Jon Krakauer, Chris McCandless, and Henry David Thoreau reveal the philosophy of Transcendentalism. After reading Into the Wild by Jon Krakauer and Henry David Thoreau’s excerpts from Walden, readers see that Transcendentalism plays an important role in Chris McCandless’s and Henry Thoreau’s lives. Chris McCandless and Henry Thoreau have similar beliefs in Transcendentalism. Both men adopt deliberation, individualism, and self-wisdom. Chris McCandless adopts deliberation as a way of life.
While Thoreau’s admiration for the true human spirit and self-reliance is admirable it is also problematic because it is from a privileged viewpoint. Thoreau is also a hyper intelligent, able-bodied man in the early 19th century. And Fredrick Douglass might also represent a privileged viewpoint because he was able to recognize forms of the system that was constructed around him because of his hyper intelligence. While reading and exploring thought elevated his self-reliance and independence it was his own personal intelligence and determination to be able to dismantle his social barriers. While I do not believe Douglass is the only slave to push back on his physical and mental bondage, it can be assumed that it was not the norm of American Slavery because then slavery might
Jon Krakauer, Chris McCandless, and Henry David Thoreau express the aspects of Transcendentalism in their three points of view. Transcendentalism is based on the belief that human beings have self-wisdom and may gain this knowledge or wisdom by how nature flows. It has three common themes: self-wisdom, nature and its meaning, and social reform. Chris McCandless’s life expressed in Krakauer’s Into the Wild is similar to the Transcendental beliefs of Thoreau’s Walden. The first Transcendental point of Chris McCandless’s and Henry David Thoreau’s lives is their dislike of material possessions.
Henry David Thoreau and Ralph Waldo Emerson had two different views on how America should be ran and two different views on society. Thoreau didn’t like people acting against the government, but he also believed that the government shouldn’t be in other people’s business. Emerson believed that the government should have power, but not control people’s lives. They both believed that the government shouldn’t be able to interfere in people’s lives. “Government is best which governs not at all.”
Salzman continues by quoting Hall, “In my knowledge quest I search for the secrets of the mind. I start with psychology. With a perfect understanding of the way the mind works and reacts to certain situations” (184). I think it’s great that Nathaniel wants to enhance what he already knows, to go on a quest for knowledge. I can relate to this because I’m currently on a journey to enhance my own knowledge through life experience and education.
The main similarity in the writings of Thomas Jefferson and Henry David Thoreau is the idea of revolution against an abusive government. The main difference is the context in which each document was written, the Declaration of Independence as the colonies were rebelling against Great Britain and forming their own government, and Civil Disobedience as criticisms of the government developed within nearly seventy-five years after the signing of the Declaration. Both Jefferson and Thoreau share ideas of revolution, although overthrowing the government is seen in many cases as illegal. Both documents share a common theme of revolution, and both authors believe the best way to move toward a better government is civil disobedience. Jefferson and Thoreau believe that whether it is the struggle for independence or being freed from injustices of the government, civil disobedience and revolution are necessary in order to live in a society based on freedom.
Even though these characters like Jay Gatsby, Victor Frankenstein, Holden Caulfield, Daisy Buchannan and Janie Peace carry themselves in an eccentric manner, These writers of these novels (F. Scott Fitzgerald, Mary Shelley J.D. Salinger and Zora Neale Hurston) have gone against the stereotype of what classifies someone as being mad because the persons in the novel were aware of their actions, these characters have experienced some kind of trauma that forced them to react the way they do and all of these individuals from the novel seem to be misunderstood. These writers have made it very clear that their characters have been aware of their actions the entire duration of the novel. In The Great Gatsby, Jay Gatsby knew exactly what he was doing and why he was doing what he did. This was an extremely clear indication that he could be classified as a person with sanity. One can infer that the only time
2. Thoreau refers to civil disobedience not merely as a right but as a duty to emphasize the need for individual to have the capability to defend their honest thoughts. As it states, “I think we should be men first, and subjects afterwards” (Thoreau 941). Thoreau wishes for the individuals in society to be able to preach their truth, even if it means to display non-conformity to the government expressing unjust laws. 4.
