Non-Conformity: The Path To Double Identity By Jeanne Wakatsuki Houston

In Ralph Waldo Emerson’s “Self-Reliance,” Emerson calls for each person in society to be wholly true to themselves. He claims that it is most rewarding to the individual and the society for people to believe in one’s own thoughts and not in the thoughts of others. Emerson believes that conformity will ultimately lead to an individual’s demise because by living for others, people are not being true to themselves. Therefore in order to have a well-formed society, citizens should focus inward and have confidence in their own ideas before beginning to look towards other individuals; moreover, Emerson calls individuals not only in “Self-Reliance,” but also in numerous essays to act independently from conformity and to live for themselves.

     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."

After reading Emerson’s essay, I noticed a big difference between him and the rest of narratives we read. Emerson believed in being independent, and not being influenced by anything and anyone around you. He assumed that the mind’s primary theme is an unhappy conformism. In his essay “Self-Reliance”, he focused on his catch-phrase "Trust thyself: every heart vibrates to that iron string " (Emerson, 270).

“Self- Reliance” is considered one of Ralph Waldo Emerson’s best-known essays. The essay was first published in 1841 in his collection, Essays: First Series. This essay contains the most thorough statement of Emerson’s emphasis on the need for individuals to avoid conformity and false consistency, and instead follow their own instincts and ideas. This essay shows Emerson’s ways for making and translating classical philosophy and turning it to comprehensible language, and signifying its relevance to everyday life. It is broken into three sections: the value of and barriers to self-reliance, self-reliance and the individual, and self-reliance and

As and sane person, I went inside his house and found Emerson sitting, and writing one of his works, Self-Reliance. Being a good host, he invited me to lunch and we talked about his essay. His essay was profound as it stated that we are who we are and that we should be independent of others. I will never forget what he told me – “Trust thyself: every heart vibrates to that iron string. Accept the place the divine providence has found for you, the society of your contemporaries, the connection of

In Self Reliance , Emerson writes, “A foolish consistency is the hobgoblin of little minds.” Throughout the narrative, Emerson emphasizes the fact that individuals have to reject conformity, and instead follow their own instincts and ideas. As their life unfolds, they’ll find what they have to do, they won’t have to follow what the rest of the crowd is doing. As Emerson states, this may result in the individual being misunderstood. However, he mentions that all great people were also misunderstood, including Pythagoras, Socrates, Jesus, Copernicus, and

Ralph Waldo Emerson resembles a Transcendentalist thinker because of common belief of individualism. When addressing society and it’s values, Emerson comments, “Whoso would be a man must be a nonconformist. He would gather immortal palms must not be hindered by the name of goodness, but must explore it be goodness” (Self Reliance, 551). Emerson explains that if a man acts as a nonconformist, then he can explore new things that would otherwise be restricted. Being free from societies limitations is proves to be the principle idea of individualism, which this analogy clearly reflects. As Emerson explains the role of God and self-confidence in life, he adds, “Trust thyself: every heart vibrates to that iron string. Accept the place divine providence has found for you” (Self Reliance, 550). If everyone were to fully follow what their heart tells them to do, they would find joy and happiness in their life. A second principle of Transcendentalist individualism, independence, makes itself present as Emerson stresses the following of one’s heart. As he explains the journey of a man through education, Emerson concludes that everyman eventually learns “Envy is ignorance; that imitation is suicide; that he must take himself for better, for worse, as his portion”

Emerson brought to focus areas in which people have come to lack individuality, on that account, his idea that Self-reliant individuals were a necessity in this world was born. Religion; which fears and lacks individual creativity, Culture; which devalues individualism and Art; that he pointed out has merely developed into repetitive “imitation.”These are the crucial aspects that Emerson wanted to point out to his readers. “We are like children who repeat by rote the sentences of grandames and tutors.” Emerson accentuates that the way to live isn't to grow into an imitator, life becomes bland and dull once an individual loses his passion for being individualistic. His philosophy stands on the grounds that

In Ralph Waldo Emerson’s essay Self Reliance, he paints people as those who either listen and act on what they’re captivated by or those who stay complacent with what society tells them. He groups these people into conformists and nonconformists. The conformist is someone who stays within the boundaries that society has set for them. They don’t argue with these boundaries and are often uncomfortable with those that do. On the other hand, the nonconformists are those who don’t attempt to follow what society tells them to do but instead explore and further those boundaries. In Emerson’s essay, his biggest message is that people should resist conformity in order to become more impactful, successful, and happier people. One should strive to follow the path of the nonconformist and not be restricted by the limits that society surrounds them with.

