[Antonia Maric]

In “Transcendental Wild Oats,” Louisa May Alcott proposes living in a utopian society, where the lifestyle is based off of what nature gives. She consistently mentions harmony deriving from nature, and removing manmade societal norms, such as money to aid in this production of harmony: “Money was abjured, as the roots of all evil” (45). Alcott explicitly expresses this utopian society as an idealistic and peaceful world. Because of this presentation, Alcott demonstrates transcendentalist ideals of being one with nature, and obtaining all necessities from the land. She writes, “Nature knew what was best for them, and would generously supply their needs, if they could only learn to digest her “sallets” and wild roots” (42). In this phrase, Alcott explains the dominant role of nature in human life and its power. These ideas most obviously relate to Walden because in both scenarios humans leave society to form a new one within nature. However, in Walden Thoreau ventures alone, whereas in Alcott’s story a community forms. Thoreau illustrates living in nature alone can prove successful, but also does not recommend it as a permanent lifestyle. At the end of Alcott’s story she realizes an entire society based off of similar ideals cannot work when she states, “The world was not ready for Utopia” (47). Ultimately Alcott argues the Transcendentalist lifestyle does not work.

Elizabeth Cady Stanton’s speech is wildly different from Alcott’s story. She strongly focuses on the role of the woman in government and society. She is a strong proprietor of education and work, whereas Thoreau believes this to be a waste in living life. Stanton claims, “An uneducated woman, trained to dependence, with no resources in herself must make a failure of any position in life” (4). She fully supports education as a means to success for women and the idea of “individual development” (4). Because of her central focus on the development of the mind and individuality, Stanton is not a supporter of transcendentalism. However, she does recognize “Nature as the greatest of all teachers in the hour of science and death” (7). When discussing the Bay of Biscay storm, Stanton illustrates nature does have power in human life. While a prominent believer in education, Stanton presents nature as the ultimate tool for learning. Both Stanton and Alcott express there is a positive side to nature and transcendentalism, but that it is not effective for a well-working society.

[Antonia Maric]

Henry David Thoreau proposes a life of simplicity over a life of labor, which pursuing a degree at Geneseo ensues. In Walden, he immediately writes, ” Men labor under a mistake” (3). Thoreau implies working in a highly material society is a mistake when trying to lead a happy life, continuing to state, “Most men… are so occupied with the factitious cares and superfluously course labors of life that its finer fruits cannot be plucked by them” (3). In this phrase, Thoreau demonstrates his idea that in civilization, we work for frivolous  needs, rather than actual necessity. As a transcendentalist, Thoreau is a strong supporter of connecting with nature, finding simplistic means to live.

All of us studying here at Geneseo plan to move on to higher education and/or careers that do require a college degree. These types of careers Thoreau deems unnecessary, as we are laboring too much. He claims working too hard will cause us to miss the joy in life (3). Thoreau offers the idea that we are better off working more simplistic jobs, such as farming, in order to lead a happier life. Thoreau demonstrates this environment-connected lifestyle lead to contentment, as well as cost efficiency.

Thoreau travels into in-depth detail of his costs to fully convince the costly benefits of the simplistic lifestyle (35-40). While we spend thousands of dollars for education and rooming, Thoreau manages to keep his costs under a hundred dollars for eight months. Not only does Thoreau save an exorbitant amount of money, he also makes a profit. With this introduction of cost efficiency, Thoreau proves yet again another reason why a simple life will be better than the one college students are headed towards. Thoreau even names the college student as the “poor student” (33).

Thoreau believes we are not in tune with the true “economy of living” (33). While in school we are taught politics, science, etc., but we are not taught what it truly means to live a life of contentment. Through his writing, Thoreau promotes a more transcendentalist lifestyle, encouraging a simpler way of living. Considering the costs of college and the struggle of finding a job afterwards, Thoreau’s modest lifestyle during his time in the woods does seem inviting.

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