Themes
Key
LitCharts assigns a color and icon to each theme in The Ugly American, which you can use to track the themes throughout the work.
The Failure of the American Foreign Service
Communism vs. Capitalism
Grassroots Development
Self-Interested Philanthropy
Racism and Cultural Insensitivity
Summary
Analysis
Marie MacIntosh is 28 years old, “drab,” single, and secretly miserable in her life. She lives in a tiny apartment with three other girls and has a “responsible” but dull job. However, the Foreign Service hires her and sends her to Sarkhan. After living there for a month, she sends her former roommates a letter gushing about her luxurious house and new job, which comes with servants, good pay, cheap liquor, and fancy parties. She even gets a salary bonus because America defines Sarkhan as a “hardship post.”
Marie’s character exists solely to demonstrate how someone can be lured to the Foreign Service by luxury and high living, rather than by any desire to make a positive impact abroad. Notably, Marie herself is not criticized. Instead, the authors simply demonstrate how the current system draws unqualified workers who are not dedicated to any cause and are instead motivated by self-interest.
Themes
