What this post will
explore is how, despite his independence, America is still equated to a child
by England. I will also touch on how America fights against this image and
overcompensates by attempting to discard any association of his childhood with
England.

England: 

As designated by the title,
America’s independence didn’t stop England from infantilizing him. Instead,
what you’ll see is that in light of losing his responsibility of guardianship,
England turns to criticizing everything America does and often meddles in his
affairs. Unconsciously, he’s unwilling to relinquish the authority that he had
over America.

Of course, America is
chronologically young in comparison to other nations, but there is still
something distinct in the way that England fusses over everything the former
does. It’s similar to an estranged parent that hasn’t come to terms with the fact
that they’ve lost control over their adult child.

Some examples of England’s
meddling would be…

Ex: England is caught
meddling in America’s political affairs during the latter’s Civil War [x].

Ex: England conveniently
shows up when America attempts to establish a trading agreement with Japan [x].

Ex: When Lithuania moves
in with America to pursue work, England immediately turns up. He wants to know
how Lithuania is being treated. 

Translation: he wants to know what’s going on in
America’s life but is too prideful to admit it [x].

Some examples of his critical,
often condescending, attitude toward America would be…

Ex: When America arrives
at the African Warfront in WW2, England is dismayed over having to “babysit.”

In the same strip, he has
an entire dream sequence where he worries about America injuring himself.

Ex: He hypocritically
reprimands America for running his mouth during a world meeting despite having
a foul mouth himself.

Ex: He bashes America’s
[admittedly childish] world defense plan, referring to him as a “spoiled child” [x].

America:

America’s hero complex,
in large, is an expression of his autonomy, his ability to succeed, and the
ability to assume the responsibility of making choices for both himself and
others. The only problem is that any reminder of his past with England doesn’t
reconcile with this new image of himself.

It’s for this reason that
I believe America suppresses any hint of his childhood with England. In other
words, it works against the mature, capable person that he’s constructed
himself to be.

Ex: England falls asleep
during a world meeting. It’s only until England starts murmuring his dream out
loud that America wakes him up. To be fair, it would be mortifying to have your
past bedwetting habit revealed.

Ex: America drinks
coffee out of spite. Drinking tea would be an acknowledgment of his past as a
subordinate. It’s a childish way of him wanting to differentiate himself from
England [x].

Ex: Lithuania finds the
toy soldiers that England gave to America when he was younger. *In arrives
England for a surprise visit* America becomes distressed and tells
Lithuania to hide the toy soldiers [x].

In sum, even though
America formally gained his independence from England, both struggled to readjust
and form new images of themselves in the aftermath.