Thoreau, Ms. Alcott, and Christopher McCandless

When I read Louisa May Alcott's "Transcendental Wild Oats", I didn't think it was very funny. After reading these serious philosophical pieces by Emerson and Thoreau, I wanted to take her piece "Transcendental Wild Oats" literally. Needless to say, after discussing the article during class today, I gained a better understanding of the many different levels of humor in the piece. After discussing Alcott's article more in class with Chris, I think that my favorite line from it was:

"'I shall wait till it is made clear to me. Being in preference to doing is the great aim, and this comes to us rather by a resigned willingness than a wilful activity, which is a check to all divine growth,' responded Brother Timon.
'I thought so.' And Mrs. Lamb sighed audibly, for during the year he had spent in her family Brother Timon had so faithfully carried out his idea of 'being, not doing,' that she had found his "divine growth" both an expensive and unsatisfactory process."

As we were discussing in class on Wednesday, I know that others and I believe that simply "being" is not enough. This philosophy made me think of the wonderful non-fiction book (and movie) "Into the Wild", which chronicles the life of Christopher McCandless. I remember from the book that the main character Christopher McCandless believed in many Thoreau-esque transcendentalist ideals throughout high school and college, and Louisa May Alcott's satire about "being, not doing" made me think of a particular passage from "Into the Wild" similar to this one. There's a passage in the book (which I cannot seem to find online) about McCandless's high school band teacher. He said that his teacher would tell the students statements such as "now imagine yourself playing your instrument. Imagine yourself playing this piece." Now anyone who's ever tried to become an accomplished musician knows that this notion is utterly ridiculous because practice is ultimately key to improvement. The irony is that McCandless eventually quit band even though his teacher obviously had similar philosophies to himself. I guess the point that I'm trying to make is that it's nearly impossible to live Thoreau's standards even if a person desires to do so. And in my mind, simply being, is not enough.

Also, please read "Into the Wild"! It's a great book that displays the life of a modern-day transcendentalist.

^Can't we just all be friends?