Transcendentalism In Ferris Bueller's Day Off And Fight Club

There are many pieces of literature and media that embody the idea of transcendentalism and anti-transcendentalism. In this quarter, we have read Bartleby the Scrivener by Herman Melville, “Self-Reliance” by Ralph Waldo Emerson, and Walden by Henry David Thoreau. We have also watched the films Ferris Bueller’s Day Off and Fight Club, all of which refers to transcendentalism and anti-transcendentalism in some way or another. Transcendentalism is the belief that knowledge of reality is derived from intuitive sources rather than from objective experience (The American Heritage Dictionary). Anti-Transcendentalism is the belief in society, institutions, material possessions and that all humans are in some way inherently evil. Transcendentalists, more often than not, live off the grid all by themselves in light of the fact that they no longer want to be a part of society. They believe …show more content…
The movie is about a boy name Ferris Bueller that is very good at cutting school and just as good with getting away with it. Because of the reason that he has missed nine days of school he wants to skip school for the last time before graduating. He pretends he is sick, borrows a Ferrari and has adventurous day with his best friend and his girlfriend. Ferris is a transcendentalist because he doesn’t like to go to school and school is a form of institution. His best friend, Cameron Frye, is anti-transcendentalism because he is always worried about the higher authority like his dad when he let Bueller borrow the Ferrari, and like the principal when he helped Bueller get his girlfriend, Sloane Peterson, dismissed from school. Cameron’s father is also anti-transcendentalist because Cameron states, “my father loves this car more than life itself.” His father is in love materials and spent three years restoring the car like it is his passion even though at the end of the day, it is just a