Self Reliance Essay
S E L F - R E L I A N C E E S S A Y "A political victory, a rise of rents, the recovery of your sick, or the return of your absent friend, or some other favorable event, raises your spirits, and you think good days are preparing for you. Do not believe it. Nothing can bring you peace but yourself. Nothing can bring you peace but the triumph of principles." In these concluding lines of Ralph Waldo Emerson's essay, he once again pounds his beliefs in nonconformatism across to the reader. The examples of Jay Gatspy, in The Great Gatspy, and George Babbitt, in Babbitt support Emerson's strong convictions. Jay Gatspy lived a financially comfortable life but spent all of his time living not for himself, but living for his long love for Dazy, a married woman. And George Babbitt was even more ignorant. Conformatism was this man's middle name! The only thing this poor man ever thought about was impressing his "so-called" high class friends. This type of attitude brought both of these men sorrow, and even killed one of them. There is no doubt that Emerson had some great thoughts in his essay, but in my opinion his strong belief in nonconformatism is wrong as is confromatism itself. Instead of taking an extreme "right
Memorizing phrases and attitudes of politically conversative editorials was done every morning over coffee. He was a man who wanted, craved, and needed a daily routine, and was filled with uneasiness if that routine was ever broken. If Gatspy lead a life of mediocrity than I would have hated to see anyone of that time who lived a life of under-achievement. wing" or "left wing" stand, I think a compromise should be made between the two. He would publicly proclaim his beliefs, which coincided those of society, and numerous times would even sacrifice his own beliefs simply to gain favor with his business partners and peers. Some people may compare Gatspy and Babbitt and come to the conclusion that they were virtually the same. He would do anything for her, and I mean anything. Babbitt was so weak-minded that the terms babbittry and mediocrity go hand and hand. However Joe Gatspy, had a self awareness but simply didn't have the will-power to do anything to end his ongoing affair with Dazy. There are four main concepts of transcendentalism we should understand in order to assess the essay: 1) the conviction of knowledge given through the five senses, 2) spirit is supreme over matter, 3) nature is the source of joy and exhilaration, and 4) individuals must develop and adhere to higher standards of conduct and reject materialism. It was one of Babbitt's daily rituals. Unlike Babbitt, Gatspy was a somewhat mysterious man. There are many concepts we can derive from Emerson's essay that could have helped the people in the 1920's.
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