Democracy and Pragmatism Philosophies: Approaches to “The Grapes of Wrath” Essay

In 1939, â€Å"The Grapes of Wrath† by John Steinbeck formed an agitation of excitement and controversy upon its emancipation. The book forced the American public into a heightened awareness of national consciousness. Influenced by the thoughts of several dominant American philosophies such as transcendentalism, democracy and pragmatism, Steinbeck creates a masterpiece that edifies Americans about their value scheme. This work of art finds its main lineage from three following elements of American philosophy: Emersonian Transcendentalism with its perception of the oversoul and conviction in the common man, Walt Whitman’s devotion of the common man and his credence in mass Democracy, and Pragmatism as advocated by William James and John Dewey. Transcendentalism Transcendentalism is a belief system that espouses a non-traditional appreciation of nature and includes intuition, individuality, and self-reliance. It initiated as a remonstration, in opposition to the general situation of society, and specifically, the state of intellectualism and the doctrine of the Unitarian church at that juncture. Transcendentalists’ fundamental principle is an epitome of spiritual state that goes beyond the physical and empirical aspects and is barely attained through people’s instincts, rather than through the dogma of conventional religions (Goodman). Steinbeck was indeed influenced by this philosophy and the ideologies of this are evident in his novel, â€Å"The Grapes of Wrath†. The author conveys the idea of transcendentalism to the readers through a range of exceedingly noteworthy characters. One such character is that of Jim Casey, a former reverend and long-time acquaintance of the Joads. As a preacher like none other, he does not give a sermon of the conformist thoughts of Christian faith. Instead, he sermonizes of the Emersonian tenets of the Oversoul. Jim Casey symbolizes a contemporary Christ form who desires to pass on spiritual solidity to migratory people heading towards the West (Steinbeck). Among the various correlations between Jim Casey and Jesus Christ are the following. Casey pays attention to the people, thinks deeply and philosophically about what is happening to them, and becomes a role model for most of the characters in the story. A quote from the narrative denotes the aforementioned similarities. â€Å"Muley is a lost soul. He wouldn’t come along with us† (Steinbeck). Casey in this quotation acts as Jesus Christ contemplating why Muley, depicted as one of His Apostles, would not approach and follow him. Alternatively, transcendentalism can also be seen in Ralph Waldo Emerson’s essay, which is entitled Nature. As indicated in his essay, he believes that a nation of men will exist because each believes that he is inspired by the Divine Soul which also fills all men with stimulation (Emerson). He closed the article by encouraging men for a revolution in human consciousness. â€Å"Emerson discards the Unitarian line of reasoning that miracles confirms the fact of Christianity and finds evidence for religion being more direct in creating a pious response† (Goodman). Democracy This is generally defined as the rule of the people where the individuals share in guiding the national activities, functioning either directly or by means of delegates, to manage their associations for their particular objectives. Equality is of great worth in considering this and would free persons as much as feasible from constraints which are not self-imposed. Steinbeck was also influenced by this philosophy and its ideologies are also reflected in his work. One of his characters, named Tom Joad, the oldest child of Ma and Pa Joad represents this. As we can cite in the book’s introduction, â€Å"Tom Joad gets a lift at a truck stop and tells the driver he’s paroled from prison in McAlester (for murder) and he’s headed home† (Steinbeck), the author unveils Tom as departing from imprisonment which symbolizes democracy and arrives at their place after being on the rampage. He subsequently learns a lot of things from their family friend, Jim Casey, and eventually matures in the course of their voyage, leaving their customary society to combat disparity (Steinbeck). In connection with advocating democracy, another avid supporter of this view comes with the poem referred to as â€Å"I Hear America Singing†. Walt Whitman, as the author, appears to have the love of all men and of mass democracy. Blessed with an exceptional ear for inner cadence, his application of a musical tone and mood all through the poem makes a connection to the concept of the free democratic structure in the society. Whitman expresses his considerably liberated, undulating, and continuing stanzas which invigorated the whole world of rhythmical style of writing, and particularly asserts that America has to establish its own modern dynamic and hearty voice. He made a hymn the whole time with his piece. His couplet embarks on presenting various people with different everyday tasks. In their daily lives each person sings â€Å"what belongs to him or her and to none else† (Whitman). Through his poem, he voices his belief that every American has pride in their life and vocation; thus, enhancing the concept of democracy. And for this, Whitman is honored as the Bard of Democracy, as the United States of America came to address the excellent writer. But needless to say, he also showed his support in democracy as affirmed in his letter to Emerson which states that â€Å"To freedom, to strength, to poems, to personal greatness, it is never permitted to rest, not a generation or part of a generation† (Whitman). Pragmatism Then as the final viewpoint, pragmatism is termed as a way of thinking wherein the certainty of a representation is considered by its uniformity with provisional consequences and by its realistic result. This prevails to be contrasting in doctrines that cleave to the idea that a fact can be achieved by means of deductive reasoning from a priori justification of premises. Furthermore, â€Å"the accepted wisdom is taken as merely a mechanism for sustaining the life aspirations of human beings and has no authentic metaphysical implication† (Shook). Steinbeck was also influenced by this philosophy and its ideologies are also apparent in his work. Appearing in the novel, when Ma Joad, the wife of Pa Joad and the matriarch of the family, addresses the people to †go on† (Steinbeck), it is a straightforward delivery of steadfast pragmatism. Ma is in fact the source of strength and determination for all of the family members and is especially close to Tom. Moreover, â€Å"She states that her thinking about the future would be too much. She has to take care of what’s in front of her† (Steinbeck). And as regards to advocating pragmatism, a proponent named William James, states that pragmatism is a specific philosophy in which beliefs are consequential as long as they have useful outcomes in tangible human events. He also believes that pragmatism is a worthwhile solution to some recent points of the word. James also claims that pragmatic values have certain attitudes which are eligible as true or false depending on how effective they attest in deed. Another proponent of pragmatism like James, named John Dewey, â€Å"maintains that the mind is an instrument for realizing purposes†(Goodman). According to him, in pragmatism’s moral facet, it holds that real knowledge and human values play as essential roles in the choice of means employed in order to attain an end. Both James and Dewey contend that a large extent of the discussion about the association of the mind to the body take effect from abstract uncertainties. They also claim that it is not essential to speculate the psyche as an ontological class (Shook).   References: Emerson, R. W. â€Å"Nature.† Pearson Education, Inc. New Jersey. Prentice Hall (2002). Goodman, Russel. â€Å"Philosophy of Dewey.† The Radical Academy. 2006. May 24 2007. . Goodman, Russel. â€Å"Transcendentalism.†Ã‚   Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy. 2007. May 24 2007. . James, William. . Shook, John. â€Å"The Pragmatism Cybrary.†Ã‚   2007. May 24 2007. . Steinbeck, John. â€Å"The Grapes of Wrath.†Ã‚   (1939). Whitman, Walt. â€Å"Letter to Ralph Waldo Emerson.†Ã‚   1656. May 24 2007. . Whitman, Walt â€Å"I Hear America Singing.†Ã‚   Pearson Education, Inc. New Jersey. Prentice Hall (2002).