Tag Archives: Nature

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Humanity or Nature

In “Nature” by R.W.Emerson, the importance of nature, the discussion of spirituality, and the understanding of the world are discussed. In the introduction, Emerson speaks about how humans have beliefs and traditions that try to understand the world, and he begins to question why we continue to follow these beliefs. He begins to ask questions such as “why should we gripe among the dry bones of the past, or put out the living generation masquerade out of its faded wardrobe”(Emerson 1). This question is very important as the reader begins to see the message he is trying to deliver. Emerson does not understand why people are still holding on to old values and accepting these old values rather than living and experiencing the present and creating new traditions based on the present. He wants people to realize the importance of nature and how understanding it will help people understand the world. He is trying to tell the reader that the only way to understand the world is to experience nature and to create beliefs and values based on these experiences.

In this poem, it is clear that Emerson believes in God and also believes in spirituality. He believes that to understand the world, we must form a spiritual connection with the nature around us. Emerson wants people to perceive the world and nature in different ways to be able to establish a connection with them. We see this not only from the introduction but also in chapter one. He gives nature many spiritual connections and gives them significant meanings. For example, he goes on to describe the sky and stars, he says, “The rays that come from those heavenly worlds, will separate between him and what he touches”(Emerson 1). From this line alone, we can see the importance that Emerson has given the sky. He gives the sky a divine nature and also gives the sky a very important role in which it decides what the man looking at it can see and touch. Another example is the way Emerson describes the stars and the importance he gives them. This is what he says about the stars, “The stars awaken a certain reverence, because though always present, they are inaccessible; but all natural objects make a kindred impression when the mind is open to their influence”(Emerson 1). He tells the readers that the stars are always in the sky whenever and wherever they look at them but the experience that can be received from looking at the stars is different each time. He is using nature, in this case, the stars, to describe to the readers how understanding nature can help them understand the world. He reverts to the points he made in the introduction which was that we must be able to perceive the world in the present and forget traditions and values. If we do not learn to understand nature and begin to perceive the world differently, we will get nowhere in understanding it. Emerson wants humans to see the importance of nature and how divine it truly is, he wants the readers to realize that nature is not man-made and it is linked all together. Nature is one and whole, not separate.

This point made by Emerson is way different than the points that were made by Du Bois. In “The Souls of Black Folk”, he focused more on human nature and discussed perception with the reader. Du Bois wants readers to see his experiences as a “negro” and wants the reader to see how it affected him. Unlike Emerson, he focuses on changing human nature and years for a fair and equal world. We can see this is what he wants when he says, “He simply wishes to make it possible for a man to be both a Negro and an American, without being cursed and spit upon by his fellows, without having the doors of Opportunity closed roughly in his face”(Du Bois 1). We can see the distinction between the two and how different their messages are. Even though they are both different it is interesting to see and read both of their works since they both cover “nature”.

Milky Way, Rocks, Night, Landscape, Silhouette, Sky

How She Feels

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In the excerpt from the book Nature, Ralph Waldo Emerson advocates for the abandonment of social constructions and institutions as a step towards reconnecting with reality as individuals. He proposes that individuals should detach themselves from the unnatural world of sciences and books, which have led to the development of industrialization and capitalism, in order to reveal their ability to truly see nature in the way of the poet. This poet is able to become the “transparent eye-ball” which possess the power to see fragments with clarity by renouncing its contrived identity (4).

Zora Neale Hurston in “How it Feels to be Colored Me” applies Emerson’s philosophy to her own life and demonstrates her success in denying the preconceptions that are held by society in order to reveal her true self which she calls “the unconscious Zora of Eatonville” (3) although she admits that she can only be this Zora “at certain times” (4). She denotes a constraint in Emerson’s argument as she emphasizes that her ability to become and feel enlightened is only temporary and therefore limited.

W.E.B. Du Bois emphasizes in the excerpt from The Souls of Black Folk the limitations he experiences with Emerson’s idealized philosophy. He introduces the concept of “double consciousness” and his inability to isolate how one views oneself from how others view oneself because of his desire to live within society (5). Du Bois hopes to be appreciated by society and desires comfort with his identity regardless of his race or skin color.

While Du Bois proposes that this feeling of comfort will transpire from social equality, Emerson believes that equality can only be achieved by reconnecting with nature and denying society entirely. Hurston on the other hand recognizes her ability to alternate between the two opposite states when desired and implies that comfort can be achieved through a matter of choice. Her ability to choose whether to ignore her preconceived identity is enough to bring her comfort and empower herself on an everyday basis. Although Hurston may also hope for social equality in the future as does Du Bois, she has found a way to live in a way that is comfortable to her until Du Bois’ ideal may be fulfilled through the utilization of Emerson’s transcendentalist philosophy. Hurston’s more optimistic approach to her situation neither neglects either of the two arguments and instead is able to provide her with the ability to decide how she feels and recognize her ability to change it.