Henry David Thoreau’s, “Walden” and Nathaniel Hawthorne’s, “The Scarlet Letter” share a common theme in romanticism of religion in different ways. Religion was a very prominent theme in the Romanticism period. Popular writers Henry David Thoreau and Nathaniel Hawthorne had underlying themes that expressed religion in different lights. Thoreau’s transcendentalist experience in “Walden” portray the idealisms of the 19th century religion. Hawthorne's opinion on religion is shown through his characters in his novel that are physical representations of the religion itself.
Many people in today's society are deciding not to be themselves, but rather conforming to the norm. People are living their lives using a counterfeit identity instead of being the original person that God made them out to be. God made everyone different and unique for a reason; He did not intend for everyone to be the same. The problem that is prevalent across the world is that nobody wants to be seen has weird or different from everybody else, so they do whatever it takes to be seen as normal. When people make that decision to fall into the pressures of fitting in, they tend to lose sight of who they really are.
Nathaniel Hawthorne is one of the most studied and influential writers in history. His many works use symbolism and allegory to portray their purpose, filling them with deep meaning and offering a wide variety of interpretation. Hawthorne was not particularly proud of his family history; he disagreed with some of his ancestors positions in the salem witch trials. He distanced himself with that part of his family and added a “w” to his name to further do so. Hawthorne was born in Salem Massachusetts, which gave him a prevalent theme of puritanism in many of his stories.
Transcendentalist writers were focused on the belief of the divinity of the individual soul, the inner voice, (Crawford, Kern & Needleman, 1961) to overcome social stereotypes and to avoid conformity. It is highlighted the importance to return to nature to enhance the quality of humans beings by living simply since being apart of common social rules is the only way to be in communion with nature’s wisdom. Those transcendental characteristics could be seen in Emerson’s ¨self-reliance¨ or Thoreau’s ¨Walden ¨ bearing in mind that although, Emerson’s ¨Self-reliance¨ adheres more descriptive examples to illustrate metaphors and Thoreau’s ¨Where I lived and what I lived for¨ introduces metaphors creating much more imagery, both make a critique of the modern individual using
Compare and Contrast Between the 2 articles on similar themes, there are 4 reasons. (1) Gandhi and Thoreau both would not agree in certain things like laws. (2) Gandhi and Thoreau discussed civil disobedience. (3) Gandhi and Thoreau were influenced in writing their expressions, and how both wrote their expressions against the government and laws. Gandhi and Thoreau have different perspectives of the laws, and what people should follow.
Woodrow Wilson, including his state secretary, William Jennings Bryan, came into office with little involvement in foreign relations. However, with an assurance to construct their approach in light of good standards as opposed to the narrow-minded realism that they accepted had energized their ancestors' projects. Persuaded that majority rule government (democracy) was picking up quality all through the world, they were anxious to support the procedure. In 1916, the Democratic-controlled Congress guaranteed the inhabitants of the Philippine Islands autonomy; the following year, Puerto Rico accomplished regional status, and its occupants progressed toward becoming U.S. natives. This paper intends to analyze a portion of the ways the US has dealt
Ralph Waldo Emerson and Henry David Thoreau both fond nature to be essential to being a whole person: spiritually and emotionally. Emerson saw nature’s effect on people and their thoughts, whereas Thoreau saw the deliberateness of nature and thought that if people could seize the same decisiveness that they would have more to enjoy in life. Both authors believed that humans needed to enjoy nature to be one with the universal being that is the basis of Transcendentalism. Emerson wrote “When we speak of nature in this manner, we have a distinct but most poetical sense in the mind.” (Nature 693) Emerson was saying that nature is similar to poetry for the mind, in that it is relaxing and wholesome.
