A COUNTRY’S DREAM (Part—I)

             

             

 

                   

 

A country’s dream signifies its goal, objectives and ideologies. A country’s dream determines its style of functioning, organizing and constituting its laws and principles. It is the national ethos of the country and shows its political, social and cultural aspects. America is a new country that started with a noble dream and high aspirations. The American dream is to provide equal opportunities to all irrespective of race, religion and color and create avenues for upward mobility to everyone. The American dream is achieved through sacrifice, risk-taking and hard work. The standard icon of the American dream is the statue of Liberty. It was about originality, individualism and pursuit of happiness.

 Jefferson articulated the “American dream” in his United States Declaration of Independence written in 1776 which stated that the pursuit of happiness is a fundamental right and all men are created equal.   “We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.”

 The American dream crystallized the ideals of liberty, democracy and equality which had really originated from Europe. Life in America created favorable conditions to realize these ideals in real life as far as possible. Vernon L. Perrington explains the American dream as the process of “a better, richer and happier life for all our citizens of every rank.” 

 The American dream is viewed from two perspectives; religious and secular. From the religious point of view America is viewed as a New Jerusalem, a new Garden of Eden or new Israel with an obviously lofty future. On the other hand the secular interpretation lays emphasis on having a happy family, owning a house and being successful in the land of opportunities with endless possibilities. Benjamin Franklin felt that character and hard work constitute the dream when acquired with values and morality. 

According to American history there are two types of American dreams: the collective and the individual. At individual level it is the dream of a person to get what one seeks. The desire to settle down, to have a good job and to have a happy family is the personal aspiration. At collective level it is transmission of heritage from generation to generation the ideals of democracy, liberty and equality.

The term “The American dream” was first used by James Translow Adams in his book “The Epic of America” written in 1931. The American dream is that dream of a land in which life should be better and richer and fuller for everyone with opportunity for each according to ability or achievement. Alexis de Toqueville, the French historian, in his book “Democracy in America”, the American dream is “the charm of the anticipated success.”

  The American dream was complex and comprises three parts. The first part is that it sprang from the prevailing conditions of the nineteenth century American life. The chief characteristic of this life was westward expansion or the frontier expansion. Secondly the American dream was influenced by the combination of reality and the idea of a new world offering endless opportunities for a new life. Thirdly the American dream is a combination of certain ideals like liberty, democracy and equality which created a new society with many opportunities for growth and development. 

The American society was previously assumed as a melting pot of various cultures with diverse qualities and skills emphasizing the combination of parts into a single whole. But really speaking it is like a bouquet of flowers with diverse colors each flower retaining its own identity, yet mixing with other ones to form a beautiful bunch of flowers. According to salad bowl theory America as a multi-cultural society is metaphorically compared to a salad bowl integrating different cultures while maintaining their separate identities.

American Literature may be described broadly as an expression of the American dream. Scott Fitzgerald’s “The great Gatsby” (1925), Arthur Miller’s “Death of a salesman” and Theodore Dreiser’s “An American Tragedy’ (1925) show the negative aspects of the American dream. The famous American dramatist, Eugene O’Neill exposed the illusory nature of the American dream in his plays. Ernest Hemingway in his novel “The old man and the sea” considers success and inner peace as concepts of the American dream. William Dean Howells in his novel “The rise of Silas Lapham” discusses the life of a self-made man depicting America as a land of opportunities with endless possibilities.

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     25th September, 2020                   Somaseshu Gutala

The Impact of Transcendentalism on American Society

                          

                      

                                             

                                                   Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803-1882)                            

                              

                                                        Margaret Fuller (1810-1850)

      

                                                 Henry David Thoreau (1817-1862)

                                                      Bronson Alcott's House, Fruitlands

                            

                                                      Thoreau's residence at Walden

  Transcendentalism is a new philosophical and literary movement which brought significant changes in the American society between1830-1860. The term “transcendental” was first used by the German philosopher, Immanuel Kant, in his book “Critique of Pure reason” (1781 and 1787).  In his reply to the skeptical philosophy of Locke, who insisted that intellect derives knowledge and experience through senses, Kant opined that very important class of ideas are acquired through intuitions of the mind which he denominated as transcendental forms. The term “Transcend” means to “go beyond one’s sensual perceptions.” It comes through intuition and imagination and not through logic or senses.

 The transcendentalists believed that everything in creation is a reflection of God. The physical world is the doorway to God. People can use their intuition to see God in Nature and in their minds. Feeling and intuition are superior to reason and intellect. They advocated the idea of a personal God and thought that no intermediary is necessary to get knowledge about God and spiritual insight. They embraced idealism focusing on Nature and opposing materialism. They believed in equality, individualism, self-reliance, integrity, optimism, self-confidence and in subjective intuition over objective empiricism. Most of these people settled in the area around Concord near Boston in Massachusetts.

