Where Have You Been: Transcendentalism, And Naturalism

Transcendentalism, realism, and naturalism, are three different eras that create different works of writing. Transcendentalism is the view that basic truths can be reached through intuition rather than through reason. Transcendentalists also believe in the idea in the Over Soul which is the idea that each individual being has a certain “spark of divine” within themselves. Also that the Over Soul connects all people to each other and Nature. These ideas of equality for all, being connected with nature, not conforming to the societal norms, and following your bliss, are all seen throughout writings from this period. Realism and Naturalism are two views that are very similar except realism tells it like it is not commenting on how or if humans …show more content…
In Oates’ story, Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been, it follows a teenanger named Connie who has not found herself yet. She follows societal norms very closely and is afraid to be herself. Even though on the outside she seems like an over confident girl, on the inside, she is lost and does not know who she is. To cover up her very unconfident personality when she is out with her friends, she follows societal norms, which gives her some happiness and allows her to fit in. The speaker says, “ She wore a pullover jersey top that looked one way when she was at home and another way when she was away from home. Everything about her had two sides to it, one for home and one for anywhere that was not home… her laugh, which was cynical and drawling at home, “Haha very funny”, but high pitched and nervous anywhere else, like the jingling of the charms on her bracelet” (pg 3-4). Even though Connie has broken away from her mom and the norms that her mother used to expect from her, she is still on the path that society has created. She acts like her friends act. She wears her clothes a certain way that is “cool”, she acts a certain way to impress boys and her friends, and she has turned into a clone of …show more content…
In Ursula LeGuin’s story, The Ones Who Walk Away from Omelas, it tells the story of a perfect society, Omelas, that’s happiness thrives on the suffering of a person. Omelas is a perfect society, there is no crime, everyone has a job, everyone has a good amount of money, it is the definition of perfect. The problem with Omelas is that the happiness of the entire society depends on the suffering of a person who lives in a closet in the basement. Even though the person is suffering, no one will try and help it because they do not want to sacrifice their perfect society. The speaker says, “To exchange all the goodness and grace of every life in Omelas for that single, small improvement: to throw away the happiness of thousands for the chance of the happiness of one: that would be to let guilt within the walls within” (pg 2). Even though this person has never done anything to the people of Omelas, they are still letting it be punished so they can live in happiness. They would rather be happy and live in a perfect society while having a child suffer, than letting the child free and dealing with a less than perfect society where there are issues. This idea