Emerson and Whitman's Views of Self Essay

Walt Whitman is a famous American poet. His work is a combination of romantic and realistic characteristics like emotion, nature, free thought, individualism, imagination, yet with the depiction of life in an objective manner. Like Whitman claimed, “the proof of a poet is that his country absorbs him as affectionately as he has absorbed it.” In other words, the life in his country influences writing. However, unlike most famous American writers, Whitman was self-taught and is the father of free verse, as stated by many universities and scholars. In relationship to Whitman, Whitman’s “When I Heard the Learn’d Astronomer, is about a student deciding to learn from nature than from the lecturer. This reflects Whitman’s self-taught experience.

In his essay, "Nature", Ralph Waldo Emerson describes man's relationship to nature and to God. Early on, he describes himself as a "transparent eyeball." In this passage, he expresses his view that nature is purity. Emerson believes being in pure nature

1. The main theme of the piece “Self-Reliance” is that one should never conform to the way that society views that they should because in doing that, a person loses their individuality. Emerson believed that a person should, “Speak [their] latent conviction, and it shall be the universal sense,” meaning that if a person chooses to march to the beat of their own drum, then nobody can tell them their opinion is wrong because at least they are taking a chance and speaking their mind. Emerson’s definition of self-reliance is similar to the common use because both definitions discuss how one should take care of personal needs and be independent. Emerson himself stated that, “the great man is he who

Emerson wanted others to understand the way one’s mind will affect them in society. Emerson will bring his purpose to the readers in a way to prepare the readers think using the allusion and metaphors to draw the readers wonder what society has done to change us. Making the readers wonder, why care about what society thinks of us? Emerson’s Self-reliance will allow us to open their minds and detect what’s right in front of them.

I share this view of society with Emerson: “Society is a joint-stock company, in which the members agree, for the better securing of his bread to each shareholder, to surrender the liberty and culture of the eater. The virtue of request is conformity. Self-Reliance is its aversion.”

In “Self-Reliance”, Emerson adopts the rhetorical strategy of aphorisms to annex what he thinks by enriching his thesis, while allowing a pause in the reader’s mind to comprehend just what he is saying. Emerson’s honest aphorism advises people to actually believe in themselves in order to be triumphant by saying, “To believe your own thought, to believe that what is true for you in your private heart, is true for all men, --- that is genius” (Emerson 1) and “Trust thyself: every heart vibrates to that iron string” (Emerson 3). The aphorism demonstrates that believing in themselves, and what is important to them, the reader, is what everyone else does, that being an individual is a genius idea. Comparing this to what society, especially the younger individuals with in society, they themselves hear differently, that they

     One of the primary issues that Emerson tried to convey was that one must follow what they believe is true for themselves and not listen to what other people think. He states,

In this writing, Emerson’s meaningful metaphors proclaim the sheer importance of individuality and how much it is longed for, saying that “every heart vibrates

     Emerson’s writing focused on nonconformity and individuality. In his essay "Self-Reliance," he wrote, "Nothing is at last sacred but the integrity of your own mind," and, "Whoso would be a man, must be a nonconformist."

Then Whitman compares in a compelling yet gentler tone that the two men are both honorable. Whitman states “the strong, terrific game/ spell of all brave and manly hearts”. These two lines illustrate that Whitman realizes they are brave men. All men that have fallen

	When Emerson says "Insist on yourself; never imitate." he is saying that you should act like you are on the inside; don't try to be like someone else. Be your own person and strive

Emerson criticizes that men do not even try to build their own opinion because they blindly trust the thoughts of the majority or they conform to the will of the community because their opinion differs from the common beliefs. They do not have enough courage and self-confidence to express their opinion since they are afraid that other men could look down at them because they do not have the same opinion. This turns them into just one, tiny, unimportant part of billions of people, whose thoughts are basically equal, but exactly the aspect of being different from everybody else, being an individual, being special and having his own personality is what a human being is all about and is necessary for having success.

The simplest, most natural, and strongest character I have ever met in my life”, in his biographical review (116). Throughout Wilde’s literary career, reflections of Whitman can be seen by the more philosophical pieces created by Wilde, which stray away from his typical beauty over content persona.

We can grasp ourselves only by considering individual identities in affiliation to the basic structure of society. The narrator goes on to say, “I am of old and young, and of the foolish as much as the wise,/Regardless of others, ever regardful of others,/Maternal as well as paternal, a child as well as man,/Stuffed with the stuff that is coarse, and stuffed with the stuff that is fine,/ 2. One of the great nation of many nations—the same and the largest the same,/A Southerner soon as a Northerner, a planter nonchalant and hospitable,/A Yankee bound my own way…ready for trade…my joints the limberest joints on earth and the sternest joints on earth,… ” (Whitman 32-33) Whitman being of, “old and young, of the foolish as much as the wise” displays how he equates both traits.

These factors are prominent in Emerson’s essay as well. At an early age society imposes rules and instills conventional beliefs upon us. As a result, we are stripped of our individuality and ability to think for ourselves. Individuals are convinced that they must be consistent in order to avoid ridicule. Consistency is recognized by Emerson as a threat to creative thinking.