Skinner’s Use of Metaphor in Explaining the Behaviorism of Walden Two
B. F. Skinner revolutionized the field of psychology through his numerous writings on behaviorism. However, he began his collegiate life as an English major, and his education in literary techniques and devices clearly shows through in the manipulation of metaphor in his famous novel Walden Two. Although Skinner rarely diverges from the incessant description of behavioral engineering through his mouthpiece in the novel, Frazier, he occasionally digresses from the theory and application of scientific experimentation to the literary elements that are essential to any novel. One of these elements, the metaphor of the sheep that appears at the beginning and end of the book, clearly embodies three principles of Skinner’s behaviorist rationale: the superiority of positive reinforcement over negative reinforcement, the necessity for humans to accept their roles, and the function of the Walden Code to the members of Walden Two.
The novel begins in the disillusioned atmosphere of post-World War Two America. Burris, a psychology professor and the main character of the novel, views his academic life with indifference, sharing this attitude toward teaching with his philosophy professor colleague, Castle. A former pupil of Burris, Rodge, and a fellow soldier, Steve, return from the war, and dissatisfied with what they are expected to do with their lives, approach Burris with a proposition. A former classmate of Burris’, Frazier, has started a utopian community by the name of Walden Two, and the two friends invite Burris and Castle to accompany them on a visit.
When they arrive, the enthusiastic, egotistical Frazier leads th...
... middle of paper ...
...erimental nature of the Code. Frazier says how it is encouraged “to view every habit and custom with an eye to possible improvement. A constant experimental attitude toward everything” (25). This applies to the Code as well, which changes whenever the members feel that it is necessary.
Even though Skinner made a name for himself through his scientific endeavors, his novel Walden Two displays his literary training and knowledge. By using the metaphor of the sheep to further explain the lives of Walden Two members in an enriching and scholarly way, Skinner manages to weave science and art together. His ability to enforce the ideas of positive reinforcement, acceptance of roles, and the politics of the Walden Code through the simplicity of a flock of sheep shows his literary merit. Skinner proves that he is not only a scientist, but a writer as well.
It brings up several valid points and presents new ways of thinking that the reader may not recognize until digging deeper into A Separate Piece. Chapter 7: After the Fall gives the reader a more knowledgeable perspective on the novel and its characters, especially Gene and Finny and the relationship that the two have. Without viewing this literary analysis, a student wishing to write a paper on A Separate Peace would have great difficulty suggesting and supporting ideas involving Gene and Finny’s
Baumrind, Diana. “Review of Stanley Milgram’s Experiments on Obedience.” Writing and Reading for ACP Composition. Ed. Thomas E. Leahey and Christine R. Farris. New Jersey: Pearson Custom Publishing, 2009. 224-229. Print.
As similar as “Civil Disobedience” and The Monkey Wrench Gang are in terms of themes and activism, Thoreau’s influence on Abbey is most pronounced in the comparison of Thoreau’s greatest work, Walden, and Abbey’s personal desert meditation, Desert Solitaire. The publication of Desert Solitaire first drew critics’ eyes to Abbey’s connection with Thoreau, and it caused Abbey to be labeled “a road company Thoreau” by Clifton Fadiman (Cahalan 163). From that point in his career, Abbey was often equated with Thoreau, and though it took many years, Abbey “encouraged the use of ‘the Thoreau of the American West’ as a blurb on the hardback jacket of Beyond the Wall” (Cahalan 163). Abbey would quickly change his mind about this comparison to Thoreau, but it has followed him, for good reason, throughout his career. Beyond the texts’ similarities in construction and subject matter, they are grouped together as “Solitude and Backcountry Living” in Thomas Lyon’s “Taxonomy of Nature Writing” (278), and they both reveal the authors’ personas and great truths about modern society and natural living.
In B.F. Skinner’s Walden Two, Skinner presents many positive changes to society in his utopia, such as: division of labor, encouragement of perusing your own interests in education, and absolute equality.
Frazier explains to his guests that the children are taken care of and monitored by the whole community. The community experiments to find the best methods of behavioral engineering and uses them on the children. From an early age the children are conditioned to practice self-control and disregard certain unwanted emotions such as envy. They accomplish this with several trials. After this tour, the group heads back for lunch. After lunch, they fulfill their daily labor credits. At dinner, Frazier declares that Walden Two should succeed because it is based on experimental behavioral engineering and not on the faulty bases of other unsuccessful utopias. After dinner, the group debates several potential issues of Walden Two. However, they find no real issues. Following the discussion Burris goes out to smoke. He realizes that his urge to smoke has decreased after staying at Walden Two. While he is smoking Steve and Mary tell him they are considering staying at Walden Two. Burris endorses this and begins to wonder if he could do the
With beautiful mornings, stunning scenery, and revelry in the simple and exotic banalities of life, Walden is an experience in living. Thoreau's purpose for writing Walden is clearly stated: "As I have said, I do not propose to write an ode to dejection, but to brag as lustily as chanticleer in the morning, standing on his roost, if only to wake my neighbors up" (Thoreau 168). Its purpose is to help us to realize what we are missing in our everyday existence, and rise to our potential. Walden provides an ideal for true and simple living that can be juxtaposed against Willy's artificial and common city life. This contrasting pedagogy is immediately apparent in the settings of the books. Both stories occur in New England, yet in drastically different localities. Walden Pond is a sheltered, wooded chunk of paradise where a philosopher can do his business. Willy's Brooklyn, with its growing population, seems to tighten a choke hold on him as his dreams evaporate. When Willy started raising his family, their spacious home and garden was on the edge of a city full of opportunities, yet as his crisis approached he found that his city was crushing him. The gradual change is a reflection of Willy's choices and their effects.
