The Pros And Cons Of Transcendentalism
So seeking self-wisdom is the second main key to becoming a “Transcendentalist”. There is one more of the main characteristics that Thoreau and Chris had in common for as the comparison of the three elements individualism, self-wisdom, and
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.
"I went to the woods because I wished to live deliberately, to front only the essential facts of life, and see if I could not learn what it had to teach, and not, when I came to die, discover that I had not lived.”- Henry David Thoreau. Transcendentalism is an American philosophy that revolves around self-reliance and independence, commonly in nature, a Transcendentalist wants to find the true meaning in life. I believe that Chris McCandless was a Transcendentalist because he was able to leave his whole life behind and take on a minimalist lifestyle while having a strong relationship with god. However, I believe that I am not a Transcendentalist, but simply an adventurer.
“Being footloose is always exhilarated us it's associated in their minds with escape.” Chris from the book “Into The Wild”,by Jon Krakauer, is a transcendentalist because he wanted to escape from the materialistic world and avoid Cytie and to do so he went into the wild. Transcendentalists believe that escaping the materialistic world will bring you to your true self Henry David thoreau a famous transcendentalist once said, "our life is a frittered away by details... simplicity, simplicity, simplicity, I say, that your affairs be as two or three and not hundred or thousand... simplify, simplify. ”Thoreau is saying that People are to bound to a materialistic world and need to break away and if one were to have less things going on could experience life the way one should.
When you go outside into nature all you may see are trees, flowers, and animals. When a transcendentalist goes goes outside and into nature they see so much beauty. They see the souls of the plants, the animals, and the world of nature. They will also use nature to get closer to a higher power. They will find a way to make everything in the world more beautiful than what people without their vision, or ideas would see.
Living out with nature, being confident in oneself, not conforming to what societies wants, and being able to rely on yourself and speak your thoughts is somewhat of a dream for many people. Although it may be a dream for many people, Ralph Waldo Emerson and Henry David Thoreau were able to live that dream and capture it in their writings. They lived life as transcendentalist. In choosing to do so, they began to adapt different traits of who and what transcendentalist were. Transcendentalist think intuitively and reflect on everything around them.
Transcendentalists are the people who believe that there is so much more to the mind than any man knows, and that mankind needs to see what’s been hidden within them in order to become more self aware. In Henry David Thoreau’s manuscript “ Walden,” he wrote, we must learn to reawaken and keep ourselves awake, not by mechanical aids, but by an infinite expectation of the dawn, which does not forsake us in our soundest sleep.” ( Thoreau Walden pg. 748). In this it is evident that Thoreau believed mankind should be driven to find what their minds have subconsciously hidden from them in order to achieve a healthier enlightened mind. Thoreau also believed that not everyone was capable of reaching this state of awareness when he wrote, ‘ the millions are awake enough for physical labor; but only one in a million is awake enough for effective intellectual exertion.”
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
Anti-transcendentalists also argued against the transcendentalist belief on individualism serving a good purpose in the world. Dr. Meg Brulatour states, “Anti-transcendentalist feared that people who desired complete individualism would give into the worse angles of man’s nature… Antitranscendentalists were concerned that without external constraints, such as societal mores, people would be motivated only by their immediate need and desire for sensory gratification.” (Brulatour). It is clear that Anti-transcendentalist viewpoints did not hold a hopeful attitude toward the human
Unbelievable amounts of people of all nationalities visit huge national parks like the Grand Canyon and Yellowstone each year. To say that people don’t enjoy nature at all is a complete lie. Even Chris McCandless said himself that “ ‘the Grand Canyon’ “ is “ ‘something every American should see at least once in his life’ “(Krakauer 57). Enjoying nature does not mean having to go big national parks, it can be things such as camping out in the woods for the night or even picking up trash to help the environment. There will never be a time when nature is not being admired by at least one individual on the earth, and for that reason the transcendentalist values will only succeed to flourish.
I consider myself to be a transcendentalist, after reading the stories. I try to see the positive in every situation, and I don’t try to conform to society, and have respect for nature. A anti- transcendentalist is very negative and often needs proof in order for things to be true. In the story Nature by Ralph Waldo Emerson he talks about the beauty of nature, he says that “nature never wears a mean appearance,” implying that nature is good and you will have to rely on it. An example of an anti- transcendentalist is someone who doesn 't see the positive and that is shown in The Raven by Edgar Allan Poe.
People’s beliefs on nature may not be the same as the transcendentalists, but they still generally respect it. The Native Americans fighting against the DAPL are one example. The pipeline would likely pollute the water and kill many animals, greatly harming the ecosystem of the area. Transcendentalist ideas also reach beyond real life, in the video game Fallout 4
Transcendentalism is a topic generally used throughout stories that have Romanticism. It uses different types of transcendentalism throughout all of the stories that are themed around transcendentalism. They have their own thoughts for what they think is right and ideas to living a fun and a way you want to live your own life. Emerson's “Nature” and Thoreau’s “Civil Disobedience” are good examples of transcendentalism because these texts show people believing in the goodness of people, living a simple life, having a close relationship with nature, and celebrating emotions and imagination.
I’m reading Hunger Games By Suzanne Collins and I have finished the book. This book is about Katniss Everdeen saving her family and friends lives. In this journal I will be evaluating and visualizing. While reading this book I see that Katniss is taking care of peeta but it is usually the other way around.
Transcendentalism, a philosophical and social movement, demonstrated how divinity spreads through all nature and humanity. One of the main ideals of transcendentalism, living simply and independently, define as the principle. In matters of financial and interpersonal relations, independence projects as more valuable than neediness. Henry david Thoreau elaborates on these transcendentalist ideals when he travels into the woods and writes an essay.
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