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

In 1939, 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 cling to 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 Whitmans obedience of the common man and his credence in mass majority rule, and reality as advocated by William jam and John Dewey.TranscendentalismTranscendentalism is a belief dodging 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 soci ety, and specifically, the state of intellectualism and the doctrine of the Unitarian church at that juncture. Transcendentalists first harmonic principle is an epitome of spiritual state that goes beyond the physical and empirical aspects and is barely attained through peoples instincts, rather than through the principle of conventional religions (Goodman).Steinbeck was indeed influenced by this philosophy and the ideologies of this are evident in his novel, The Grapes of Wrath. The author conveys the idea of transcendentalism to the readers through a range of extremely noneworthy characters. One such character is that of Jim Casey, a former reverend and unyielding-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 headin g 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 component part model for most of the characters in the story. A quote from the narrative denotes the aforementioned similarities. Muley is a lost soul. He wouldnt 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 Emersons 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 valet de chambre consciousness. Emerson discards the Unitarian line of reaso ning that miracles confirms the fact of Christianity and finds evidence for religion being more direct in creating a pious response (Goodman).DemocracyThis is generally defined as the rule of the people where the individuals share in guiding the national activities, functioning either directly or by path 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 books introduction, Tom Joad gets a lift at a truck stop and tells the driver hes paroled from prison in McAlester (for murder) and hes headed phratry (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 at long last 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 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 exercise 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 well 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 do a hymn the whole time with his piece. His couplet embarks on presenting various people with different ev eryday tasks. In their daily lives each person sings 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 garner to Emerson which states that To freedom, to strength, to poems, to personal greatness, it is never permitted to rest, not a generation or part of a generation (Whitman).PragmatismThen 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 bewilder to the idea that a fact can be achieved by means of deductive reasoning from a priori justif ication of premises. Furthermore, 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(a) 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, She states that her thinking about the future would be too much. She has to take guard of whats 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 w orthwhile 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, maintains that the mind is an instrument for realizing purposes(Goodman). According to him, in pragmatisms 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 devise the psyche as an ontological class (Shook).ReferencesEmerson, R. W. Nature. Pearson Education, Inc. New Jersey. Prentice Hall (2002).Goodman, Russel. Philosophy of Dewey. The Radical Academy. 2006. May 24 2007. .Goodman, Russel. Transcendentalism. Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosop hy. 2007. May 24 2007. .James, William. .Shook, John. The Pragmatism Cybrary. 2007. May 24 2007. .Steinbeck, John. The Grapes of Wrath. (1939).Whitman, Walt. Letter to Ralph Waldo Emerson. 1656. May 24 2007. .Whitman, Walt I Hear America Singing. Pearson Education, Inc. New Jersey. Prentice Hall (2002).