Ralph waldo emerson 3
Ralph waldo emerson 3Ralph Waldo Emerson's "Self-Reliance" is a highly debatable piece. His ideas are often looked at insensible because much of his audience cannot fathom a life of complete self-reliance. His essay brings up many excellent points that people do not care to consider in society today. He states why people should be more self-reliant, what's generally stopping them, and how to overcome these barriers. Although it's easy to disagree with some of what Emerson has to say, most of his ideas are very intelligent and should be considered.
Society has a way of corrupting its members and pulling them away from self-reliance. Emerson says that society has gotten to a point where people do not even remember how to rely on themselves. People live through the world around them because they are taught to conform to the names and the customs society practices. It is a "conspiracy against the manhood of every one of its members" because it takes away the individuality of its members to create a world of people who think the same and act the same. People need to practice aversion and escape the conformity that society strives on. Of course, it is very had for people to get themselves out of this phase of conformity, but as Emerson says, "whoso would be a man, must be a nonconformist." For years only great men have been able to break away from society's grasp to form their own ideas and live their own lives. These few examples are the ones people need to follow (149).
Much of the reason people conform to society is that they do not know themselves enough to listen to what's in their own heads. People need to learn how to trust themselves. They need to accept the place, events, and virtues that are naturally found for them. The only thing worth trusting in a person's life is found in the heart. The voices in a persons heart are "the voices [heard] in solitude, but they grow faint and inaudible as" people return to society. People should not be cautious about listening and learning what they were meant to hear and learn. They should let themselves be led into a life of self-reliance (153).
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