Ralph Waldo Emerson

ANNIHILATION OF CASTE THE UNDELIVERED SPEECH OF Dr. AMBEDKAR “Annihilation of Caste is B.R. Ambedkar’s most radical text. It is not an argument directed at Hindu fundamentalists or extremists, but at those who considered themselves moderate, those whom Ambedkar called “the best of Hindus”— and some academics call “left-wing Hindus”. Ambedkar’s point is that to believe in the Hindu Shastra’s and to simultaneously think of oneself as liberal or moderate is a contradiction in terms. When…

Young Goodman Brown and The Legend of Sleepy Hollow were both written in and about a similar time period. Hawthorne and Irving were contemporaries, and Irving was an inspiration for the writers that followed in his footsteps during his lifetime, including Hawthorne, and the similarities between these two stories are numerous as a result. Both lived during a time where the hypocrisy of Puritan values was very prescient in the minds of philosophers and writers. America was still a young country,…

Nature: the Clarifier Henry David Thoreau’s Where I Lived, and What I Lived For explains not only the assets but the necessity of living away from other human beings in nature to see the reality of human existence and control the mind as one controls one’s hands. Thoreau seeks to sweep away the “mud and slush of opinion, and prejudice, and tradition” (Thoreau 280). He juxtaposes the ideas of where he lives and what he lives with while seeking freedom in nature. After Thoreau fully relinquishes…

Transcending the Norm Transcendentalism can be defined as the knowledge of oneself and the world that cannot be seen, heard, or touched. Transcendentalists cultivated many new philosophies relating to this knowledge. Although Transcendentalism reached its peak in the 19th-century, it is still relevant to current American culture through its principles of living in the present, independence from technology and material objects, and Civil Disobedience. One vital tenet of Transcendentalism is of…

Existentialism, also known as individualism, is a psychological belief originating in the late 19th century and developed throughout the 20th century in France. It was first influenced by Sartre’s philosophical view, or in general the cultural progression disciplined by theology, dramatic arts and literature. The main concept varies in philosophical, religious and political views that construct the belief’s intuition. It embraces atheism, in which existentialists believe there is no God to rule…

The Heart of the Matter is an exploration of same existential issues as have been found in Brighton Rock and The Power and the Glory. In The Power and the Glory. Greene deals with the dehumanizing elements in modern life, and shows the importance of faith rising from man’s personal experience. It hints at Greene’s dissatisfaction with organized religion as it limits the individual’s freedom. The ideological conflict between the lieutenant and the priest forms the central pattern of the book. The…

Political ideologies began to transpire during the Enlightenment and really hit their stride in the 19th century, also known as the “age of ideology" (Mintz et al., 2018, pg. 55). Even though ideologies have been grandstanding for so long, it is time to bring an end to them. The nature of ideologies restricts debate and stops discourse. Especially in modern times, being labeled as a “liberal” or a “conservative” is in some forms, quite derogatory or used as an insult. In fact, some people…

Emerson, Thoreau, Krakauer, and Donavan all share common themes having to do with transcendental beliefs and also nature. All of the articles explain how the character sets a goal for himself to stand up for what he believes in or to make the best out of what you have and their goals become too overwhelming. First, in Donovan’s “It's All-On-Me,” the poet explains how it is up to him to make the best out of every situation. For example, the first line states “It's all on me…” Next, Donovan…

A Native American saying is, “The tragedy of life is not death but what we let die inside of us while we live.” Both Puritans and Native Americans would have found this to be true after we examine their literary pieces. The first form of literature we see in America was Native American myths. These were origin myths about nature used to elaborate on the beginning of a part of creation. Then there was a shift between Native American myths to Puritan literature. Puritans used mostly poetry to…

One novel that has impacted my life greatly would have to be Hatchet by Gary Paulsen. This story is about a young miner who was in an airplane crash. The airplane landed in a lake in the forest. The boy had to learn how to survive on his own with nothing, but his hatchet. That special hatchet was a gift from his mother, which she gave him before his airplane departed. Throughout the summer, he learns how to survive in the part of the wilderness he had never seen before. Particularly, this book…