Ramsay is a gentle and thoughtful man who believes in both fate and free will. At the beginning of the novel, Ramsay experiences an emotional crisis, being unfamiliar with every single side of his own character. However, considering that Ramsay does believe into living by his own rules, he is not afraid to review and expand his beliefs. He stands up for Mary Dempster against the villagers in Deptford, and, apparently, does not accept his mother’s view of Mrs. Dempster even at the price of losing his mother forever. This event proves that Dunstan is the type of a person who would rather follow his own mind and heart then go along with the mob mentality.
Bruce Dawes ‘Homo Suburbiensis’ conveys a strict contradiction between nature and the suburban lifestyle. A man alone acting as one constant against a changing world representing a need to escape to nature to regain his natural essence. There is a sense of honesty and somber in the tone; this is illustrated by the use of visual imagery throughout the poem, depicting a series of unpleasant sensory experiences, which come from the unwanted interference's’ in life. The poem is narrative in its free verse, portraying the worlds natural cycle. Dawe has created the title ‘Homo Suburbiensis’ which is like a parody of scientific classification, as it sounds like the term’ Homosapien’ which refers to a modernized man who dwells in the suburbs.
It implies that to truly live life, one must seek simplicity, harmony with nature, and to follow one’s own path. Thoreau strongly believes and advocates that those who live lives of luxury and in mainstream culture created by the Industrial Revolution aren’t really living. He believes this illusion of progress impedes man’s spiritual transcendence, true happiness, and understanding of the essential facts of life. Thoreau’s advice encourages one to rid of superfluous possessions and social activities so as to lead as simple and "bare bones" a life as possible. The advice explains that “life near the bone is sweetest.” The simple life (i.e.
“Nature” is an accurate illustration of the views that the transcendentalists had on the natural world. By immersing himself in nature, he says that he is given a new sense of clarity, divinity, and enlightenment that cannot be gained anywhere but in nature. He was a strong believer that finding oneself and exploring one’s own soul is the ultimate pursuit of happiness, that the ultimate fulfillment in life would be self-discovery. Henry David Thoreau, Emerson’s short-time housemate, held very similar ideas, and found the works of his friend inspirational. Thoreau’s essay, “Civil Disobedience”, describes his idea of rebellion against laws he felt were unnecessary or unjust.
Sir Gawain is challenged. Gawain’s quest is not a typical challenge of the heroic knight errant; rather it is the inner-wrought moral challenge of Gawain’s soul, and of his own human nature. Gawain’s quest takes him from the shining court of Arthur to the fetid Chapel Green. Along the way Gawain is sorely tested, both in bravery and chivalry. Though Gawain pridefully upholds the highest perfection of moral codes and Christian knighthood, he comes to recognize a painful lesson; that all men are merely human, and thus imperfect as nature created him.
Blade runner & Frankenstein NOTES: • Both focus on the “eyes being the windows to the soul” • Both show the importance of nature • Both questions that we as humans should be asking ourselves such a “what is social justice” and “should humans play god” • The power of nature depicted in Frankenstein is juxtaposed with the dystopian world of BR and the lack of nature. • Many of the characters find peace in nature for example, victor Frankenstein says “These sublime and magnificent scenes afforded me the greatest consolation that I was capable of receiving”. • There are parallels to victor FS, his greed for knowledge and the creation of his monster. Greed without consideration of the consequence of one’s actions is a key concern raised in BR and FS. • The meaning of what it is to be human is raised greatly in both texts.
In an attempt to relieve himself from societal oppression, Paul, too, embarks on a journey away from his hometown completely possessed by his unregulated desire for the upscale and glamorous life. Through the use of setting, Hawthorne and Cather chart the transformation of their protagonists and underscore the prevailing struggle of the individual against his social and innate circumstance as well as the persistent battle between the id and the superego. In Young Goodman Brown, the village is characterised “as a place of social and moral order and is analogous to Freud’s superego” (1999). His act of venturing into “the heart of the dark wilderness” (7) is thus a clear indication of him “crossing the (moral) threshold” (1) and allowing for the subjugation of his superego. The deep recesses of the forest is representative of his repressed Freudian id.
He and his mentor, Emerson, protested the ideas of slavery and had their beliefs solely focused on the goodness of people and nature (Woodlief 3). The purpose of Thoreau going into the woods was because he believed that society and the institutions with it corrupt the purity of the individual. Though Thoreau received no national awards, he will forever be seen as the co-founder of Transcendentalism and the father of naturalism. His works are ones to look up to, as many have, either for becoming a revolutionary or learning to stray from technology and become an individual. Resources 1.
In Huxley’s’ Brave New World, the world’s motto states community, Identity, and Stability (Huxley 3), in contrast to 1984’s, War is Peace, Ignorance is Strength, and Freedom is Slavery motto (Orwell 4). The novel Brave New World shows that in order for a dystopian society to achieve a state of stability, a loss of individuality, and the undoing of mother nature must occur. Successfully engineering these conditions produces a world where people are finally living "happily ever after," but at a great cost. The main element of what makes a person unique are the emotions that inhabit their minds, which they can control to some degree, "Actual happiness always looks pretty squalid in comparison with the over-compensations for misery" (Huxley 150). However, in Brave New World, the government uses the drug soma to suppress humans from having negative emotions.
Both men not only exhibited intellectual curiosity concerning the meaningful components of life, but they acted upon the principle of discovering, if possible, their individual notions of the spirit of life. For this reason, Thoreau and McCandless represent “the best of liberal individualism, encompassing risk and refusal, optimism and utter confidence” (Watkins 2009, 11). Next, there is Thoreau’s declaration in Walden to his “fellows,” “As long as possible live free and uncommitted” (Thoreau 1854, 69). McCandless absolutely took note of this advice, almost to a fault, ridding himself of all burdensome possessions and actively avoiding emotional attachment with people that he met during his cross-country trek. Material possessions and any excess beyond the bare necessities seem to represent barriers to Thoreau and McCandless’ higher goals of freedom, and intellectual and spiritual