Miller's Experience At Big Sur example essay topic

Big Sur: Paradise and Paradise Lost. Introduction It has never been an uncommon thing for one to retreat to nature in an attempt to 'find one's self,' and somewhat clich'e 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 married the first of his five wives, and in 1920 he began working at Western Union as a messenger.

Persuaded by his employer, his first attempt at writing began with an 'Horatio Alger-es que's tory about twelve messengers ("Henry Miller" 2). However, he took no pride in the final result, claiming that 'nobody believes; perhaps the real secret lies in making people believe. That the book was inadequate, faulty, bad, terrible, as they said, was only natural. [He] was attempting at the start what a man of genius would have undertaken at the end' (ibid.) In 1923, Miller met and married June Mansfield after divorcing his first wife. While this marriage proved to be faithless, he found in her inspiration. She encouraged him to put his energy into writing, and the "passion and madness" of their marriage further fuel led him ("Henry Miller" 2).

Eventually, problems with June drove him to Paris without her (despite the fact that it was funded by her), where he spent many years writing what is now considered to be the opuses of his repertoire ("Henry Miller" 1). While in Paris, he wrote Tropic of Cancer-which is still his most famous work-which, along with Tropic of Capricorn, chronicles his life in Paris. Both books were banned in the United States, "which spawned a thirty year censorship debate that was eventually won by Miller" ("Henry Miller" 1). The publication of these and following works helped perpetuate the image of Miller as a "legendary character, a kind of folk hero, the Paul Bunyan of literature, larger than life as exile, bohemian, and rebel, the great champion of freedom of expression and other lost causes" ("Henry Miller" 1). This reputation would play a large part in his later life, and he chronicles the effects in Big Sur and the Oranges of Hieronymus Bosch. Also whilst in Paris, Miller befriended a long-time lover and benefactor, Ana " is Nin (ibid.

). Ironically, she, rather than he, chronicled this relationship in stories and diaries. She later had a relationship with Miller's wife, June, and this affair is chronicled in and made famous by the movie Henry and June ("Henry Miller"). Upon departure from Paris, he travelled Greece and America, writing about what he experienced. In the whirlwind of those years, he divorced June, and both made and lost money.

Eventually, in 1943, he settled down in Big Sur, California, and helped establish an 'artists' colony' ("Henry Miller" 2). For him, it was a "paradise where he could be an artist" ("Henry Miller" 2). He was married twice between 1943 and 1944, had another child (his first child was with his first wife), and found himself dead-broke. However, he continued to write and receive guest who travelled from all over the country to see the man behind 'the cult of sex and anarchy' (however wrong the rumours, and however unwanted the guests turned out to be) (ibid.

). These guests contribute a bulk of the material Miller dwells upon in Big Sur. In 1952, he married again (his previous wives had a tendency to find the Big Sur life too demanding, or Miller too intolerable), and found himself not just famous, but a cult icon (ibid. ). Despite this, things began to fall apart between his fifth wife and himself: he was becoming increasingly famous and wealthy, and had a multitude of affairs, which drove her to alcoholism (ibid. ).

It seemed his life as a writer had an inverse relationship with his married life: the more successful one become, the more the second deteriorated. Eventually, he was driven from Big Sur and passes the remainder of his life in the Pacific Palisades. Until the end of his life in 1980, he continued to have passionate love affairs, and to be a mentor to younger generations of writers ("Henry Miller" 2). He also became a sort of 'adoptive grandfather' of the Beat Movement.

Jack Kerouac, Allen Ginsberg, John Clellan Holmes, Lawrence Lipton, Kenneth Rexroth, Lawrence Ferlinghetti, and the rest of the beat poets, rejoiced especially in his anti-Americanism and anti-materialism, and Miller was largely responsible for the upsurge of interest in Zen Buddhism and oriental religions and philosophies which was a characteristic of the Beat movement. [... ] Henry was a great fan of Kerouac's writing, and even contributed a diffident preface to 'The Dharma Bums' in which he confessed: 'when I read of 'spontaneous Bop prosody' I raise an eyebrow. These lads can tell me things. ' Perhaps he didn't realize that it was he, with what Ginsberg called his 'great natural word slinging,' who was largely responsible for the emergence of 'spontaneous Bop prosody'. (Ferguson 326-327) .

