The narrator is identifying both himself and the audience as people who would be better served by a world that disregards the notion of trespassing, and thus the ownership of land. The folk tradition allows Guthrie to insert this political identification and implicit critique smoothly, without breaking the rhetorical flow of the song.
Guthrie's critique only become more pointed, as the narrator describes seeing "his people" "by the relief office […] / as they stood hungry," which makes him ask "is this land made for you and me?" Guthrie contrasts the idealized world of the first few verses with the bleak reality of hunger and poverty in America after the Great Depression, and he uses the image of hungry people to vividly demonstrate the fact that American capitalism is not a system made for the majority of people living within it. Instead, it is based on a system of exploitation that necessarily creates a lower class of citizen, and Guthrie contrasts this harsh system with the promise supposedly offered by the best notions of America.
Guthrie's critique was particularly relevant in 1940, as the country had not yet recovered from the Great Depression even as it was inching towards World War II, but it is almost eerily relevant today, as the country staggers back from the most devastating economic meltdown since the original Great Depression. Anti-capitalism and egalitarian protest groups have expanded substantially in the wake of this recent downturn, and more and more people are realizing that the...
In effect, politicians are making Guthrie's point for him, because they are demonstrating exactly what happens to the political ideas of those people who the land is decidedly not made for.
The success of Guthrie's political message depends upon his ability to blend his protest with folk traditions, but his message's resonance is due to his insights into the inequality of American society. By examining the lyrics of "This Land is Your Land," one is able to see how Guthrie uses folk standards to contrast the idealized America with the bleakness of reality. Guthrie's influence on music and the culture at large stems from precisely this kind of insight and skill, because he is able to use the accessibility of folk to convey an important political message to people it might not otherwise reach.
Works Cited
Blake, Matthew. "Woody Guthrie." Journalism History 35.4 (2010): 184-93.
Guthrie, Woody. writ. "This Land is Your Land." 1940.
Kaufman, Will. "Prophet Singer: The Voice and Vision of Woody Guthrie."
Modernism/Modernity 16.2 (2009): 455-457.
Rapp, Paul. "Roll Over, Woody Guthrie." Voices 31.1 (2005):…
