Perry Miller Nature's Nation Summary
Assignment 1
Nature’s Nation is a compilation of unpublished essays by Perry Miller, which propose his “central ideas and his scholarly principles” (xi). This collection ranges from epitomizing the key motifs of the American wilderness through leaders of the Romanticism period such as Thoreau, Emerson and Melville, to what Richard B. Morris describes as “bringing out the inherent individualism of American Puritanism” through an “analysis of the Puritan mind” (1). The foundations of Miller’s essays are based within a context of religious conflict and controversy, with the intention of relieving the religious uncertainty which was shrouded over Seventeenth Century America. In Nature’s Nation, Miller describes the mass social and political …show more content…
However, a criticism of this novel would be that it is antiquated. Even from reading the title, ‘Nature’s Nation’, I got an indication that the text would be of little relevance in a contemporary sense, through its swift proposal that ‘Nature’ is the embodiment of America. Additionally, whilst Miller’s knowledge on Puritanism and American intellectual culture are unassailable, he draws criticism by claiming to have written about an idealistic America, failing to have mentioned the contributions of women, Native Americans and African Americans. Instead, this text is shaped upon on the interpretations of the Romanticists: Thoreau, Emerson and Melville, ignoring several other key variables. Another criticism of Nature’s Nation, was that Miller’s illumination of the Puritans failed to have much relevance within modern day America, a nation with a recent increase in a non-religious population. Additionally, Miller praises Thoreau’s philosophy behind ‘the Wilderness’ and the idea of it being “the preservation of the world” (pp.180), which is of little account within today’s First World. Therefore this can be an indication of the text being immaterial within contemporary America. Moreover, in similar ways to his earlier work, Miller attempts to provide an answer to what the American identity embodies. In actuality however, Miller proves the difficulty of locating an intelligible answer to what can be considered as America’s true
Nature’s Nation is a compilation of unpublished essays by Perry Miller, which propose his “central ideas and his scholarly principles” (xi). This collection ranges from epitomizing the key motifs of the American wilderness through leaders of the Romanticism period such as Thoreau, Emerson and Melville, to what Richard B. Morris describes as “bringing out the inherent individualism of American Puritanism” through an “analysis of the Puritan mind” (1). The foundations of Miller’s essays are based within a context of religious conflict and controversy, with the intention of relieving the religious uncertainty which was shrouded over Seventeenth Century America. In Nature’s Nation, Miller describes the mass social and political …show more content…
However, a criticism of this novel would be that it is antiquated. Even from reading the title, ‘Nature’s Nation’, I got an indication that the text would be of little relevance in a contemporary sense, through its swift proposal that ‘Nature’ is the embodiment of America. Additionally, whilst Miller’s knowledge on Puritanism and American intellectual culture are unassailable, he draws criticism by claiming to have written about an idealistic America, failing to have mentioned the contributions of women, Native Americans and African Americans. Instead, this text is shaped upon on the interpretations of the Romanticists: Thoreau, Emerson and Melville, ignoring several other key variables. Another criticism of Nature’s Nation, was that Miller’s illumination of the Puritans failed to have much relevance within modern day America, a nation with a recent increase in a non-religious population. Additionally, Miller praises Thoreau’s philosophy behind ‘the Wilderness’ and the idea of it being “the preservation of the world” (pp.180), which is of little account within today’s First World. Therefore this can be an indication of the text being immaterial within contemporary America. Moreover, in similar ways to his earlier work, Miller attempts to provide an answer to what the American identity embodies. In actuality however, Miller proves the difficulty of locating an intelligible answer to what can be considered as America’s true