Ralph Waldo Emerson: Nonconformity, Integrity, and Self-Reliance

“There is a time in every man’s education when he arrives at the conviction that envy is ignorance; that imitation is suicide; that he must take himself for better, for worse, as his portion; that though the wide universe is full of good, no kernel of nourishing corn can come to him but through his toil” -Ralph Waldo Emerson in Self Reliance. Ralph Waldo Emerson was a transcendentalist. Transcendentalism is a philosophical movement that originated in the 19th century and was primarily influenced by Ralph Waldo Emerson and Henry David Thoreau. Transcendentalists’ main beliefs are: self-reliance is essential to one’s life, nature is divine, every person should have an optimistic outlook, and humanity needs to adhere to their personal morals and beliefs. In today’s world we still see a multitude of the beliefs of transcendentalism.

Ralph Waldo Emerson, unlike Thoreau actually experienced poverty for some of his life. He was a writer, orator, and philosopher with experience as a Unitarian minister. There are many exaggerations in Emerson’s piece Self Reliance, surrounding solitude with respect to society. On page 242, Emerson writes “Society everywhere is in conspiracy against the manhood of every one of its members… Self reliance is its aversion,”. Self reliance is the ability to stand alone and one's own powers and resources. In American society, self reliance and independent thought is not frowned upon like it is suggested in this passage, it is only seen as favorable. Surely, there are issues within American society, but it is not something today that resents solitude

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

I believe that, essentially, life consists of a series of choices. A grouping of these choices in one direction or another makes us who we are, and ultimately we have control over our lives. What makes one person different from another is his own set of choices. When going through life’s motions, we develop certain worldviews and ideas and values to live by. We develop an opinion of what makes a person “great.” In the well-known essay “Self-Reliance”, Ralph Waldo Emerson provides a beautiful way of approaching these choices, and he reveals a very inspiring set of values centralized around going through life answering only to yourself. I love the way Emerson evaluates the society we live

In Ralph Waldo Emerson’s essay titled “Self-Reliance” he speaks on the topic of the individual, creating the idea that an individual being independent leads to greatness. Emerson’s writing within this memoir is relatable to young individuals who are looking for themselves, an individual must avoid conformity and false consistency while following their own thoughts making themselves an individual. Within the essay, Emerson uses a range of rhetorical devices to prove that every individual can do great by being an individual and not like everyone else, something that young people everywhere should hear while growing up with the heinous act of peer pressure.

Emerson has issue with society. He believes that the conformity and “encroachment on peoples’ liberties [hindered the individual.] He says people should look for individual freedom, and in finding that freedom, people will achieve self-reliance” (Yanella 4, 13). More so Emerson does not trust the system that governs society. He sees society as a “joint stock company that is in conspiracy with every one of its members” (“Self-Reliance” 535). Society can be seen as a hindrance on individual thought because a lot of times people will do what society or authority tells them to do without thinking of themselves first.

There is a large abundance of controversy between individuals over certain topics and what they truly mean. An example of one of these topics is self-reliance. Although there are multiple opinions on the meaning and use of self-reliance the true definition, as found in the dictionary is “a reliance on one’s own efforts and abilities” (Merriam-Webster). Many writers spoke in their writing about their past experiences with self-reliance and what they believe it to be. A few of these writers include Doctor Zhivago, Jon Krakauer, Ralph Waldo Emerson, Walden, and Peter Buffett. By reading these author’s writings you can clearly understand their views and ideas on self-reliance.

Anastas, Benjamin. “The Foul Reign of Emerson’s ‘Self-Reliance.’” The New York Times, 3 Dec. 2011, www.nytimes.com. This article blames today’s politics and the American joy of instant gratification with the dismissal of outside facts due to the ‘Self- Reliance’ philosophy of Emerson. Stating that the American people can ignore loads of facts if their own experience tells them something different. Benjamin Anastas is an American Novelist, journalist, and book reviewer. He also teaches literature at Bennington College.

