Emerson states that in solitude, individuals have voices, "which grow faint and inaudible as we enter the world." Some of these thoughts and opinions that people come up with in solitude might cause fear when presented to society. Since society is such a delicate structure based on fear of chaos, any novel voice will make the person who spoke it become "the other." Fear of alienation prevents voices from leaving solitude into the realm of society.
Emerson states that individuals who work hard and pursue fulfillment should not be proud of the possessions they acquired. He says, "a cultivated man becomes ashamed of his property, ashamed of what he has, out of respect for his own being," meaning that acquiring property is just an accident. If you trust yourself and work towards the proper development of yourself by discovery of your innermost talents, then you should not accept society's false reward of property. An ordinary person doing his best work is just as valuable as the "great" lives of kings and royalty. The greatest reward is knowing that you have found your own unique self, and fully trust it.
Fulfillment verses success, self expression verses conformity, and solitude verses the group are important factors to distinguish. Emerson in "Self-Reliance" is not advocating staying in solitude, because humans are social beings. Rather he wants us to discover ourselves away from society, and then confront society as our fulfilled and cultivated selfs. In reality, the wealth power structure of society is just a response to fear of our chaotic world, and if we just embrace this chaos, we might be more fulfilled, happy people. Trust yourself. Learn to let go.
You May Also Find These Documents Helpful
-
The Little Bison River flows from small glaciers in the high cirques of the Rocky Mountains east to the Great Plains of North America, where it ultimately joins the Missouri system. The valley through the Rockies contains a few small towns which are supported by the ski industry and tourism. Recently, extensive natural gas deposits have been discovered in the area, and salvage archaeology projects have been funded to assess the nature of archaeological resources prior to the construction of pipelines, access roads, and well heads. You have been asked to summarize the prehistory of the area for a book on the local history of the resort town of Poplar, soon to celebrate its centennial. Because the precise location of drill sites and pipeline routes must remain confidential to prevent land speculation, the government has not allowed access to the detailed salvage reports. It has, however, provided you with accurate summaries of the findings of the salvage archaeologists, prepared by the office of the government archaeologist. The Little Bison River runs through a formerly glaCiated valley with a typical "U" cross-section ~fig. 8.1). At its western end the valley begins below a series of high cirques, most containing small glaciers. From these, streams descend steeply to the valley floor, forming the Little Bison River. The river flows east through the broad valley bottom, passing through two major mountain ranges before cutting through the foothills and entering the plains, where it merges with the Whiskey River. The valley floor consists of broad, well-drained glacial outwash terraces, above which steep mountain slopes rise to either rocky peaks or treeless plateaus. . Climate is continental, with cold winters and warm summers. Precipitation occurs as snow from November to March, but deep snow is rare on the lower terraces of the main valley because of high winds. Summer precipitation occurs as localized…
- 1676 Words
- 7 Pages
Powerful Essays -
5. Emerson makes many of his points through a series of figures of speech - comparisons between two things that are basically unlike. In "Self-Reliance" what does he compare with the ordinary things and events listed below. Be sure to respond in complete sentence format.…
- 350 Words
- 2 Pages
Satisfactory Essays -
In an essay published in 1841, Emerson addressed one of the central characteristics of the American sensibility: individualism. Before you read, take a moment to think about the term “self-reliance” and what it means to you as a teenager and a student. As you read, determine what “self-reliance” meant to Emerson and how your meaning and his overlap.…
- 271 Words
- 2 Pages
Satisfactory Essays -
What does it mean to own something and how can it impact our sense of self? Many philosophers have has opposing views about this. However, Jean-Paul Sartre has the most accurate representation about the meaning of owning something. Ownership expands beyond physical objects, which means that it includes intangible things. This includes learning a skill or knowing a subject extremely well. Also, ownership doesn’t always impact character negatively, the same way it doesn’t impact it positively all the time. You can see examples of this all throughout everyday life, literature, and movies.…
- 563 Words
- 3 Pages
Good Essays -
5. Emerson makes many of his points through a series of figures of speech - comparisons between two things that are basically unlike. In "Self-Reliance" what does he compare with the ordinary things and events listed below. Be sure to respond in complete sentence format.…
- 374 Words
- 2 Pages
Satisfactory Essays -
throughout the 1836-1860’s the transcendentalist movement swept across the unites states nation bringing the idea of finding truth through ways of nature and individualism which was strongly influenced by ralph waldo emerson. Emerson was a great philosopher who expressed his ideas and beliefs through his writings like his essay “Self- Reliance”. Self-Reliance discusses the issue of people following the majority and not thinking for themselves as an individual even if others don’t believe the same as you. Emerson calls for a reform asking for independents to think for themselves, and to stay true to your…
- 96 Words
- 1 Page
Satisfactory Essays -
