Emerson And Thoreau: A Comparative Analysis

Ralph Waldo Emerson and Henry David Thoreau are two of the most influential transcendentalist writers of their time. Both men rejected the idea that knowledge could be fully disocvered through sheer experience and observation and asserted that some information can only be discovered through extrasensory perceptions such as intuition or spirituality. While both shared the core beliefs of transcendentalism, each man chose to discover their path to disocover the inner self through different approaches. Emerson approaches the desire for such understanding by submerging himself into nature and escaping all of society. Thoreau approaches the journey to this understanding by following in Emerson’s footsteps, but taking the necessary steps to mind the gap …show more content…
There I feel that nothing can befall me in life.” This assertion supports Emerson’s belief that Nature serves as an interpretation of the divine and a medium for humans’ understanding of it. It also explains Emerson’s reasoning for isolating himself in nature. Essentially, Nature is everything that has not tainted by human interference. In the section“Discipline”, Emerson explains that man can understand God and Nature through logical, rational Understanding and through intuitive Reason. Emerson also refers to Reason as the “universal soul”. Reason is to be seen as the purpose or the creator of all events. Emerson proposes that the soul or the Reason is in all of us, imparted by God. It is the actual link that connects man to Nature, allowing him to transcend from the physical world into the spiritual world. The soul or Reason is the only direct relation to God that humans possess. Emerson urges readers to learn to follow the intuitive soul in order to access a higher, spiritual world. However, he also contests that the only true way to follow the soul is to depart all societal influences and escape into solitude into the