American Transcendentalism was an important philosophical and literary movement which placed an emphasis on staying true to one’s beliefs and expressing oneself no matter the situation or consequence. Ralph Waldo Emerson and Henry David Thoreau fully embraced these beliefs as their influence has allowed these

Transcendentalism was an early philosophical, intellectual, and literary movement that thrived in New England in the nineteenth century. Transcendentalism was a collection of new ideas about literature, religion, and philosophy. It began as a squabble in the Unitarian church when intellectuals began questioning and reacting against many of the church’s orthodoxy ways regarding all of the aforementioned subjects: religion, culture, literature, social reform, and philosophy. They in turn developed their own faith focusing on the divinity of humanity and the innate world. Many of the Transcendentalists ideas were expressed heavily by Ralph Waldo Emerson, in his essays such as “Nature”, “Self Reliance”, and also in his poems such as “The

Imagine a world where there is no society. Imagine if there was no technology and everybody just lived in isolation. In Emerson’s essay, “Self-Reliance,” he illustrates his ideas on the tenet by using metaphors. Nonconformity means being mentally and physically separated from society, a quality which sometimes overlaps with the ideas behind self-reliance. In “Where I Lived and What I Lived For,” Thoreau uses personal experiences, description, and problem-and-solution. Emerson and Thoreau begin by using different techniques, Thoreau using problem-and-solution and description, while Emerson uses cause-and-effect, yet both use cause-and-effect to develop the idea that one should be independent of society in the end.

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.

It is simply not easy for a teenage kid to always stay true to himself/herself throughout their entire teenage life. A statistic found on lovetoknow.com shows that “70 percent of teens who smoke have friends who smoke or started smoking because of peer pressure” (Zeiger 1). Another fact from statisitcbrain.com shows that “90 Percent of 15-17 year old girls who want to change at least one aspect of their physical appearance” (Brain 1). Examples like these are the problems that 21st century teenage boys and girls deal with everyday. However, reading Ralph Waldo Emerson’s Self Reliance, might give them useful advice on how to live a better, more happy life. The compilation of short essays that Emerson composed inspire the readers to be nonconformist, and to rely on oneself to do the right thing. These ideas are what the Transcendentalists believed in. The group thought that everyone should move away from what society thinks, to listen to oneself, and to live life the way one wants to. However, today’s society completely contradicts Emerson’s writing. Most citizens, especially teenagers listen to how they are expected live life by society, instead of being who they truly are. Emerson says staying true to yourself and not imitating others will make an individual truly happy, which would help teens make better and smarter decisions when bad influence and temptation come their way.

The American Renaissance was a revolution for literature and writers in America itself that emphasized cultural authority. The American Renaissance took place throughout the nineteenth century, primarily in the early segment of this era. According to, The Norton Anthology of American Literature, “the idea of American Renaissance has been so influential in part of the literature of this time period, and was crucial to the development of American literary traditions” (4). This created a diverse movement apart of the American Renaissance reform called, Transcendentalism. The Transcendentalism period which outlined majority of the Renaissance, was led by writer, Ralph Waldo Emerson. Transcendentalism is largely defined by the ideals of, religion, self reliance, civil disobedience, individualism, idealism, nonconformity, and nature. Emerson outlined the reform and countless parts of these Transcendentalism ideals, for writers soon to follow this movement. The Norton Anthology of American Literature, presents Emerson’s language as, “…no American writer who placed greater importance on the reader’s active interpretive role in generating new meanings and new ways of seeing the world” (214). Ralph Waldo Emerson’s language was a formation composed of idealism and a philosophical literary movement. Founding father Ralph Emerson, contributed to Transcendentalism by the primary ideals of Nature, and Individualism. These ideals are all exhibited in Emerson’s essays, “Nature”,

In “Self-Reliance,” Emerson explicitly states that “whoso would be a man must be a nonconformist” (827). Emerson urges his readers to think for themselves, rejecting the presumptions and traditions of the previous generations, if they should see fit to do so. Acknowledging the dangers of dissent, Emerson admits that “for nonconformity the world whips you with displeasure” (829). Nevertheless, a man cannot be enlightened if he relies solely upon the thoughts and presumed knowledge of those around him; as Emerson put so eloquently, “insist on yourself; never imitate” (840). The endorsement of individuality can be found everywhere in today’s society, and it is one message that seems to have been embraced as a part of American culture itself. As Emerson realized, people tend to be happier when they feel comfortable expressing their own opinions without