Ralph Waldo Emerson’s definition “Self Reliance” in his literary work pertains to some of Henry David Thoreau’s arguments in “Civil Disobedience”.
Both of these literary works require the reader to understand the real governmental thought-processes. In other words, in order to comprehend the sincerity that also mirrors the passion that both of these authors most obviously present, we as readers must be aware of the underground problems with politics.
In “Self-Reliance”, Emerson wants to spread the word to all of his readers that no matter what the situation, you should always go with your gut instinct. He wants people to know that it is okay, and sometimes better, than to not follow in the footsteps of society’s view of conformity. In saying this, as we learned in class, he even encourages people to strive for non-conformity. However, I think he also does this because he wants the world to develop in such a way that people will be able to fearlessly think outside the box. If everyone were to just follow along with what “Big Brother” was telling you to do, then we all might as well be robots. Emerson is warning people to always question the government. Don’t just take it for what it is, and don’t think that just because you’re doing what is seen in the government’s eyes as a “good action” is actually good.
This same idea parallels some of Thoreau’s arguments that are made in “Civil Disobedience” as well. Thoreau also wants to argue that not developing personal thoughts on your own is sinful because governmental corporations are just corporations. Therefore, unless these corporations have people in them that are willing to be conscientious of what is good to the very core (not just a façade of being perceived as good), the corporations will not prosper. Emerson and Thoreau both taught some very interesting lessons to their readers because they both intend to ultimately empower their readers. For all of these reasons, I really do think that Civil Disobedience puts Emerson’s idealism into action.
Interesting post and very interesting picture. Do you think Emerson would ever commit Civil Disobedience?
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