The lives of people in different societies are governed by a set of rules that involve preserving attitudes and behaviors that are perceived to be good for the community. This leads to a situation where people cannot exercise their free will as they have to conform to different rules in the society. The society can enforce rules of conformity that lead to oppression and poor relationships among people. This is seen in some situations in the Scarlet letter. The story rotates around the life of Hester who had a child out of wedlock and the punishment she had to face from members of the society (Hawthorne 53). The quote on Self-Reliance by Emerson resonates with the characters and situations in the Scarlet letter. This paper critically analyses the issue of conformity and how it affects the lives of people in the society.
Self-Reliance
In the essay of self-reliance, Emerson goes into …show more content…
The people did not expect an unmarried woman to engage in sexual relationships with people in the society. This ideology comes from the fact that the society being Puritans lived by the rules of the bible. The people did not have a say on how their lives should be and how people in the community were expected to engage with each other. The society had changed and re-aligned the beliefs and values of people in the society to suit the biblical expectations and practices. This is what Emerson talks about when he says that, “the virtue in most request is conformity” (Emerson 157). It cannot be argued that living according to biblical principle is righteous for everyone in the society. This is because the biblical principles have been passed on to people without their consent. The laws limit the ability of people to exercise their free will as they are deemed to be morally upright. Emerson argues that such a system in the society is against the manhood and experience of life for people in the
Self-Reliance
In the essay of self-reliance, Emerson goes into …show more content…
The people did not expect an unmarried woman to engage in sexual relationships with people in the society. This ideology comes from the fact that the society being Puritans lived by the rules of the bible. The people did not have a say on how their lives should be and how people in the community were expected to engage with each other. The society had changed and re-aligned the beliefs and values of people in the society to suit the biblical expectations and practices. This is what Emerson talks about when he says that, “the virtue in most request is conformity” (Emerson 157). It cannot be argued that living according to biblical principle is righteous for everyone in the society. This is because the biblical principles have been passed on to people without their consent. The laws limit the ability of people to exercise their free will as they are deemed to be morally upright. Emerson argues that such a system in the society is against the manhood and experience of life for people in the