The early nineteenth century gave way to the rise of many political and religious movements. The transcendentalist movement fits clearly into this category. Centered around individualism, self-reliance, and nature it derives many of its core beliefs from unitarianism. This new way of viewing the human condition was spurred and explored by people such as Ralph Waldo Emerson, Henry David Thoreau, Margaret Fuller, and Walt Whitman. However ideas such as the value of simplicity and illusion of progress, that were spawned by this movement, are not just mere productions of the time period. Rather these ideas can still be applied to modern life. The first of the ideas found in the transcendentalism movement that can be applied to the modern world
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The importance of self-reliance did not translate to the modern world. This can be seen in the story of Chris McCandless and countless others who, “intended to walk deep into the bush and "live off the land for a few months” (Krakauer). The idea of the importance of self-reliance deeply rooted in the lives of many of these people as seen by McCandless taking a copy of Walden with him on his last excursion into the wild. However the real problem with the importance of self-reliance translating to modern society is that people take self-reliance to mean that we should be able to be able to live without the reliance on any part of society. The real part of self-reliance that can still be applied to modern society is being self-reliant in the how the an individual is able to create their own ideas about the human condition and how that condition can be further explored by that individual. This part of self-reliance is explored by the transcendentalist Walt Whitman in his poem “Oh Me! Oh Life!” where he explores the importance of the individual in the exploration of the human condition. Whitman states in answer to his questions of doubt towards society, “That you are here—that life exists” (Leaves of Grass). This shows the part of self-reliance that is still applicable to the modern world in that life will always exist and the reader will always be present. It shows Whitman’s encouragement of the individual exploring his own humanity and coming to their own conclusions about the human
The importance of self-reliance did not translate to the modern world. This can be seen in the story of Chris McCandless and countless others who, “intended to walk deep into the bush and "live off the land for a few months” (Krakauer). The idea of the importance of self-reliance deeply rooted in the lives of many of these people as seen by McCandless taking a copy of Walden with him on his last excursion into the wild. However the real problem with the importance of self-reliance translating to modern society is that people take self-reliance to mean that we should be able to be able to live without the reliance on any part of society. The real part of self-reliance that can still be applied to modern society is being self-reliant in the how the an individual is able to create their own ideas about the human condition and how that condition can be further explored by that individual. This part of self-reliance is explored by the transcendentalist Walt Whitman in his poem “Oh Me! Oh Life!” where he explores the importance of the individual in the exploration of the human condition. Whitman states in answer to his questions of doubt towards society, “That you are here—that life exists” (Leaves of Grass). This shows the part of self-reliance that is still applicable to the modern world in that life will always exist and the reader will always be present. It shows Whitman’s encouragement of the individual exploring his own humanity and coming to their own conclusions about the human