The Night Thoreau Spent in Jail ~ Week 1

So far I am enjoying the play a lot.  My favorite character is Waldo, because he looks at everything from such a strange perspective that I cannot help but laugh at.  It is very different from any other play I have read, considering I usually only read Shakespeare plays.  This one is a bit easier to follow along with and visualize.  To be honest, I don't completely understand the idea of Transcendentalist thought.  However, many specific quotes from the play envelop the overall principle of this form of philosophy.  The quote I chose was: "Henry: Our own school, John.  No buildings.  Break out of the classroom prison.  All we need is the sky!" (24).  This quote sums up Henry's opinion on the value of knowledge and thought over the value of materialistic things.  He wishes to break free from the modern ideas about what learning should look like, as he believes the most valuable knowledge cannot be learned from other mere human beings.  Nature is the most knowledgeable teacher there is out there, and people often do not realize it.  Society feels that brick buildings that house mortal teachers who know little more than most people, if any at all.  Thoreau knew that the truest information is located outside of man-made walls, and among the beauty of nature.  In nature, everyone walks away with different information and different thoughts, which is much different from a classroom where each student learns the same thing.  Thoreau's way of expressing his opinion on the importance of Transcendentalism is by putting the power of nature into the daily lives of everyday children.
A Perfect Day for Bananafish is a very strange story.  I liked it at first, because the conversation between the mother and daughter reminded me of the random conversations I find myself in when I talk on the phone with my own mother.  I did see comparisons between characters in this short story and those of Catcher in the Rye.  Muriel, the girl at the beginning had similar qualities to Holden.  They both had a somewhat awkward and distant relationship with their parents.  They also seem to spend all of their time productively, according to their own definitions of "productive."  Sybil reminds me of Phoebe in her curiosity and affection towards people.  Muriel's mother reminds me of Holden's teacher who had him over before he left from Pencey, due to their concern for those who are close to them.  Seymour, who I had a hard time connecting to anyone on this planet, reminds me a bit of Holden's old teacher who housed him right before he decided to go home, because they both had strange affections towards children, especially.  Those are the multiple connections I made between the characters in Bananafish and those in Catcher.  That's all for this week!
Sayonara!