as a world power after World War II.Department of TelecommunicationsThesis (M.A.