Thoreau, Emerson and Kesey

Essa semana tive um dever de casa para fazer que eu gostei muito e decidi posta-lo. Eu estou estudando sobre o Transcidentalism e o grupo de Transcidentalistas que moraram aqui no meu estado la pelos ano 1800 na minha classe de "Seminario do Primeiro Ano". E na minha classe de ingles estou estudando o movimento Contracultural da decada de 60. Dai as duas classes decidiram se unir nesse Trabalho e fizeram os alunos escolherem tres personagens e fazerem uma redacao em como eles se relacionam. Poderia ter sido 2 dos anos 60 e 1 transcidentalista ou vice versa. Ai esta o meu -

It’s incredible how I got to a point that in the majority of my classes, the topics match and the characters have one to do with the other. In my English classes (Teddy and Polly’s classes) that happens more often then usually since the professors do that on purpose. After reading and analyzing so many different characters in both classes I will relate two from Polly’s class with one from Teddy’s class.

In Polly’s class we are studying the Transcendentalists that lived in Concord in the 1800’s. While in Teddy’s class we are studying the Countercultural movement that took place in the 1960’s. Both happening have a lot in common to one another. Both of them give significance to nature, are against war, value the life in small communities, etc.

One person that was very inflective in the 60’s was Ken Kesey. While on the 1800’s examples of Transcendentalists are Emerson and Thoreau.

Ken Kesey was well known because of the book he wrote in 1962 called “One Flew over the Cuckoos Nest” there is a lot of evidence in the book that connects him to Transcendentalism. The emphasis on the present, independence, individualism, and God's spirit alive in nature. These remarkable subjects of the transcendentalist philosophy are seen in specific points in Ken Kesey's book. The book also shows rebellion and individualism which are also topics that connect Kesey with the transcedentalists.

Thoreau believed almost in what the hippies believed. Now that I am studying the sixties I am seeing some similarities between Thoreau and the ideals of the hippies in the sixties. He was a very clever man with ideals that were so innovative that even today remain remarkable. For sure the hippies suffered a very big influence by transcendentalism. If we in the 21^st century study about them, in the sixties they for sure used him as a source of knowledge.

He was very countercultural even though he didn’t live in the decade of the Countercultural Movement. He went to Harvard as a scholarship student and established a reputation as an individualist. Someone that is individualist is someone that cares more about themselves then about others and what others might think of them. By reading about his individualism, I noticed that he wasn’t affected by external groups such as society, traditions, and ideological systems. He had his own philosophy and followed it and that shows a little of counterculture. He had his beliefs and he didn’t care if those ideals were against the norms for a clever white men. The fact that he was characterized in that way can be also be seen in the book “Thoreau had always been an outsider.” (American Bloomsbury, 23) By being an “outsider” means to be someone who doesn’t belong in the environment which they live, in this case, Thoreau don’t share the same thoughts as the rest of society and he clearly don’t belong with the average people of his time. That show a connection between him and the countercultural movement.

The majority of the interpretations of “One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest” suggest that Kesey wrote it while he was using drugs. However, it is clear in Ken Kesey's writings that it includes traditions of the original transcendentalists. Such as strong themes of rebellion and reform, individualism, and “the healing aspect of nature, all of which are characteristics of transcendental thought. Based on this literary movement's ideas, an accurate assumption can be formed that Ken Kesey's novel, One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest, exhibits modern applications of nineteenth century transcendentalism ("Kesey, Ken" 230)."

Emerson was also a Transcendentalist. The Transcendentalists were antiwar and antislavery. The period of time they were active was the 1800’s and that was when the USA took over Mexico. It was also a century of slavery owners and plantations. Emerson was in opposition to the majority of society that were his skin color, and from his social status. Kesey was also antiwar and anti racial prejudice. He was active in the 60’s and that is when the USA took over Vietnam and when ML King was fighting for racial equality. Since Kesey lived in an era of drugs, people claim that he was on drugs when he wrote the majority of his literary work. But if Emerson wrote about the “transparent eyeball” in a drug epoch he would for sure be labeled as a drug user.

The three of them have a lot in common. I am taking philosophy this semester, and as I stated in the beginning its incredible how the subjects overlap. I am studying about Kant, and he is the roots of Transcendentalism. While Thoreau and Emerson are the hearts, and Kesey is a Modern Transcendentalist.