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Self Reliance
by Lillian Bonar
Essay: Self Reliance
Pages: 11
Rating: 3 stars
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• Self Reliance.doc
The Transcendentalist movement flourished in New England, and proposed a revolutionarily new philosophy of
life. This new philosophy drew upon old ideas of Romanticism, Unitarianism, and German Idealism. Some of these
ideas pertained closely to the values of America at the time. These values included nature, individualism, and
reform, and can be noted in the essay “Self Reliance,” by Ralph Waldo Emerson. In this essay, Emerson states his
values and incorporates them into his philosophy of self-reliance.
In the past 170 years, some of the ideas stated by Emerson in his literary work “Self-Reliance” have weathered the
test of time. However, since his archaic examples no longer apply to modern life, other sources of
transcendentalism must be found to sustain the ideas. Such strongholds of ideas may be scarce, but they do exist
in the form of environmentalists and hard working people. Contrarily, other modern barriers have risen, and
impede the validity of the original transcendentalist values of “Self-Reliance.” While the ideals of “Self-Reliance” fit
well with Emerson’s audience of the “ancient” time, some aspects of his work need alterations in order to totally
relate to a contemporary teenager.
In the essay “Self-Reliance,” Emerson elaborates upon his idea of self-reliance with the incorporation of major
themes. For example, when Emerson discusses the conformity and consistency issues of people, he explains how
most people act like lemmings, and also how they only trust their successful past actions, rather than exploring
new paths. Emerson then ties these issues to people’s lack of self-trust of their intuition, or the innermost part of
people that guides the way in life. Emerson states that “Consistency is the hobgoblin of l...