Rebellious Individuality in the Beats’ Literature and Life

Abstract

Individuality, which means stressing and according importance to some peculiarities of one’s character and to a large extent ignoring collective obligations and considerations, is a characteristic of man that shares it with his Creator and therefore, according to the Beats, should be unconditioned and should not be suppressed or subdued. Although the Beats believed that individuality was crucial to society, America at that time gave it a dirty look and people in general were not kind to that which was different from societal criteria. So, the Beats felt unsafe in an anti-individualist society stamping on the individual’s innovations, advancements, and difference. The Beats’ life was in fact a battle between them and society, between conformity and individuality, between heterogeneity and homogeneity, between collective and individual norms. This paper is concerned with the effects of society on the Beats’ awareness of themselves and how that awareness dominates their entire life including relationship with other people.

Keywords

• american society
• conformist
• beats
• identity
• individuality