On the other hand, individualism itself is not virtuous for society. Ralph Waldo Emerson was a philosopher who believed that people should not rely on the community. Self-reliance was one of his major writing work about individualism, which is the opposite of Utopia. When talking about the economy, competition between civilians is necessary to make money. Therefore, society needs the individual's unique skills to progress. Emerson’s philosophy towards the individual emphasizes the importance an individual has for himself rather than accepting the thoughts of others. His philosophy of “trust thyself” provides the acceptance of what the "divine providence has found" for the person (Emerson 2) to encourage the individual to trust their gut. Emerson

In Ralph Waldo Emerson's essay, titled "Self-Reliance," he centers around how individuals should avoid conformity and false consistency. While still following their own beliefs and ideas, people should follow their hearts and be true to themselves. He idolizes the idea of expressing yourself and not being afraid to share your opinions, even if it may be incorrect. Additionally, Emerson strongly argues that people should refuse to conform and be pressured into the ways of popular culture and their ideas, such as giving back to charity. He expresses how it is okay to be misunderstood by others and to not be afraid to change your mind about things. People should not be intimidated or scared to be themselves, but instead they should accept their

Applying this context to “Self-Reliance,” Emerson believes we should reject conformity even if it means we are stigmatized or misunderstood by others. Emerson states that “to be great is to be misunderstood” (171). According to Emerson, I need to pursue my own ideas, even at the cost of being misunderstood. That means staying true to myself and rejecting the opinions of others. Emerson emphasizes the importance of emotion over reason and defines self-reliance as staying true to what I believe in and rejecting conformity. If I believe strongly about something, then I should stay true to myself by being able to think independently.

In self-reliance written by philosopher Ralph Waldo Emerson, the author argues that, polite society averse through one's personal growth development on becoming self-reliant because today's reality independency is based on judgments and mistakes taken in the past while society takes control of a person's independent lifestyle.

One of Emerson’s greatest tools is his use of passionate language throughout his work. His passionate use of language and emotional appeal to illustrate his beliefs about conformity. When he states, “Else, to-morrow a stranger will say with masterly good sense precisely what we have thought and felt all the time, and we shall be forced to take with shame our own opinion from another.” (Emerson 2), he is referring to the audience’s emotions when missing out on the opportunity to speak. Instead, another person takes the credit for the same idea. Throughout life people hold their tongues when new ideas appear due to the fear of it not being accepted or it being negatively judged. This fear fills many, but the person who has the courage to speak his mind will have self-reliance, and the ones who were quiet will rue the missed opportunity. In the early pages of Emerson’s “Self-Reliance”, he refers to inner trust and will power when he states, “To believe in your own thought, to believe that what is true in your private heart is true for all men – this is genius.” (Emerson 1). Emerson illustrates that there is nothing more essential to life than one’s self confidence and trust, for anything is possible due to will power and determination. Emerson’s tone through the early paragraphs of his text is very

Today’s population are all magnetized towards controversies that people used to keep on their own in the past. Since people are significantly more open in current time, factions emerged that most people join for expressing their feelings. In the essay, Self-Reliance, Emerson claimed that to be a brilliant person, he must be able to be independent in his own state of mind in the midst of a crowd. He believes that being a nonconformist is the only way to be a man. Emerson is a speaker for the American Transcendentalist Group who believes in self-reliance instead of conformity. Being self-reliant must be important in the past because of the Enlightenment and the Industrial Revolution that encourages people to be creative and gain new and useful ideas that they can share with other people. These events are significantly important in the 1800s because these are what force the improvement in America and on how it became one of the leading countries in the map. But considering that in today’s world, most countries are changing into a more modern world and becoming a world full of already -made-beliefs, such as religions and the government, that people join and be part of. Emerson’s self-reliance and being nonconformist is not viable at the present time because of these groups and the numerous of ideas that are already made.