Self Reliant

Emerson’s Self Reliance essay is a motivational to say the least. Several quotes from the essay challenge our current society's moral compass, even though it was written 150 years ago. The essay stresses the necessity of relying on oneself for knowledge and guidance. Unlike other writings that are often compared to the Bible, Emerson’s essay conveys the same ideas as the Bible, without using scenes or characters to get his message across.

For example, in Self-Reliance, Emerson discusses the importance of an individual’s resistance to conforming to social norms. Listing the several benefits of non-conformity, he surmises that accepting public opinion as one’s own ultimately leads to the wasting of one’s life. He further stresses the importance of non-conformity through great figures such as Socrates, Jesus, Galileo, and Newton, all who were initially ridiculed for their innovative ideas and perspectives on the surrounding world. Furthermore, he notes that any apparent inconsistency will ultimately be consistency when examined on a life-long scale. All of the fluctuations, when viewed on a larger scale, will depict an average tendency. He concludes that our individual natures allow us to combat false consistency, as well as conformity, and allow us to become self-reliant--to be able to express autonomy over our individual

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.

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.

When young adults are presented with the expectation to join society, they lose the capability to trust their own opinions and enact judgment based on their morals. The inability for young adults to understand their full potential translates to them not understanding how they can achieve their future endeavors. Ralph Waldo Emerson, a prominent Transcendentalist, flourished society’s perspective on cherishing what they have without the help of aids with his essay, “Self-Reliance.” Emerson’s essay uses the stylistic techniques of compare and contrast along with cause and effect. He contradicts society’s claims of what is deemed self-reliance and associates their views with false arguments. On the other hand, Henry David Thoreau, a widely-known philosopher, communicated his beliefs of self-reliance with his personal essay, “Where I Lived and What I Lived For.” Thoreau demonstrates his experience in the woods as one of the most important times in his life where he learned about life’s necessities and how to rely on himself. Both Emerson and Thoreau interpret the lack of reliance in an individual as an inhibiting factor in a young adult’s ability to achieve greateness in their introduction, development, and conclusion paragraphs.

Chris McCandless misunderstood Emerson’s words in “Self Reliance”. Chris may have been bright when it comes to academics, but when it comes to analyzing and understanding a writer’s words…he is as dark as the night. Emerson states “but the great man is he who in the midst of the crowd keeps with perfect sweetness the independence of solitude” (Emerson 2). Solitude has a positive connotation about being alone like finding one’s true self. Isolation has the negative connotation that means forced being

In many works of literature, authors express their viewpoints on society and times in which they live. In the essay “Self Reliance” by Ralph Waldo Emerson, and the book Walden by Henry David Thoreau, the authors speak out against conformity and materialism in society. Both were romanticism authors during the 1800s. They focused on simplicity and individuality. Both writings can advise teenagers today on the importance of non-conformity and the value of rejecting materialism.

Self-Reliance reflects Emerson’s beliefs on Transcendentalism by stating how Emerson believes in inspiration, happiness, and the spiritual measures of inspiration through the depth of the human mind itself. “The power which resides in him is new in nature, and none but he knows what that is which he can do, nor does he know until he has tried” (Pg. 774). Emerson in Self-Reliance puts majority of the focus on people trusting themselves, using good judgement, and their own knowledge because a new independent idea makes history not the idea that is copied. “Trust thyself; every heart vibrates to that iron string” (Pg. 774). Through this idea that Emerson created, the thought of people trusting themselves, using good judgement, and their own knowledge

     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."

Emerson demonstrates that since “man has built a coach,” he “has lost the use of his feet” (5). He means that in the past, man would rely on himself for transportation by using his own two feet. Emerson uses a metaphor and cause-and-effect to explain that after the transportation is provided by technological advances, man will no longer use his feet. He will go from relying on himself to relying on society, especially if everybody else also does so. The cause, man building a coach, results in him no longer able to use his feet. The cause-and-effect teaches nonconformity because the reader is informed that by relying on society, man has lost the most important skill of all, which is self-reliance. As a result, he becomes weaker as an individual. In order to be a nonconformist, Emerson believes that one should not be afraid to be different from everybody else. By using cause-and-effect, Emerson is able to convey his thoughts about separating one’s mentality from society’s.

Ralph Waldo Emerson’s “Self-Reliance” was written in 1841 in New England during the Transcendentalist Movement, which was a revolt against the “Age of Reason” and the beginning of Romanticism. Emerson’s essay is about Transcendentalism, the belief that every human has his own way of thinking and personal inborn knowledge to build his opinion, independent from the common beliefs of the community and he should believe in and express his opinion to be successful. Emerson supports the idea of Transcendentalism by urging his readers to trust their own ideas, beliefs and common sense, to listen to and to trust their inner voice and to hold the popular opinion back from influencing their way of thinking, if they want to be successful. He tells

The theme of individualism is present in several of Ralph Waldo Emerson’s works. It was also his philosophical views on how to live life. He believed that human beings had remarkable capabilities, more than they can possibly identify. With these capabilities a person should govern themselves, not be governed by a society. Emerson also believed that nature played a large role in how man should act and to follow nature’s actions of growing without obstruction (“Nature”). This is why he lead the Transcendentalism movement in the nineteenth century, along with Theodore Parker, Frederic Henry Hedge, Amos Bronson Alcott, Margaret Fuller and Henry David Thoreau (Lewis). This philosophy was not only significant then, it was imperative throughout times in history.

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