Jack Kerouac Kerouac had quite a different up-bringing from Miller: born in Lowell, Massachusetts, in March of 1922, Kerouac was driven from a young age to write ("Jack Kerouac"). He was raised Catholic-a fact which influences many of the choices his makes later in life, as chronicled in his novels. He attended Columbia University on a football scholarship, but like Miller, he ended up dropping out of the academic life (ibid. ).

He joined the military, and spent a good deal of time hanging around in New York City with "a crowd his parents did not approve of" (ibid. ), namely Alan Ginsberg, William S. Burroughs, and, perhaps most importantly for his career, Neal Cassady. He spent the 1950's writing a series of novels that went unpublished, travelled to Berkeley with Ginsberg and Cassady, and befriending other 'young, starving writers's uch as Gary Snyder (ibid. ). He also got into the Buddhist religion and wrote Dharma Bums. Kerouac, Ginsberg, Burroughs, Cassady, and Snyder began to attract attention and fame under the label of the "Beat Poets" or the "Beat Generation"-a term that Kerouac himself had coined, referring to how he felt beaten down by the world, which he perceived as against him ("Beat Page, The"). This notoriety led to a number of offers of publication, and On the Road was finally published in 1957-seven years after it had been written ("Jack Kerouac").

On the Road chronicled the adventures of Kerouac and Cassady on a cross- country trip, and was written "without pausing to edit, fictionalize or even think" (ibid. ). The publication of On the Road launched Kerouac into stardom. However, he was not what the public expected him to be, and criticism of his work upset Kerouac greatly-he was prone to bitterness and disappointment, and this sudden fame was the precursor for a steady decline of spirituality and moral (ibid. ).

He turned to alcoholism, and continued to chronicle his life through his highly fictionalized 'non-fiction' accounts of his life. The representation of himself in his works shows a Kerouac with a failing spirituality, given to drinking binges and depression (ibid. ). He tried to break this habit with a trip to Brix by Canyon, Big Sur, but this only led to a breakdown of sorts, and a complete loss of faith in Buddhism.

After being defeated by nature, or more so by himself in nature, he returned to Long Island to live with his mother, and never strayed far from her afterward ("Jack Kerouac"). Eventually, his drinking caught up with him, and he died of its complications on October 21, 1969, at the age of 47 (ibid. ). IV.

Big Sur Big Sur, (c) Mike Levin Bixby Canyon, (c) Captain Albert E. ThebergeDespite the differences between the two authors, one thing for certain they had in common: they both sought respite and rest in Big Sur. But because of the circumstances that led them there in the first place, Miller and Kerouac had (almost) entirely different experiences. When Miller retired to Big Sur, he was already beginning to see the rewards of his toils: despite the fact that his works were mostly banned in the United States, he was respected and admired in much of Europe. Thus, he found in Big Sur a "paradise" where he was able to write, paint, and live fully, with relative privacy. For Miller, the benefits of living in this semi-secluded community were many faceted.

To begin with, he found Big Sur balanced him out. For someone who had spent a life-time in big cities such as New York and Paris, the values and characteristics of this simple community were both refreshing and eye-opening. He often sings the praises his neighbours; and while some of them are, in fact, famous or well-known, that is not why he so greatly admires them. Those he admires the most are the common people-the inhabitants of that part of the country who are self-sufficient and capable. He all but idolizes a "Mr. X", whom he keeps anonymous out of respect. Mr. X is a "man of keen intelligence, well educated, sensitive, of excellent character" (Miller 15).

But that isn't all-Mr. X is also able to raise his family and buildings with equal efficiency; he actually enjoys life; can hunt, fish, and raise crops; is in good health; has a great library and enjoys "good music"; makes excellent wine, and is good at sports (ibid. ). On top of all of this, he "communes with nature" on a regular basis (ibid. ).

