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Pages from Jennifer’s Journal “Nature Invading Industry” A mouse, or more correctly a mass of mice, has invaded the registers at Wal-Mart. Just imagine the beautiful mouse abode offered by fifteen register stations riddled with bits and remnants of food, plastic bags, tags from clothing, and great hunks of dust bunnies. However, at times the mice scare customers or die from electrocution after eating through the wires. Once, a resident bird flew down to peck at some hunk of food only to meet a mouse ready for a squabble. At times, the mice even traverse great distances to peruse the bread aisle. Such instances create such wonderful aesthetic turmoil in the Wal-Mart image. Both management and most of the customers do not enjoy the mice, but I feel great kindred with the furry little devils for they are accomplishing what I have always wished to achieve in all my time sentenced as a corporate drudge – my little mousy comrades are sticking it to the man! These mice must have a little of the Transcendentalist spirit imbued inside them because they live deliberately everyday. Their homes are cramped, but their dwellings provide opportunities for communion with other living things. Noise, a constant issue, does not hold back the mice from doing what they wish. I can see some of Thoreau’s gumption in the mice, especially in how they transplanted themselves into an unknown environment. I can also see a bit of Whitman’s transcendence, especially when they sneak out of their homes to watch the bustling people. I appreciate the mice for their courage, though I am probably just personifying them = ) |
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“American Transcendentalism: An Online Travel Guide” was produced by students in ENGL 446, American Transcendentalism, and ENGL 447, American Literature and the Prominence of Place: A Travel Practicum. These courses were team-taught in the Department of English at Shepherd College (now Shepherd University), Shepherdstown, West Virginia, in Spring 2002 by Dr. Patricia Dwyer and Dr. Linda Tate. For more information on the course and the web project, visit “About This Site.” © 2003 Linda Tate. |