by John Devera

Created on: May 19, 2008

The greatest American philosopher, and perhaps the wisest person this great nation has ever produced once said, "Be who you are and say what you feel, because those who mind don't matter and those who matter don't mind." That was said by Dr. Suess. In case you are not conviced by this wondrous man's wisdom, perhaps you need the lyrical words of Ralph Waldo Emerson, who said, "A man must consider what a rich realm he abdicates when he becomes a conformist." In American Literature, there has always been a struggle within the individual between conforming to the rigid and banal rules of society and rebelling against the established social norms. I would like to share with you the seven most notable non-conformists in American Literature. By examining this short list, perhaps we can see what conformity costs us, and how we should be true to our own selves, for then we can be false to no one else.

7. Allen Ginsburg. This poet, more than any other, represents the apotheosis of rebellion against the system, against the establishment. Hie poem, "Howl," marks the beginning of a movement in poetry, arts and letter, that speaks to generations. His cry is chaotic and harsh, a howl that pierces the soul, and finds its place in our trash bins and in our libraries. He cries out against the mediocrity and the pain.

"I saw the best minds of my generation destroyed by
madness, starving hysterical naked,
dragging themselves through the negro streets at
dawn looking for an angry fix,
angelheaded hipsters burning for the ancient
heavenly connection to the starry dynamo in the
machinery of night."

6. Randle McMurphy. Randle McMurphy is the iconoclastic leader of the rebellion in a mental hospital in Ken Kesey's seminal novel, One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest. You need to read the novel, and not trust your memory to the film, which is pretty darn good. McMurphy leads a rebellion against Nurse Ratched. Her uptight "ratcheted" personality is responsible for controlling the inmates, but not healing them, for she wishes them to be submissive and docile members of a bland and repressive society. When McMurphy enters the hospital, he introduces the idea of freedom and begins to undermine the good nurse's authority. This is how Ratched maintains order.

"The flock gets sight of a spot of blood on some chicken and they all go to peckin' at it, see, till they rip the chicken to shreds, blood and bones and feathers. But usually a couple of the flock gets spotted in the fracas, then it's their turn. And

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