In his world-famous thought-provoking novel, Walden, Henry David Thoreau presents his readers with a simple, inspirational guide for living. Written beside the beautiful Walden pond and completely surrounded by an unencumbered natural world, Thoreau writes about his own relationship with the beauty that surrounds him. His book provides an outlet for everyone to learn from his lessons learned in nature, whether they be city-dwellers or his own neighbors. One of Thoreau's most prominent natural lessons running throughout his novel is that of his deeply rooted sense of himself and his connection with the natural world. He relates nature and his experiences within it to his personal self rather than society as a whole. Many times in the novel, Thoreau urges his readers to break away from their societal expectations and to discover for themselves a path that is not necessarily the one most trodden. He explains that everyone should "be a Columbus to whole new continents and worlds within you, opening new channels, not of trade, but of thought (341)." Walden inspires its readers to break out of the mold of tradition, away from outwardly imposed expectations, and out of the loyalty to society over loyalty to oneself in order to find truth and self in nature.
In a post-World War Two era, there was much longing for improvement on current society. Burrhus F. Skinner decided to give his take on what he felt were the appropriate steps to take in order to make a true "Utopia." There have been attempts at other utopia's (which is from the Greek for "no place") and Skinner in his book took the best elements of each utopia and put them into one. However, this does not mean that this utopia he creates in his story, called Walden Two, emulating Thoreau's Walden Pond in Maine, is not without flaws. The most obvious flaws that stand out to the modern day reader are simply due to the fact that this book was published nearly 60 years ago. Values in the post-WWII era differed from modern ones, and psychology took a back seat during the war for other "real sciences." This social commentary is extensively relevant to the study of psychology, especially conditioning/behaviorism, because all consequences of all the actions of people in Walden Two directly stem from some psychological event, be it the shaping of the children to want to learn, or the way the officials (planners/managers) are appointed (and not elected).
Norvell, Candyce. "Critical Essay on Walden." Nonfiction Classics for Students: Presenting Analysis, Context, and Criticism on Nonfiction Works. Ed. David M. Galens, Jennifer Smith, and Elizabeth Thomason. Vol. 3. Detroit: Gale, 2002. Literature Resource Center. Web. 31 Mar. 2011.
B.F. Skinner was considered the father of behavioral approach to psychology and a noticeable spokesperson for behaviorism. According to Corey (2013), he advocated radical behaviorism. In other words it placed a primary importance on the effects of environment on behavior. Skinner was a determinist; he did not consider that humans had free choices. He recognized the existence of feeling and thoughts, but disagreed about them causing humans action. In its place, he underlined the cause-and-effect links between objective, observable environmental conditions and behavior. Skinner claimed that more than enough attention had been given to the internal states of mind and motives, which cannot be observed and changed directly and not enough focus
Walden; Or, Life In The Woods is a self-experiment that provides an ideal opportunity to evaluate the author’s philosophy. The book is an account of Henry David Thoreau’s journey of self-discovery as he attempts to live a life of simplicity and self-reliance in the woods of Massachusetts. His exploration of his two years and two months living in a cabin near Walden Pond is considered a seminal work of early American transcendentalism. Thoreau never explicitly reveals the spiritual truth at the end of his journey. Still, a discerning Christian reader can note the main transcendental themes and ideals that Thoreau demonstrates, separating that which should be applauded from that which should be rejected.
Harmon, William, William Flint Thrall, Addison Hibbard, and C. Hugh Holman. A Handbook to Literature. 11th ed. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson Prentice Hall, 2009. Print.
Many psychologists performed many experiments that involved shaping and changing behavior. There is one influential thinker that made a remarkable discovery that one can change another’s behavior by providing or establishing a reward based systems based upon their behavior. B.F. Skinner uncovered the idea that one change or shape another’s behavior by establishing a system based upon rewards that can change another’s behavior.
Reinforcement, punishment, and extinction are three important concepts in Skinner’s theory. Primary reinforcement is the human's basic needs in order to survive. This is a natural and biological instinct in which forces us to search for these demands such as water, oxygen, food, and shelter. On the other hand, secondary reinforcement must be paired with primary reinforcement in order to occur. Therefore, a secondary reinforce is crea...
More than two hundred years later, B.F. Skinner saw the importance of reward and punishment as he studied oper...