Back To Nature

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Humanity has an internal struggle of wanting more and becoming better but with this upwards struggle to attain “greatness”, we as a society have drifted apart from each other and our own selves. Looking at this dilemma historically, the mirror was a huge discovery that turned our world upside down. Imagine a world where you have no idea what you look like. Now imagine the first time you looked at a mirror and saw yourself. The mirror created a separation within ourselves, an inner versus outer self. The outer was for the world to see while the inner was something that was heavily altered by the thoughts and opinions of others. Mirrors heavily changed our relationship within ourselves but also created a society of image obsessed individuals. The reason I brought up mirrors while in discussion of “Nature” by R.W Emerson is because I believe that the problem that Emerson wants to fix is our society and how lost we have become.

R.W Emerson argues that we should not learn from books or from others but rather LOOK and learn for ourselves. “…We, through their eyes” we are taught by others but in the end we are shown only what they want us to see. Books are written by people and they are certain biases that can be added and there can be a lot of information left out. Emerson alludes to the idea that we should all retreat back to nature. “In the woods, is perpetual youth…In the woods, we return to reason and faith. There I feel that nothing can befall me in life,—no disgrace, no calamity, (leaving me my eyes,) which nature cannot repair. Standing on the bare ground,—my head bathed by the blithe air, and uplifted into infinite space,—all mean egotism vanishes. I become a transparent eye-ball; I am nothing; I see all; the currents of the Universal Being circulate through me; I am part or particle of God. Nature is our escape from the world of others and others ideas of ourselves. Even though this piece was written in the late 1800s, the idea of returning to nature is still valid in this time period. We are obsessed with other people’s opinions and thoughts and all we care about is how we are looked at by others. We are all narcissists that only see what we wanna see and learn what others put in front of us. Nature is where it all began, it is the most peaceful and untouched place there is. Emerson in a way is warning us of a future of mindless people with no original thoughts or ideas. Emerson questions books and ideas by asking, “why should we grope among the dry bones of the past, or put the living generation into masquerade out of its faded wardrobe?” Emerson in my opinion wants us to look back of how things were before too much human interruptions and see the beauty and tranquility of nature. Seeing is believing and we have look into nature for help.

Emerson Calls, Du Bois Answers

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In the introduction to Ralph Waldo Emerson’s Nature, he implores his audience to resist blind acceptance of conceits of nature from the past, to refrain from putting “the living generation into masquerade out of its [the past’s] faded wardrobe.” Emerson would rather have his readers forge an independent relationship with nature. He says “There are new men, new lands, new thoughts. Let us demand our own works and laws and worship.” Implicit in his call to action, however, is an assumption of freedom. In order to forge an independent path in nature with any effectiveness, one must have the power which comes from wealth, property, etc. Of course, W.E.B. Du Bois did not write The Souls of Black Folk as a response to Emerson’s Nature. But read with Emerson’s call to action in mind, The Souls of Black Folk can be seen as an answer which makes even clearer how necessary to Emerson’s thesis is freedom. Du Bois shows us that for a significant portion of the population, it is simply impossible to escape into the forest to be one with nature, and have the sort of spiritual experience Emerson prescribes.

For Emerson, “In the presence of nature, a wild delight runs through the man, in spite of real sorrows.” He makes clear the connection between the spirit of nature and that of the man; that is, if one is facing adversity, the landscape he regards will take on melancholy colors. It would seem in a reading of the first chapter of Nature that Emerson has rarely felt such alienation from his landscape. Nature for him is boundless, and all waiting for his eye to pass over it. Du Bois speaks little of the natural world in the first chapter of The Souls of Black Folk, but the mentions he does make communicate a radically different relationship.

Throughout his text, Du Bois refers to the veil which separates the African American man from society. He is forced apart from the world around him, left to regard both the natural and man-made worlds through a veil which acts as a wall. For a time, Du Bois tells us, he was able to live above the veil, in a blue sky, which, just as Emerson promised it to be, “was bluest when I could beat my mates at examination-time, or beat them at a foot-race, or even beat their stringy heads.” As Du Bois finds ways to inch closer to the power and freedom which will allow him access to the world as Emerson sees it, the sky around him grows richer, and inspires greater joy. However, after a time, living above the veil was no longer possible.

“The shades of the prison-house closed round about us all: walls strait and stubborn to the whitest, but relentlessly narrow, tall, and unscalable to sons of night who must plod darkly on in resignation, or beat unavailing palms against the stone, or steadily, half hopelessly, watch the streak of blue above.” Here, we can see that a mature Du Bois’ conception of nature comes not from a freedom to roam in it, nor even, maybe, from the writings of the generations before him, but only from within a prison of society’s creation, and the limits to his vision its windows present. The streak of blue sky represents freedom for Du Bois, but only insofar as it is unattainable.

It is most clear in his writings that Du Bois is not able to gain full access to the world around him, and the freedoms it offers, from beyond this veil. His viewpoint stands in stark contrast to the description in the climax of Emerson’s argument in Nature’s first chapter. Here, Emerson is entirely unencumbered. He is “a transparent eye-ball”; there is nothing in the way of his taking in all of the land before him, or further, from regarding it as his own based on his singular ability to truly see it. Surely, we cannot suppose based on his writings that Du Bois conceives of a time where he will ever have such an experience. And so, his thesis serves as an answer to Emerson’s call.