To Miller, Mr. X is the perfect man, because he has manages a well-rounded life, being proficient at so many things and all the while remaining a "good neighbour" (which, it seems, is praise of the highest degree in Miller's eyes.) Another family that Miller appreciates is the Lopez es. Miller considers them to be filled with attributes that everyone should strive for. In his eyes, they are patient, tender, respectful, reverent, gentle, humble, forbearing and full of abounding love (Miller 110). And, despite abject poverty, the Lopez family is infinitely charitable: as an example, Miller points out that Mrs. Lopez is always available to baby-sit, be it for a "day and a night, or a week, or even a month" (Miller 110), despite the fact that she has four children of her own to tend. But perhaps the highest praise that Miller can bestow upon this family is that they are self-sufficient. From the parents to the children (who make their own games and create their own toys), this is a family that knows how to take care of themselves.

As with Mr. X, they enjoy life on a day-to-day basis. This display of happy aptitude levels him out and helps him to appreciate the simple things in life. Though never in life did Miller give up his crazed love-affairs and travels, he acknowledges, through his awe for these neighbours, that there is more to life than the notoriety. It encourages him to cultivate skills that he would have, perhaps, otherwise been disdainful of, such as cleaning, cooking, gardening, etc., and he grows as a person.

And while he is growing in practical ways, he also finds artistic inspiration in nature. He comments that sometimes, after walking, he has to "come home on the double-quick, [as his] mind is so saturated with ideas and impressions that [he feels he] must hasten to make a few notes-for the morrow" (Miller 94). His surroundings inspire him to paint, and he spends as much time painting, trying to perfect simple details like the contours of rocks and the foam of the sea, as he does writing. In fact, in later years he took to painting exclusively, and found that Big Sur never ceased to inspire him ("Henry Miller" 1).

Despite the fact his first visit to Big Sur was during a heavy rain storm, he instantly felt at home and declared that at Big Sur, he would find peace (Kenedi and Miller) 86). Years later, he still feels at home, and has found the peace he declared he would. He feels at peace with the birds, and the wind, and the rain, and the sounds of the waves. It's a soothing experience for him. He has a room where he writes, but he can hear the sounds of nature and of his children playing right outside the window. There is nothing haunting or scary about this place for Miller.

He mentions the best seasons for "revelations", and talks about religious, or spiritual-like experiences that the landscape provides him with. He describes looking up the coast, lifting his "arms as in prayer, achieving a wing-span no god ever possessed", and a cloud floating above his head, "a radiant nimbus such as the Buddha himself might proudly wear" (Miller 95). He compares himself at this juncture to the devout followers of Buddha, who might "throw themselves from the peak-'into the arms of Buddha' " (ibid. ). He exclaims", [h] ere there is abiding peace, the peace of God" (Kenedi and Miller 93). Like Goethe, he finds rest and respite on the mountaintop.

Like so many advocate doing today, he turns to nature to find his spirituality. Perhaps the best summary of Henry Miller's experience at Big Sur can be found in the work, Where Inspiration Lives. It says Henry Miller came to Big Sur looking for a place to write. What he found was a small community of artists and a vast landscape that changed his life.

On this foggy coast, the cynical author melted away, and Henry Miller rediscovered the things that mattered (Kenedi and Miller 92) For Kerouac, Big Sur was an entirely different affair. Rather than finding Big Sur on his own, Kerouac actually went to Bixby Canyon, but for the purposes of this paper, it will be referred to as "Big Sur". he goes there on a suggestion from Lawrence Ferlinghetti ('Monsanto' in the novel), a friend who feels that Kerouac ('Duluoz') needs to get back to nature, sober up, and take a break from the madness has consumed his life since the publication of On the Road. Kerouac plans to spend six weeks there, "chopping wood, drawing water, writing, sleeping, hiking, etc". (Kerouac 1). He feels like this trip is just what he needs. However, rather than finding the paradise that Miller relishes, Kerouac finds a hostile and terrifying solitude.

