Comparing Henry Miller and Jack Kerouac
I. Introduction
It has never been an uncommon thing for one to retreat to nature in an attempt to ‘find one’s self,’ and somewhat cliché these days is the retreat to nature to ‘find God.’ Hundreds of books, essays, seminars, and retreats devote themselves to helping one understand how to find enlightenment and healing through connecting with nature. It is a phenomenon that transcends religious boundaries—everyone, from Buddhists to Christian Mystics to Quakers, seems to think that the key (or, at least, one of the keys) to enlightenment lies in nature. As one may suppose, this is not a new concept. Throughout literary history, there is a distinct trend of authors praising the virtues of nature, singing of the peace that it brings and the enlightening attributes of these places away from the noise and clutter of the cities. Shakespeare tells of finding “tongues in trees, books in the running brooks, [and] sermons in stone”(Shakespeare); William Wordsworth implores us to let nature be our teacher; Goethe claims that there is rest and respite on the mountain top; and George Washington Carver admits that he tries commune with nature everyday. It seems that from Henry David Thoreau right down to contemporary authors, no generation or writing period has been devoid of at least one prolific author who takes to nature in order to find the answers.
Two such authors, searching for…well, searching for that certain enlightenment and repose that can only be found in nature, were Henry Miller and Jack Kerouac. And despite the fact that Big Sur, California, is the chosen destination for revelation for both authors and that both authors are torn between the introspective qualities of being ‘secluded,’ and the desire for connectedness to society, they were from (moderately) different lifestyles and backgrounds and viewed the revelations that nature bestowed to them individually quite differently. By contrasting the situations and temperaments of the two authors, one can begin to see why their experiences differed so greatly.
II. Henry Miller
Henry Miller, born in December of 1891, spent the majority of his childhood in Brooklyn (”Henry Miller” 1). He attended high school, but never finished college; instead, he worked a variety of jobs that never lasted long, from driving a cab to working in a library (ibid.). In 1917, he ma...
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...city (thus, they are very occupied with what is happening in their community.) This seems to be Miller’s salvation, while at the same time being Kerouac’s downfall. Regardless of why it worked for one and not the other, it is evident that both sought what so many today seek: to connect themselves with God and to find peace by submersing themselves in nature.
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Arthur Miller’s success first began with his Broadway play, All My Sons, in 1947. This award winning play “Struck a note that was to become familiar in Miller’s work: the need for moral responsibility in families and society”. (Anderson 1212) Later, his production Death of a Salesman left him the group of America’s top playwrights....
288-293. ed. a. Alexander Bloom and Wini Breines. New York: Oxford University Press, 1995. Kerouac, Jack.
Have you noticed that we feel a powerful desire to connect with nature during difficult times? Whether we are injured, depressed or sad our inclination towards nature increases. Patients in hospitals recover faster if they are in a room with a nice view. Why? Because nature is so pure and powerful that can restore our spirits and heal our bodies and minds. The beauty of nature has been praised in art, poetry, writings and films. Naturalists, poets and writers have documented the many benefits of spending time in nature. "Calypso Borealis" by Muir and "I wandered Lonely as a Cloud" by Wordsworth are two great pieces of literature where our hearts are filled with an indescribable emotion. John Muir and William Wordsworth express their relationship
Miller’s life paralleled The Crucible in many ways. The characters in the play had many traits that resembled his. He and the people of Salem were censored by the frenzy of the times they were living in. The hysteria and the mob mentality exacerbated the anticommunists’ and the witch-hunters’ philosophies. The Red Scare affected Miller in the same way the witch hunts affected the people of Salem. As long as there are people with authority in the world, there will be challengers of authority. Censorship will always be used to make others conform. A majority of the public is and always will be easily influenced by hysteria and the mob mentality. Miller used his own experiences to write The Crucible, a play that describes universal behavior and the human condition.
During his time in college, Miller wrote many plays which, in turn, he won awards for. His first play “The Man Who Had All the Luck” opened in Broadway in 1944 but, unfortunately, was short lived. Then in 1953, The Crucible opened on Broadway. While the play did focus on the W...
