Transcendentalism In Emerson's Self Reliance Vs. The World

An influential literary movement in the nineteenth century, transcendentalism placed an emphasis on the wonder of nature and its deep connection to the divine. As the two most prominent figures in the transcendentalist movement, Ralph Waldo Emerson and Henry David Thoreau whole-heartedly embraced these principles. In their essays “Self-Reliance” and “Civil Disobedience”, Emerson and Thoreau, respectively, argue for individuality and personal expression in different manners. In “Self-Reliance”, Emerson calls for individuals to speak their minds and resist societal conformity, while in “Civil Disobedience” Thoreau urged Americans to publicly state their opinions in order to improve their own government.

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

Ralph Waldo Emerson and Henry David Thoreau were the giants during the 19th century American Transcendentalism movement. Their influential work brought upon shared beliefs on concerning spiritual perspectives, government interference, and the ideology of cultural values in American society. Nature has a multitude of meaning if looked at it from all angles, but deeper within nature is the reflection of what you exert while in it. However they agree on the human condition, the two authors speak with different tones that reflect how nature affects the entirety of man’s spirit. While both Emerson and Thoreau practice the spirit of the human condition, Emerson focused his energy on how “[nature’s] philosophical import [is]…unchanged by man” (215.) where Thoreau implied that we are “subjects of an experiment” (1051).

Henry David Thoreau and Ralph Waldo Emerson, central figures of Transcendentalism, expressed their beliefs through works such as “American Scholar” and “Into the Woods” in the nineteenth century. They believed that one must be in simplicity, solitude, and away from technology to appreciate the beauty of nature, which is essential for a better spiritual understanding of oneself. Transcendentalism, which focuses on spiritual interactions with nature, is relevant in today’s hectic life with temptations of materialistic goods and burdens of technology. The retreat that Webb offers every year is a good example of how Transcendentalism shapes students to have spiritual richness and mental strength. On retreats, students go off campus with bare necessities for three days to camp sites in nature to reflect and appreciate the beauty of the outdoors. Viewed through the lens of Transcendentalism, retreats allow students to prepare for a new and busy school year to come by helping them to realize their own goals, to get rid of distractions of technology, to get inspired by nature for a better understanding of themselves, and to enjoy a moment of solitude to truly reflect on the deeper meanings of life.

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.

“A foolish consistency is the hobgoblin of little minds… With consistency a great soul simply has nothing to do.” (Emerson)

Whom authors one of literature's most convincing arguments of transcendentalism for its time and is a philosophic writer that abandoned society and lived in the woods? This famous and influential author is one Henry David Thoreau and the paragraphs being analysed are the two closing paragraphs of the second chapter in his seminal work Walden. Within Thoreau’s passages, he very much advocates for a return to nature, rejecting the fast pace of society. The way Thoreau goes about persuading readers to his argument is through employing skillful use of parallel structure and metaphors.

Transcendentalist has a handful of principals from self-reliance to the thought of technology is harmful.The main tenet throughout the paper will focus on the importance of nature. Transcendentalist views nature as a gateway to the spiritual world, a way to the Omnipower. Henry David Thoreau immersed himself into nature fully “The morning wind forever blows, the poem of creation is uninterrupted; but few are the ears that hear it”(Thoreau II). Thoreau reveals how he has taken the time to observe nature to its fullest extent. He saw nature as a neighbor who was to be respected just as a man would treat another. Ralph Waldo Emerson a great transcendentalist, a mentor to Thoreau. Emerson’s point of view of nature showed how men and nature can become one to uplift themselves from the worldly shackles. Thoreau and Emerson both had a concept that nature was essentials to mankind, one sought out to respect it and the other viewed as a form of release.Nature is important to transcendentalism because it leads to spiritual connection and harmonization.

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.

During the 1820’s, Ralph Waldo Emerson had developed the social movement of Transcendentalism. His ideas had immensely flourished amongst society. Some of his ideas pertained that our spirit progresses deeper into nature, and that our thoughts and soul go beyond what the world sees it as. He believed that society should not be conformed to worldly regulations, and he encouraged things such as; self independence, appreciation of nature, and to consider beliefs that reach beyond scientific knowledge. Transcendentalism also focuses on the idea of letting go of things of this world, and focusing on yourself to fulfill potential in life.

Although Ralph Waldo Emerson and Henry David Thoreau shared similar views and beliefs relating to Transcendentalism, the approach each author took in writing and making the ideas that were so important and concrete was not always so closely related. Thoreau's argument calls for less government and more independence while Emerson's consistence need for more self-reliance and independence from others. Thoreau viewed God as the higher authority over government, “The church is a sort of hospital for men's souls and as full of quackery as the hospital for their bodies.” (Walden) In "Self-Reliance," Emerson express the idea that the individual should be completely reliant on God. “When a man lives with God, his voice shall be as sweet

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

During the late 1820’s and 1830’s in the United States, transcendentalism came into light as a response to take a stand against the broad condition of spirituality and intellectualism. Many pieces of written work from that time period utilized the transcendentalist literary style. Ralph Waldo Emerson’s essay “Self Reliance” contains a dense amount of characteristics related to the transcendentalism period. The transcendentalist elements exploited in the essay helped develop the ideas of individuality and nonconformity in society. Emerson uses transcendental core beliefs throughout the essay to project his thoughts and feelings and to inspire the readers to think and act more as individuals.

These essays were written in the transcendentalism period. Emerson was a very important author of this period. The author´s motto is to “trust yourself”. These essays are focused on two main thing, humans and nature. Emerson wanted to go beyond the limitation of the senses and everyday experience. In the first essay he felt the necessity to tell the people to develop their potential as an individual. In the second, he focused on nature and humanity. The main themes talked in both essays were self-reliance or individuality and the connection between nature and human.

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.