Why the beats strayed from the American transcendentalists?

Answer 1

The Beats are descendants of the

American Transcendentalism

. The term "

Beat

Generation" was invented by

Jack Kerouac

in 1948. "Beat", as he meant it, means downtrodden, defeated, and disappointed. However, "Beat" had other meanings to him as well, such as beatitude and holiness. The core of the Beat Generation was formed by three key members: Jack Kerouac, Allen Ginsberg and William Burroughs. There were others as well: Gary Snyder, Lawrence Ferlinghetti, Gregory Corso and MichaelMcClure, just to name a few, but it all began with the core. They formed alternative ways of thinking and a new way of life. The beat generation grew to have an impact on American society, especially in literature and politics that still lasts today. They started a new style of American literature but ignited the rebellion against social conformity in the 1950's through their poems of social and political criticism. Conformity was everywhere in America - from cars to clothes, from social behavior to politics. Most women had one choice: conform to be a housewife and mother. During the Cold War, the United States led its allies against the communist Soviet Union. This allowed for American condemnation and even for the persecution of rebellious and social nonconformists as threats to U.S. national security. It was in this atmosphere the writers came forward to declare their alienation and disgust from what they saw as the epitome of deplorable suburban conformity through their poetry and lifestyles. The guideline for the Beats was not to conform to the sick and twisted society around them, but instead to remain as individuals and reach the ultimate reality, the utmost bliss. Eventually, this movement had a profound effect on American culture, spawning, hippies in the 1960s. By calling attention to alternative values, ideas, and literary modes, the Beats influenced several writers of the 1960s, including poets Robert Creeley and Ed Dorn, and novelists Ken Kesey and Richard Brautigan.