Donald Miller recounts his vast life experiences as a young college aged man living in Portland, Oregon. Miller went to Reed College, which is an incredibly secular school that provided an interesting
From the lone hiker on the Appalachian Trail to the environmental lobby groups in Washington D.C., nature evokes strong feelings in each and every one of us. We often struggle with and are ultimately shaped by our relationship with nature. The relationship we forge with nature reflects our fundamental beliefs about ourselves and the world around us. The works of timeless authors, including Henry David Thoreau and Annie Dillard, are centered around their relationship to nature.
Author Miller was born October 17, 1915 in New York City. He was the second of three children. Miller’s father was once a wealthy man and made his fortunes off of a women’s clothing manufacturing business. After the Stock Market Crash in the nineteen thirty’s, Millers fathers manufacturing business failed and went out of business. They could no longer live their lavish life style. Their lives turned downward in a blink of an eye. They sold everything they had and moved to Brooklyn. As a teenager, Miller would have to deliver bread every morning before school to help out the family. Yet, despite living in poverty, Miller ...
Workscited: 1. Bowers, Kristen. The Crucible by Arthur Miller: Literature Guide. San Dimas, CA: Secondary Solutions, 2006. Print. 2. Steinbeck, John. The Grapes of Wrath. New York: Penguin, 2006. Print.
Miller, Arthur. "WHY I WROTE "THE CRUCIBLE"" The New Yorker. N.p., n.d. Web. 16 Feb. 2014. .
“He is a storyteller, a man with a marvelous memory, a simple man with a capacity for wonder, concerned with people and ideas” (The Paris Review). He is Arthur Miller. Born on October 17, 1915, Miller entered the world in Harlem, New York City. At age nineteen Miller wrote his first play. His passion for playwrights led him into the theater world inevitably leading him to meeting and marrying his second wife, Marilyn Monroe. Miller wrote the play, The Crucible, as an allegory of McCarthyism. Unlike most of his plays, The Crucible, was a dramatized historical play. In a interview, Miller stated that, with this play he “ was completely freed by the period [he] was writing about [...] It was a different diction,
Writers may use literature as a vehicle of social criticism. In which ways does Arthur Miller criticize society?
Florio, Thomas A., ed. “Miller’s Tales.” The New Yorker. 70 (1994): 35-36. Martin, Robert A., ed., pp.
...ct even though he was genuinely unable to visualize the public consequences of what for him was a private act. From an ethical standpoint he feels like he did nothing wrong, for "it is not that he cannot tell right from wrong but that his cast of mind cannot admit that he, personally, has any viable connection with his world, his universe, or his society" (Bloom, Modern Critical Interpretations: Arthur Miller's All My Sons 104). He believes that "family is the most important thing and that what is done in the name of family has its own justification" (Bloom, Modern Critical Interpretations: Arthur Miller's All My Sons 28). "I did it for you, it was a chance and I took it for you. I'm sixty-one years old, when would I have another chance to make something for you?...For you, a business for you!" (Bloom, Modern Critical Interpretations: Arthur Miller's All My Sons 65).
The power of nature is all around us and can be found almost anywhere. One is able to study nature through experiencing it firsthand, looking at a picture, watching a movie, or even reading a familiar children’s story. I believe that by learning more about nature we can grow closer to God. Emerson states, “Nature is so pervaded in human life, that there is something of humanity in all, and in every particular” (Emerson 508). Like Emerson, I believe that humanity and nature were created by God and we can learn more about the Spirit of God by studying nature. I also see that nature has the power to influence our emotions and actions. I see evidence of this through various landscapes such as the desert, the beach, the mountains and the jungle. I thought about the vastness of the desert during a recent trip to the desert with my class. I think about nature and my love for it when I am scanning through my photo album and see pictures that capture me enjoying the mountains of Utah. When I watched the movie The Beach I was struck out how nature, specifically the beautiful beaches of Thailand, influenced the actions of every character in the movie. Of course it is hard to read a legendary story such as “Jungle Book” and not see what a powerful effect nature and its’ animals can have over humans.