On his first trip to the canyon, Kerouac arrives late at night. Immediately upon arrival, he feels that the 'vibes' aren't right, and he is frightened of everything. He says that he had expected "something larkish, bucolic, all homely woods and gladness instead of this aerial roaring mystery in the dark" (Kerouac 10). Nothing is right: the mountain reminds him of his nightmares, the beach is terrifying, and the trees are "evil". However, he tries to find the beauty in everything, and reassures himself that it is a good thing he is there. For a short while, he seems to be accomplishing his goal: he imagines he hears the sky speaking to him, and realizes that everything around him is paradise.

He spends a little time trying to meditate and "capture the voice of the ocean", but, when it comes right down to it, he can only hear it saying to leave Big Sur and return to the city-"GO TO YOUR DESIRE DON'T HANG AROUND HERE" (Kerouac 41). "In the Buddhist religion the single most important instruction is to break free of the prison of desire, and so this statement, to a Buddhist like Kerouac, is quite a perilous one" ("Big Sur"). This experience is in sharp contrast to Miller's. When Miller becomes absorbed by the atmosphere of Big Sur, it helps him progress in spirituality, while for Kerouac, it results in a step back.

The reason for this, ironically enough, is explained by Miller himself. He explains that", [t] he man of big city dreams of life in the country as a refuge from all that plagues him and renders life intolerable. [... ] The man who runs away from the city in search of this experience may find to his chagrin, particularly if he has brought with him all the cravings which city life fosters, that he has succeeded in only becoming lonely" (Miller 34). Because Kerouac brings with him his desires and his longings, his baggage and troubles, the trip to Big Sur can only accentuate the problem-not fix it. So Kerouac returns to San Francisco after spending a few nights there, and immediately gets drunk.

Later, after the death of his cat, and attending a friend who is dying in hospital, Kerouac realizes that the facade of spirituality which he pretended to achieve on his first trip to Big Sur will not hold up, and asks his friend if he can return to the cabin. Ferlinghetti proposes that a large group go to the cabin, and they set a date. Upon arriving at the cabin, this set-up initially pleases Kerouac-nature is so much less intimidating when he is surrounded by his friends-but it doesn't last long. After making a brief attempt to 'recapture' the 'spirituality' he found three weeks previously, he is persuaded to return to the city, which, of course, leads to him drinking. Various events take place in the space between his return to San Francisco and his final trip to Big Sur, but when he returns, he finds the situation changed. Big Sur does not feel the same.

No, it feels much, much worse. Everyone and everything is conspiring to get him, to kill him, to break him, to beat him down, as it were. He can not sleep: the sounds of the trees and the waves and the winds torment him. He asks himself why God tortures him, and shouts at his friends that he is sick. He says himself that he turns from "serene Jekyll to hysterical Hyde in the short space of six weeks, losing absolute control of the peace mechanisms of [his] mind" (Kerouac 18).

He has a mental break-down that results in the loss of everything he thought he had at the beginning of the novel: his faith (the belief that Buddhism and spiritual purity might save him) and his self-reliance-the two things that Miller takes away from Big Sur. V. Conclusion Despite seeking the same thing from almost the same place, Henry Miller and Jack Kerouac had two very different experiences. Perhaps this is because they brought different experiences with them when they came. Perhaps it was the company they kept whilst there. Miller surrounded himself with capable, mature people: his neighbours in Big Sur were, as he says himself, the most intelligent people he'd ever met, and were self-sufficient. Kerouac took with him drunkards and madmen, sex addicts and bizarrely intuitive children. Regardless, the readers of their works are left with two distinctly different impressions of the area of Big Sur.

The one thing the two authors' experiences do seem to have in common is that both sought seclusion without having to sacrifice their connectedness with society. Miller's companions are well travelled and aware of what is happening in the world, and Kerouac's cannot seem to leave the 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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