Emerson vs.Thoreau
In Ralph Waldo Emerson's essay "Self Reliance" and Henry David Thoreau's essay "Resistance to Civil Government ("Civil Disobedience"), both transcendentalist thinkers speak about being individual and what reforms and changes need to be made in our society. However, the two essays differ in their idea of what reforms must be made. Emerson takes a much more general approach to what changes a person should make where as Thoreau's essay gets into much more detail as to what the individual needs to do to change society. Despite some differences between the two essays, both seem to stress the point of breaking free of conformity and displaying individuality. Emerson, who published the essay "Self Reliance" in 1841, addresses one of the central characteristics of the American sensibility, individualism. Emerson says that to be a conformist in this world will get
Although both essays stress the importance of being individual, Thoreau's speaks in greater detail on what a person should do with his or her power where as Emerson speaks more about self-fulfillment. Emerson, in a sense, preaches to stop being a follower and start being a leader. Another problem Thoreau has with the government is majority rule, which he dislikes because it does not satisfy all the people. He states that all men "must accept in the highest mind the same transcendent destiny, and not be pinched in a corner. In his essay, Thoreau stresses the importance of the individual, similar to Emerson. Thoreau, a firm believer that enlightenment comes from solitude, wrote "Civil Disobedience" in 1846 after he spent a night in jail for refusing to pay his taxes to the state as a way of protesting against the state's support of slavery. "Self reliance" is more personal that "Civil Disobedience", which is more about social change. Having self reliance is to be individual that stands out from the crowd. Society everywhere is a conspiracy against the manhood of every one of its members," says Emerson. For example, despite the majority rule winner of the 2000 presidential election, more than half the country's people are upset about who our next president will be. He feels our government is an impure one, and it wont be any better until it treats the individual with respect as a neighbor. Thoreau believes if it was up to the people, they would not have consented to the war. "These are the voices [of enlightenment] which we hear in solitude, but they grow faint and inaudible as we enter into the world. " He feels that the present government does not satisfy the individual, that the people need more say in matters such as the Mexican-American war.
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