Freedom to assert oneself; non-conformity

In Ginsberg's "Sunflower Sutra" I felt as though he portrayed non-conformity as something that we should embrace and feel encouraged to do. It seemed like Ginsberg was crying out against the way the world (during his time) had come to be. Although this poem was very hard for me to comprehend at first, after going through it a couple of times I picked up hidden descriptions of the current state of America as seen through Ginsberg's eyes. He stated, "Sat down under the huge shade of a Southern / Pacific locomotive to look at the sunset over the / box house hills...".(2-4) From this, I took it that he was talking about development in America with the huge shade of a Southern Pacific locomotive being that of an industrial society while the box house hills describe the spread of urbanization, all of which makes him very sad. In my opinion, Ginsberg dreads what he feels as being a downward trend of replacing what were once open pastures, virgin land, and freedom to be yourself in your own skin as who you are. He longs for the days when things were simple and America was at its purest state not tainted by an industrial society which forced people to conform and become robotic in nature and institutionalized in mind. To him, non- conformity is a beauty all in itself and it was something he strongly believed in.

In Melville's "Bartleby the Scrivener" there were so many ways that I felt one could interpret this short story. For me, I saw Melville's portrayal of non-conformity in this situation as one where to not conform is to simply not live. In the text he describes Bartleby as, " pallidly neat, pitiably respectable, incurably forlorn!". Bartleby had no life in him whatsoever and he would always respond to anything with, "I would Prefer not to". In contrast, the narrator symbolized conformity. In the text the narrator states, "All who know me consider me an eminently safe man" implying that he never takes risks and he never dares to be different. Although I don't see Bartleby being the complete opposite of the narrator I feel as though this was the author's approach at showing the many dimensions of non conformity. Bartleby, as it were this being lacking substance, life, motion, or even a voice shows that to assert oneself and make it through life being "different" doesn't have to be done by acting out, starting protests or dying your hair green. It can be done by just not doing at all.

I believe that Ginsberg was celebrating this type of freedom as seen at the end of the poem where he states,"we're all beautiful golden sunflowers inside, we're blessed / by our own seed & golden hairy naked / accomplishment-bodies growing into mad black / formal sunflowers in the sunset" (81-84) This shows that not only is he proud to be different, but he is encouraging others to do the same also. He gave them hope that there lives are better than what they think. Melville on the other hand was hard to say if he was celebrating it or not. I think rather than celebrating it, he was pointing non-conformity out as a factor in America that makes it what it is. he gives us a glimpse of how humanity has been shaped through our decisions to fall in to place or stand out. Within both of these works you can see the advantages of non-conformity being great, liberating and inspiring giving one a sense of ambition and interest in their lives. The downfall to this however is that it is an uphill battle to go left when everyone else is going right. When society is the majority vote on what is right and wrong, one could find themselves fighting for what they believe in, opposed to what the rest of the world has deemed unfavorable.

While there were many questions I had about these works, I wanted to focus on the theme of today. What are your views on non-conformity and if you are a believer in doing so, then in what aspects of life do you practice this?
I found myself relating to the central themes of the lessons today on more of a personal side. It reminded me of when I was in high school and I decided to break free from all the stereotypes and normalities and become ME. I changed my hair, changed my wardrobe and instantly I stood out from the pack. Now, everyone knows me not for what I did but for what I wasn't afraid to do!