In Nathaniel Hawthorne’s novel The Scarlet Letter, the main characters face the theme of isolation. Every single one of them deals with it internally, however, two of them must face it externally as well. To feel isolated is like standing in a crowded room, constantly filling with familiar faces but yet the feeling of emptiness or aloneness still lingers. It’s a battle with humanity as well as your own mind; in a particular case in The Scarlet Letter it drove a man crazy.…
- 815 Words
- 4 Pages
Good Essays -
Transcendentalists ground their philosophy with the idea that every person's inner self is where knowledge is gained. In Ralph Waldo Emerson’s “Self Reliance”, he says, '"What I must do is all that concerns me, not what the people think…It is easy in the world to live after the world's opinion; it is easy in solitude to live after our own; but the great man is he who in the midst of the crowd keeps with perfect sweetness the independence of solitude. '" Emerson realizes that it is easy to conform to society, but there is value in forming one’s own opinion. What makes a person great is if he or she can stand out in a crowd of people. While in a crowd, one can see the overall ideas of the group but never the individual thoughts that made up these ideas.…
- 1099 Words
- 5 Pages
Good Essays -
Ralph Waldo Emerson, in his piece, “Self Reliance”, claims that in order to become great and redefine knowledge on must challenge the conventional wisdom of the time with his own unique ideas. Emerson supports his claim through the use of examples of great thinkers such as Plato and Socrates and how they challenged the thinking of their day. His purpose is to inspire the audience to be individual and to avoid society’s stereotypes in order to develop new, better ideas on our own. His audience in this piece is young adults who are not yet corrupted by the will of society and conformity. (C3)…
- 2057 Words
- 9 Pages
Better Essays -
Imagine if you had a new car. You feel excited, ecstatic even. Perhaps you might even think more highly of yourself. Do you feel like you improved your public image by owning a fancy entity? People feel like they gain control when they possess materialistic items like this, however, too much power can corrupt a person. Ownership plays a significant role in shaping your character, and your sense of self, letting others know what type of person you are.…
- 669 Words
- 3 Pages
Good Essays -
If everyone in a community lived by the virtues of individualism and self-sufficiency, then there would be no community. In a community, everyone contributes something. Individuals in a community work together, in order to solve problems and issues facing the community. Such as, if there has been a terrible natural disaster, communities work together to repair the damage. If the damage is more extensive in some areas than others, then the individuals of that community can work harder to restore it. If everyone in a community lived by the virtues of individualism and self-sufficiency, then in times of crisis or suffering, there would be no sense of community where people helped one another.…
- 616 Words
- 3 Pages
Good Essays -
Emerson and Thoreau attacked the dominant religious, political, and cultural values of American society in order to make people aware that they are more important than everything is, including government and society. According to Emerson, society is a barrier against the individuality of its members; and he continued: "Society is a joint-stock company, in which the members agree, for the better securing of his bread to each shareholder, to surrender the liberty and culture of the eater. The virtue in most request is conformity. Self-reliance…
- 1365 Words
- 6 Pages
Powerful Essays -
In Ralph Waldo Emerson’s essay the “Self-Reliance I found him and his essay to be quite interesting and intriguing. He had such persuading arguments to stimulate any individual’s mind. To me Ralph Waldo Emerson was smart, caring, passionate, an innovative essayist, and poet as well. In his essay he states, “Trust thyself: everyone heart vibrates to that iron string. Accept the place the divine Providence has found for you; the society of your contemporaries, the connexion of events” (Pearson Learning Solution 2013). Emerson wanted people to learn to trust themselves, to be more confident, and overall just learn to have faith and be more Self-Reliance in oneself and not the help of others.…
- 372 Words
- 2 Pages
Good Essays -
Research has shown that self reliance is an important part of a person's mind and the way that these people process things. People that believe in self reliance usually end up doing the best in life because they follow certain steps, that guide them in the right direction. When people are in school and they have to take a test they rely on self reliance to get them through their test. Furthermore, many people throughout this life must sustain to believing in what they believe they can accomplish. In the story Self Reliance by Ralph Waldo Emerson, he describes the tremendous truth to self reliance and how if a person takes the journey of steps in self reliance, it will be shown throughout life. Emerson took this book…
- 917 Words
- 4 Pages
Good Essays -
In order to pursue your self-interest, relying on oneself means to be independent and responsible in order to achieve your goals. individuals that possess confidence and have faith in their beliefs are more prone to be independent. Self reliance is important because that person is capable of standing up on their own feet without depending on others or yearning to be like them. The French Revolution has taught the French people at that time to be self reliant and not depend on the King because all the leaders in France were constantly being executed. However, in order to be self reliant one must be responsible for their own actions. As previously mentioned, people with individualistic ideologies don't depend on others so responsibility is the key to being self reliant. Another example of self reliance is economic freedom. Economic freedom is where consumers and producers have the free will in choosing in what to buy and sell. Economic freedom gives individuals the power in choosing what to invest in responsibly and independently without having to depend on others.…
- 581 Words
- 3 Pages
Satisfactory Essays