Ralph Waldo Emerson Transcendentalism Essay

Ralph Waldo Emerson has been exulted as a transcendentalist. He wrote several essays that expressed his ideals, concerns, and what he hoped would lead people to think for themselves. Emerson wanted people to think for themselves and not mindlessly conform to the government doctrines simply because they were told to, "Their two is not the real two, their four is not the real four: so that every word they say chagrins us and we know no where to begin to set them right. Meantime nature is not slow to equip us in the prison-uniform of the party to which we adhere" (Emerson 273). He was calling for a social reform in such a way that encouraged every individual to find their own voice, their own thoughts, and their own perspective. HIs writings were a challenge to the people to shed their conformist ways and find their individuality outside …show more content…
The focus of the essay reiterates the need for a person to develop an individualistic expression and to find their own direction away from conformity. Emerson understood the how threatening individuality was to those that encouraged the society conformity, especially to government entities, "That divided and rebel mind, that distrust of a sentiment because our arithmetic has computed the strength and means opposed to our purpose, these have not" (270). There seems to be a commonality between the two essays in their use of children having a greater grasp on Emerson's plea for the American people to find their sense of individualism in a world being built upon conformity, rediscover their relationship with the universe, and find the absolute truth. Yet, "Self-Reliance" does not suggest that their quest of this truth is needed to be found through nature, as it was put forth during his essay, "Nature". The writing itself lost some of the idealistic enthusiasm and settled into a more mature reading of finding your own beliefs and perception of the