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Diane Oneydy Alonzo
Transcendence into Individualism
In
the course of American Renaissance, I read literature that was familiar to
American society, but may not have been as in depth as I analyzed it in this
course. During this period of history, writers like Ralph Walter Emerson and
Henry David Thoreau brought great change not only to the way people thought, but
also their livelihood. The dependence on the government fluctuated during this
time and brought much enlightenment to normal society. Literature helped bring
ideas of Transcendentalism to the public. In Deism, a belief introduced to
America by our founding fathers, a Supreme Being is the source of finite
existence. Through Deism, one is able to separate themselves from religious
constructs and society, and achieve transcendence or oneness with the divine. In
poetry, stories and essays, Thoreau and Emerson influenced many people to the
ideas of individualism. To me, this course was not only a way to look at the
past, but to see how I, as a teacher, can influence the future.
Throughout this course, the themes of transcendentalism and individualism were
visible. Transcendentalism, to me, means that one can rise above their normal
state into a higher and possibly divine state when a person has a deep
connection with nature. The term in American Renaissance took many identities.
From becoming one with nature and the divine, to an individual achieving a goal.
Although I learned about the transcendentalist movement in philosophy and
history courses, the literature I read gave me a deeper understanding of the
thoughts of some of the most inspirational writers in American history. It
taught me that when one is overcome by materialism, societal structures and
selfishness, simple goals of achieving true happiness are impossible. When one
sets all societal influences to the side, and focuses on himself or herself as
an individual, they can achieve enlightenment within themselves. It is a
beautiful idea. Unfortunately, in the modern world, it is difficult for many
people to create a space for self-discovery. Technology, politics, religion, and
many other outside pressures can influence people to negate their individualism.
In
the essay Nature by Ralph Walter
Emerson, he writes that nature is what a human is not. When one separates
himself or herself from society, one sees that he or she is nothing, but a speck
in the universe. He writes that a child has the ability to imagine an impossible
world, while an adult has completely lost that skill. As an adult, humans are
slaves to society. Through materialism, family responsibilities, and the
commonwealth of society, adults have become detached from individualism. These
influences drown individualism by consuming adults so that they may never find
the truth. He writes:
“All science has
one aim, namely, to find a
theory of nature. We have theories of races and of functions,
but scarcely yet a remote approach to an
idea of creation. We
are now so far from the road to truth, that religious teachers
dispute and hate each other, and speculative men are esteemed unsound and
frivolous.”
He describes that nature has all the answers to all the mysteries of the world,
but if we cannot open our intelligence to the understanding of nature, we will
never have the answers we seek. All that is truth is visible through
transcendence in nature. Religion nowadays, seems to be one view bringing
negativity to other views, and in the end, they create a hate for one another.
Christian Philosopher, Blaise Pascal, says that,
“All
who seek God apart from Jesus Christ, and who rest in nature, either find no
light to satisfy them, or form for themselves a means of knowing God and serving
him without a Mediator.” We have let politics and
religion obstruct our true views. The universal questions that we try to
discover are difficult to analyze. Can we transcend and be religious? Can we
live in a society and have our individualism? Do we follow religion and
government for stability, comfort and security, and give up the views that make
us who we are?
In
Resistance to Civil Government by
Henry David Thoreau, he writes that we must not let the government overpower our
individualism. Civil disobedience relies on transcendentalism. Thoreau writes
that through resisting the government, we are keeping our individualism. The
problem that I see within society and myself is that we “talk the talk, but
can’t walk the walk.” Words are powerful, but actions are the only way to make
change. Thoreau’s literature lit a fire in me to make a change, but I am also
afraid to act upon them. I think about my family, home and job. His words are
exhilarating, but the thought of loneliness is terrifying. He writes that a
laissez-faire government, which does not intervene in society, is best for
America. He states:
“All machines have their friction;
and possibly this does enough good to counter-balance the evil. At any rate, it
is a great evil to make a stir about it. But when the friction comes to have its
machine, and oppression and robbery are organized, I say, let us not have such a
machine any longer. In other words, when a sixth of the population of a nation
which has undertaken to be the refuge of liberty are slaves, and a whole country is
unjustly overrun and conquered by a foreign army, and subjected to military law, I
think that it is not too soon for honest men to rebel and revolutionize. What
makes this duty the more urgent is that fact that the country so overrun is not
our own, but ours is the invading
army.”
The machine is the function of government in society. He says that the
government may do more good than evil, but when the government begins to
intervene in excess, by enslaving people and conquering Mexico with no viable
reason, other than greed, we must revolt and stop the machine. The only way that
change can happen is by protesting the majority view and challenging their
reasoning. As an individualist, one will always be the minority. The only way to
correct a majority’s evil is by disobeying the government. This way, the
individual will be noticed for disrupting the order of society, and the
transcendent goal will be achieved through the change in government.
During the American Renaissance, the United States discovered that the
individual although just a small portion of the greater universe, can achieve
great things, if he or she can transcend from society and the constraints it
brings. Through the literature of rebels like Emerson and Thoreau, the reader
came to a realization that although they are only one, it only takes one to
cause change. One cannot just stand by and expect a change in society; they must
act upon their thoughts. To achieve the truth, one must separate from society
and become one with nature and God. I feel I have transcended throughout this
course. I have found truth in the literature of the past. It has inspired me to
become an activist and stand for what I believe in. I must put all materialism
to achieve truth.
