The Role Of Envy In Self Reliance By Ralph Waldo Emerson

In Ralph Waldo Emerson’s essay, Self-Reliance, he claims that everyone can be independent; however, his argument is quixotic today because most individuals in present times are ignorant and do not value themselves as they should.

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.

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.

Eventually every person will have to realize that being envious of one another makes you ignorant, and that everyone has imperfections and no one is perfect but everyone at one point must stop comparing themselves to everyone and accept themselves for who they are.

Through excellent metaphors, Emerson stresses that you must first trust yourself to achieve greatness from your own genius, to realize your potential, and to be self-reliant. Your inner genius, when tapped into, allows you to build self-reliance. Some people might argue that you only need to depend on yourself. If you are totally self-reliant you’re going to have a narrow perspective because you can only pull from your own life experiences or from your own family’s or community’s involvement. However, I am arguing that Emerson uses strong metaphors to show that even with a belief in individualism and self-reliance, one must also trust other sources such as society and God.

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

Acknowledgement of superior achievements of a work colleague could merely be adequate to trigger the reaction of envy (Tesser & Campbell, 1990. As cited in Duffy & Shaw). As could the recognition of lack of sporting abilities compared to other team members be enough to influence or generate this reaction. Traditional workplace settings are believed to be the ideal location for envy to arise due to the tendency for individuals to work closely together (Vecchio, (1995). As cited in Duffy & Shaw, (2000).

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.

Envy can also derive from a sense of low self-esteem that results from an upward social comparison

The definition of conformity is to comply with rules, standards, or laws that society has made. In Ralph Waldo Emmerson’s essay “Self-reliance” Emmerson stresses about how you should never conform or fit in. Emmerson writes about three things in his essay, the first being the values and barriers of being self-reliant. He talks about the pros and the cons of being self-reliant. The second thing Emmerson writes about is how to be self-reliant as an individual, and in this passage he starts to state how God wants us to be self-reliant.

Transcendentalist Ralph Waldo Emerson's essay entitled “Self-Reliance” is a short piece covering his view of society and moral standards. His erroneous view of the latter shapes the way he thinks and writes. Consequently, not all his statements can be taken as legitimate, but he does make a few points that are parallel to the Bible. Primarily, he agrees with a Biblical worldview on matters such as the fear of man and nonconformity, but deviates from the Bible on moral standards of right and wrong.

In New England, Congregational Church grew into one of the biggest movements of religion, literature and philosophy as a reform in the early nineteenth-century in American history. A group of people including former Unitarian ministers made American transcendentalism started its transformation of the American intellect. These people wanted to reform the church because they saw it as a social religion which did not awake the individual’s realization of his own spirituality. These transcendentalists tried to urge their ideas of the significance of the self in spiritual life. American transcendentalism reached its peak in New England in the 1840s under the leadership of Ralph Waldo Emerson. As a former Unitarian minister, Emerson was at the

Self-Reliance was an essay written by an American transcendentalist Ralph Waldo Emerson. Throughout his life, Emerson kept detailed journals of his thoughts and actions, and he looked back at them as a source for Self-Reliance. The essay mainly talks about the importance of self-reliance, self-reliance and the individual, and self-reliance with society. As a whole it promotes self-reliance as an ideal and contrasts it with various modes of dependence or conformity. Throughout Into the Wild, Chris McCandless shows that he is very independent and does not conform to society. Which is why he leaves his home and travels to be closer to nature.

In Self-Reliance, Ralph Waldo Emerson claims that replicating someone else is pure suicide, because change is an inspiration that can be for the stableness of one’s well being while others may think it would be for the worse.