The Transcendental Movement of the early nineteenth century composed of beliefs that laid within a person’s deeper self: the belief of a higher reality and knowledge that is beyond those that are reached by human reason. Also, the belief that an individual on their own has the capability to find the higher truth using intuition. The philosophies of Transcendentalism are intuition, simplicity, nature, non – conformity, individuality, and self – reliance.
Transcendentalism is simply defined as having the belief that the most significant reality is what is sensed or found using intuition rather than having scientific knowledge or thought. Emerson believed that if an individual followed intuition and stayed faithful to their personal vision, they would find “an original relation to the universe” (Emerson, 1836, Introduction.) Thoreau believed that reality only occurred in the spiritual world and people’s conflicts could be resolved by freely developing emotions. In the novel Bless Me Ultima, Ultima looks to nature as Emerson does, creating a more spiritual path that can be followed; nature does not lie. By learning to nurture, an individual will learn to be empathetic and can determine what is right for their self. Chris McCandless from the novel, Into the Wild, believed that nature was peaceful and could be used as a place to reflect upon his life; he approached life in a transcendental way. McCandless was also a non – conformist who rejected the entirety of society. Emerson and Thoreau’s beliefs are used as ways to approach nature and life. The ideals and philosophies of Transcendentalism has validity and can be applied logically to real life despite being seen as over – beyond realism.
Emerson and Thoreau incorporated elements of individuality in some sense and praised the idealism of self – reliance and involved themselves that helped develop society or promote social progress. The validity of Transcendental thought is apparent in Thoreau’s piece, Walden, “Rather than love, than money, than fame, give me truth” (Thoreau, 1854, para. 18.) Thoreau heavily criticized the path that society was heading towards and it’s commercialization. In real life, societies are being developed to meet the speculator’s needs and are lacking in newer forms of understanding the world and most importantly, self – dependability. In the novel, Into the Wild, McCandless lives in Bullhead City, Arizona with a job at a fast food chain restaurant and an opened savings account. For two months, he lived in conformity as society did but eventually abandoned his newer way of living by ridding of the excessiveness that money brought and the dullness that society lived with; he had entirely rejected materialism. As society lived with no change in social progress, they would never achieve self – independence. Thoreau stated, “To have done anything just for money is to have been truly idle.” Besides commercialization, Emerson believed that every individual must build their understanding of the universe. “It is remarkable how easily…we fall into a particular route and make a beaten track for ourselves.” Spirituality in Emerson’s works is known as nature which an individual sees a new God and body, and bonds with their surroundings as one. In Bless Me Ultima, Antonio comes into conflict with making personal moral decisions and his experiences force him to question what is considered to be right and wrong. He also constantly questions his own beliefs and whether if they legitimately exist or if they are non -existential. Ultima helps Antonio understand the differences between right and wrong which eases his transition from boy to man. In different ways, Emerson and Thoreau have influenced McCandless to be a non – conformist and have individuality, Ultima guides Antonio to a spiritual path that differentiates between right and wrong, the ideals of Transcendentalism have validity in ways of developing individuality that shifts from society’s conformity and in religious context.
Transcendentalists heavily believed in individualism and thought institutions within societies had the potential to corrupt an individual’s purity; in reality, individuals legitimately existed with a purpose to have non – conformity. “Whoso would be a man, must be a nonconformist” (Emerson, 1841, para. 1.) As discussed in Self – Reliance by Emerson, every individual should avoid conformity and false constancy and follow their intuition and visions. Journalist, Hunter S. Thompson created Gonzo journalism that carried humor, sarcasm, and profanity. Similar to the Transcendentalists, Thompson wrote works of non – conformity, he was objective towards traditional journalism. “I don’t feel that it’s necessary to tell…how I feel about the principle of individuality…[but] I’m going to have to spend the rest of my life expressing it.”
Individualism is a realistic philosophy that individuals succumb to when society conforms to thought that is purely scientific and no more than ordinary. People alike Thompson go beyond basic thought and use their voice to encourage civil disobedience, Transcendentalism in the Journalism context has realism since Thompson is going beyond what others chose to avoid. In Civil Disobedience by Thoreau, he exaggerates that an individual must make their own conscience a priority over dictating laws. Moreover, Thompson is prioritizing his own conscious by creating his own form of journalism that dictates against common journalism formats. Other non – conformists such as McCandless aimed to communicate and live with nature to find themselves, it couldn’t be found in society, only away from it. In more depth, individualism is the main belief that the Transcendentalists followed, it was used by figures of history to create their individuality.
In Bless Me Ultima, Emerson’s asserted philosophy that nature is magic and when entered, it is magical proves validity when Ultima shows Antonio her magical powers and teaches him that life can be seen in various ways. By following a spiritual path, it can teach patience, an opened mind, and self – reliance. “Go out of the house to see the moon, and it is mere tinsel, it will not please as when its light shines upon your necessary journey.” (Emerson 32) Emerson explains that the outdoors provide an unknown enchantment that could change individuals physically and mentally. As comparable to McCandless, nature’s beauty is used as a solution to diminish spiritual or emotional difficulties. Transcendentalist writers saw a bond between the universe and the individual soul which McCandless found in nature, presumably he found the “oversoul” that connected the individual, God, and nature. Returning to Bless Me Ultima, Antonio questions Ultima’s ethics especially “whether someone had broken the cross they made or whether they had fallen” (Anaya 135.) Despite questioning Ultima, Antonio learns that she is a good and moral being using his intuition. A core belief in the Transcendentalist movement is using intuition during experiences and not reason. Intuition is a valid and logical ability that has been used frequently outside of the Transcendentalism movement. It does not require conscious reasoning and can be a guide down spiritual and emotional paths. Trusting in intuition and seeing ideas in nature are both existential in the world, intuition was used by beings long before evolution developed them and nature allowed a place of escape from the world to create a more free – spirited mind.