 It is a reaction against Unitarianism which depended on rational thinking. It also opposed the Puritan concept of human depravity and rigid adherence to religious norms and conventions. Emerson in his essay “The American Scholar” says, “A foolish consistency is the hobgoblin of little minds adored by little statesmen, philosophers and divines.” The Unitarians tried to reconcile Locke’s empiricism with Christianity stating that Christ’s miracles provide solid evidence for the truth of religion. Transcendentalists admired Channing’s idea that human beings could become more like God. William Ellery Channing (1780-1842) said that orthodox congregationalism as a religion of fear. In his sermon “Unitarian Christianity’ (1819) he denounced the conspiracy of ages against the liberty of Christians.

The transcendental philosophy of Kant influenced the Transcendentalists to a large extent. The Unitarian Minister and student of Harvard Divinity School, Henry Hedge (1805-1890) organized the transcendental Club in 1836 of which George Ripley, Bronson Alcott and Emerson (1803-1882) were prominent members. They organized nearly thirty meetings between 1836 and 1840. Margaret Fuller, a transcendentalist and woman’s rights activist edited the journal “The Dial” along with Emerson in 1840. Emerson disseminated his thoughts through his essays (two volumes, 1841 and 1844) and gave more than 1500 public lectures to spread the ideals of transcendentalism stressing the need individuality, equality and freedom of thinking without imitating other cultures. Many transcendentalist writers contributed their articles to this journal. Thus they prepared the ground for the first flowering of the American Renaissance producing great writers like Walt Whitman, Herman Melville and Nathaniel Hawthorne.

Margaret Fuller’s book “Woman in the nineteenth century” (1848) was the first feminist manifesto. Elizabeth Palmer Peabody, another female transcendentalist, acted as the business manager of the journal “The Dial” and also established the first English language Kindergarten school in U.S. Another transcendentalist is Louisa May Alcott (1832-1888) was an American novelist, short story writer and poet. She was well-known for her novel “Little Women” (1868) and its sequels “Little Men” (1871 Men” (1871) and “Jo’s Boys” (1886).

 Many transcendentalists tried to explore and experiment with new schemes of living to put their ideals into practice. Thoreau at Walden Pond near Concord, Massachusetts, stayed for two years, two months and two days (1845-1847) to show one can stay happily and peacefully with simple needs in peaceful surroundings of nature. Bronson Alcott, Louis May Alcott’s father, moved to Fruitlands Farmhouse in Harvard town along with his friend Charles Lane in June 1843 to put his philosophical beliefs regarding community family into action. Nearly twenty members lived in this community for six months following the rules of shared labor, prohibition of animal products and abolition of slavery. Louisa May gave a fictionalized account of this event in her story, “Transcendental wild oats.” George Ripley, an American Unitarian Minister and journalist founded a Utopian community at Brook Farm in West Roxbury, Massachusetts in 1841 to follow the transcendentalist principles. Ripley as a social reformer believed in equality of all genders and races and was against the cruel convention of slavery. This community was closed in 1847 due to financial troubles.

 During his European trip Emerson met Thomas Carlyle in 1831. Carlyle’s view of “Natural Supernaturalism” that Nature, including human beings have the power and authority which is traditionally attributed to an independent deity, influenced Emerson. In his essay “American Scholar”, Emerson reiterates that action along with Nature and the mind of the past is essential to humane education. Emerson rejected the Unitarian argument that miracles prove the truth of Christianity. The concepts of the love of beauty, morality and the universal presence of God were taken by him from the Romantic poets.  Thus the influence of Romantic poets with their subjective idealistic approach, contemplation of Nature and individual attitude influenced transcendentalists.

 The influence of Indian scriptures especially that of The Bhagavadgita, Upanishads and Puranas is evident in many transcendentalist writers. Emerson took keen interest in studying Indian poets like Kalidasa and Indian philosophy during a greater part of his life from 1820-1870. His poem “Brahma” depicts the Upanishadic concept of God as all- pervading pure and formless Brahman. He formulated the idea of the "Oversoul" as the absolute reality and basis of all existence; It is the spiritual base or essence of the ideal Nature and is imperfectly manifested in human beings.  In the lines “The strong gods pine for my abode….But, thou, meek lover of the good! Find me and turn thy back on heaven.”—Emerson describes the Karma Yogi who performs actions without expecting any results. Henry David Thoreau studied Hindu and Buddhist philosophy which influenced his concept of pantheism that shows no distinction between human and natural world. Thoreau in his book “Walden” wrote, “In the morning I bathe my intellect in the stupendous and cosmogonal philosophy of the Bhagavatgita.”

  Many transcendentalists supported abolition of slavery, equality of races and women suffrage. They infused an optimistic attitude with a positive outlook and elevated man’s stature from that of a sinner to that of an aspiring soul with a divine spark who can reach godly heights through introspection and pure thoughts. They opposed materialistic attitude and defended the supremacy of creative imagination and insight over dry reason and intellect. They stressed that each country should evolve its own culture and literature without blind imitation. They redefined the idea of religion as an individual affair directed towards self-improvement and moral enlightenment. They criticized government, organized religion, oppressive laws, and increasing industrialization and sought reforms in education and labor laws. Thus one can say that transcendentalism brought about a sweeping change in American society in many fields like religion, culture, literature, politics and education. It laid the foundation for the typical American dream of establishing a flourishing nation with economic prosperity, democratic spirit and creative minds.

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        14th September, 2020                      Somaseshu Gutala