Transcendentalism and Nature
Transcendentalism Today Though there are many basic premises of transcendentalism, being close to nature seems to be the most practiced still today, yet people never notice the amount of influence of this particular principle. Everyone has a little transcendentalism in him or her, but even those people are wondering how that is even possible. Look at the movies children watch, songs people listen to, and stories that are read. Transcendentalists are so much more influential than they ever could have thought possible. “Nature is a setting that fits equally well a comic or a mourning piece” (Emerson 1). These are the words of Ralph Waldo Emerson. His words can be found to be a perfect fit for one particular instance in the movie The Lion King 2: Simba’s Pride. One example would be when Kovu is teaching Kiara to hunt. He tells her to dig her claws through the earth so that she does not make noise. This fits this movie because it shows that Kiara is learning through nature, which represents the “mourning piece” (Emerson 1). She has to be completely focused through nature in order to be focused on her developing skills. It also goes to show that she has to transcend with the earth in order for her to know how to hunt. “The greatest delight which the fields and woods minister, is the suggestion of an occult relation between man and the vegetable” (Emerson 1). Here, Emerson is saying that nature provides food for people, hence the fact that people should be grateful for it and learn from it. When life gives lemons, eat them. Kiara is simply learning through nature on how to hunt. Throughout this same movie, there is the song “We Are One.” Its transcendentalistic ways show how everything is the same, or connected to the over-soul. If everyone learns through nature, then everyone is connected through the over-soul. Nature completes the human society. “The flowers, the animals, the mountains, reflected the wisdom of his best hour…” (Emerson 1). In the book Wolf Brother
Cited: Page "Blog Archives - Buffy - My Life As A Dog." “The Soul Meets Nature.” 2012. Web. 12 Nov 2012. . Emerson, Ralph W.. "Nature by Ralph Waldo Emerson." Oregon State University. Web. 12 Nov 2012. . Reed