“And He Built a Crooked House”
Robert A. Heinlein devotes two overriding fallacies in the overall depiction of Americans. First, Heinlein declares, “Americans are considered crazy anywhere in the world.” This rendering is a hasty generalization which deduces that all Americans are wild. According to Heinlein, being American is equivalent to being mad.
Second, Heinlein exploits an amalgamation of a Red herring and slippery slope in typifying Americans further. Heinlein observes, “They (Americans) will usually concede a basis for the accusation but point to California as the focus of the infection. Californians stoutly maintain that their bad reputation is derived solely from the acts of the inhabitants of Los Angeles County. Angelenos will, when pressed, admit the charge but explain hastily, "It's Hollywood. It's not our fault—we didn't ask for it; Hollywood just grew." Blaming California, ‘inhabitants of Los Angeles’, and Hollywood are instances of Red herrings that transferal blameworthiness to locations instead of the existent issues. Additionally, Heinlein conjectures that there is an inexorable slippery slope of the impugning that progresses in this sequence: First, Americans denunciate the Californians; the Californians fault Angelenos; finally, the Angelenos impugn Hollywood. Based on Heinlein’s argument, the slippery slope of the imputed admonitions is apparent.
“Columbus Was a Dope”
“Columbus Was a Dope” is an actual historical allusion to Christopher Columbus’ defining and hazardous expedition which materially subsidized the excursion and unearthing of the Americas. Alluding to “Columbus’ spirit” is material in personifying the characters’ proclivity for excursions. Fred Nolan contends that he would not ‘go along on the Pegasus Expedition” because Some have the Columbus spirit and some haven't.” Comparatively, Appleby champions “Columbus’ spirit” for he holds “It can't be explained. Why do men try to climb Mount Everest? What took Peary to the North Pole? Why did Columbus get the Queen to hock her jewels? Nobody has ever been to Proxima Centauri - so we're going." Appleby’s affirmation renders him a risk taker who would go on a precarious, unfamiliar undertaking that has never been embarked on or experimented. Appleby anticipates to take his family along in the excursion so that his daughter Diane will not be inevitably be propelled to an orphanage should they not endure the hazardous mission.
