Imagine a place where there is peace, love and happiness shared amongst a community. This sounds so far-fetched from the world in which we live, and to most people this place is unimaginable. The majority of people don’t understand that we live in a world in which happiness and peace comes at the expense of another class of people. Whether or not you understand this doesn’t make you guilty of anything, it just makes you normal. Figuratively, the setting of the story, “The Ones Who Walk Away From Omelas” relates quite well to the setting in which we live in on a daily basis.
My Definition: Transcendentalism I would define transcendentalism as an overwhelming sense of being independent, by practicing free thought, not being influenced by anything or anybody to make your own decisions, and the serenity of nature being a divine presence in your spiritual well-being. A person who is transcendental should be able to awaken every morning and look outside and see past the everyday outside objects such as the trees or the clouds. This person should be able to feel the calmness and peace that these simple wonders provide. It is almost a curiosity that the observer should experience, with losing themselves in such magnificent elements. When Ralph Waldo Emerson observed nature, he states that, “nothing can befall him in life, no disgrace or calamity, when he is observing nature.” He is speaking of almost being absorbed into nature and becoming a part of it.
Contemporary foragers are confined mostly to the Arctic, the desert, and the rainforest. These are places that others did not want to inhabit because of environmental barriers in food production. This allows the foraging communities to continue to remain fairly isolated, or having interaction with other societies on their own terms. There are many things that we can learn from the Foraging communities. These communities are not wasteful of their resources, and they are also not gluttons.
Although we gain a sense that the people on the island were grateful to him and knew how well off they were, the gushing title seems strongly suggestive of the false ‘happiness and perfection’ he finds in the first island. The title, ‘Master’ presents him as a godly figure of worship seeking control of his followers. The idea of control could be seen as ironic. The story tells us that nature brings disorder and no matter how hard we may try, it is impossible to control and become master of nature and the elements. Throughout the section on the first island, the character is addressed as both the ‘islander’ and the ‘Master’.
Thus, Priam acknowledges his role as a King, “to think of the king’s sacred body, this brief six feet of earth he moves and breathes in…as at once a body like any other and an abstract of the lands he represents, their living map”. However, his insecurity arises from the fact that he understands so little of “what is out there that he represents” since his “more usual role is to stand still at the centre”. Somax has “seen king Priam only at a distance” and, close up, finds him a “spare old fellow”. This however, is
Being There Hal Ashby, director of Being There, illustrates the life of a simple man who loves to take care of his garden. This man, Chance, grew up without much contact with the outside world or even with other people, and his reality comes from one of his passion, which is television. An assumption is defined as “something taken for granted or accepted as true without proof.”1 An example would be when trying to solve a problem; people just jump to conclusions before even spending time talking about what the issue really is about. Most of our assumptions, in my opinion, are based on beliefs. When you believe strongly about something you will just assume whatever you believe is right about the subject, sometimes not even checking if you are right or wrong.
Also, there really isn’t any way to get ahead because you are always trying to help out everyone else, there isn’t much competition. Also because everyone is so alike there is a lack of culture, mainly because the culture is singular, there is only one. Personally, I do come from a Gemeinschaft. I grew up in Hollidaysburg, PA which is a small town about a half hour away from State College. I like its ideals of a sense of community and I like the altruistic small town vibe it exuberates, however, I think part of the reason I like Pittsburgh so much is that it is more of a Gesellschaft.
There is no competition within castes because each member receives the same food, housing and soma rationing as everyone else of that caste, so there is no jealousy within the society. There is also no desire to change one’s caste, largely because a person’s sleep-learning teaches that his or her caste is superior to the other four. Since there is no jealousy and competition, Brave New World remains stable and everybody is satisfied with their lives and hence, they are living happily and peacefully. Citizens, however, are living without freedom. Freedom in the society has been sacrificed for what Mustapha Mond calls happiness.
Emerson and Thoreau agree that in the transition from childhood to adulthood, man restricts original thoughts and actions so that he may be accepted by others, which impedes his individual growth. In Emerson’s essay “Self Reliance,” he considers that “A boy is in the parlour what the pits is in his playhouse; independent, irresponsible ... He cumbers himself never about consequences, about interests: he gives an independent, genuine verdict.” Emerson emphasizes that a child does what he desires and freely speaks what’s on his mind without consideration of consequences. Emerson admires such genuine actions because they express uninhibited and uninfluenced original thought which is critical to a person’s development as a unique individual. In contrast, Emerson deems that “man is, as it were, clapped into jail by his consciousness; as soon as he has once acted with éclat, he is a committed person.” As man matures into adulthood, he begins to take into account others’ opinions, conforming to how he should think and act in society so that he may gain the approval of his peers, and through this, he loses his own inner voice and his uniqueness which defines him … metaphorically, he is "jailed.” Emerson believes that successful men are those,
In Nature, Emerson says, Standing on the bare ground - my head bathed by the blithe air and uplifted into infinite space - all mean egotism vanishes. I become a transparent eyeball (Emerson 215). Here, he is saying that being in such a simple environment he is able to see things more clearly. He has deeper thoughts. Like Emerson, Thoreau also wanted to live a simple life, in order to find deeper meaning in life.