Ralph Waldo Emerson was a true rebel, a man full of knowledge and experiences that crafted his ideals and beliefs. Due to his father, Emerson grew up in a family setting which was paved by structure and religion. His Father, William Emerson, was a respected Boston minister who held many liberal values that became prominent in Ralph Emerson’s works (McKusick, 199). After his father’s death, the Emerson’s fell into financial turmoil. However, the Emerson’s were able to sustain a stagnant life through donations and assistance from their father’s network of respected individuals (Allen, xii). Growing up, Waldo was condescended by others, and was believed to be the least intelligent of his family. Nonetheless, from a young age, Ralph Waldo Emerson was growing a strong sense of self, and a passion for analyzing life as a whole. For instance, his sense of individuality was made very apparent when he elected to be called Waldo instead of Ralph. The rationale behind his decision: he had six cousins named Ralph, leading him to believe he lacked his own identity (Allen, vii). Although, he struggled in his early years, by the ripe, young age of fourteen Waldo was being enrolled into Harvard as the President's Freshman- meaning his tuition, room, and board was to be paid for, in full, by the school (Allen, 41). At Harvard, Emerson was considered to be an average student; his academic standing was poor, he lacked the social skills needed to progress in organizations, and his potential was seeming to disappear. Until his senior year, his writing and poetry was never considered excellent. However, upon graduation, he was granted the permission to deliver his Valedictory poem at commencement. This poem, despite being unpopular with his peers, was heavily favored by the professors and adults at the ceremony. Due to his poem’s success, literature professors began to work with Waldo and aid him on his journey to becoming a minister. One professor in particular, Professor Frisbie, influenced his early ideas by encouraging idealistic values and pushing him further away from his Calvinistic roots (Allen, 55). Considering his completed works of present, it is very apparent that his values stemmed from an idealistic thought process. In one of Waldo’s greatest works, Self-Reliance, his idealistic thoughts are transparent with his themes of non-conformity and individualism. The essay as a whole, discusses Waldo’s thoughts and ideas about society and the people who comprise it. Furthermore, he speaks of the issues that taint humanity and addresses his concern of doubting people’s ability to improve. Ralph Waldo Emerson’s themes of non-conformity and individuality, that are illustrated in Self-Reliance, are crucial to the discovery and remediation of societal issues.
Individuality. Ralph Waldo Emerson contemplated, wrote, and lectured about the fundamental need for societies citizens to develop their own, uninfluenced identity. This thought process was evident in all of his works, particularly; his essay, Self-Reliance, which begs and motivates the reader to pursue their own unique direction. One passage reads, “To believe your own thought. To believe that what is true for you in your private heart, is true for all men,- that is genius.” (Emerson, 825) Waldo preaches to the reader that capturing one's identity is the ultimate way to portray an individual's genius. Norvell supports Waldo’s claim that without individuality, there would be a devastating lack of opinions; instead, progress would come to a sudden halt (Norvell). Not only does he speak of individual thoughts and ideas, but he also describes a person’s individual experiences as being just as important as the books people study. (McKusick, 220) Although Waldo was educated beyond standards seen today, it is clear that he appreciated and deemed experiences in real world scenarios as being crucial for the improvement and education of people.
When considering Waldo’s call for people of society to grasp their own individual thoughts, it is important to understand his reasoning behind his belief in one's conscience. He explains that some of the most influential people of human history ignored society’s doubts and worked toward their goals without manipulation of their unique ideas. Author Candyce Norvell writes, “in a single sentence Emerson names Pythagoras, Socrates, Jesus, Luther, Copernicus, Galileo, and Newton as great men who were unaffected by society's disapproval.” (Norvell) These examples that Waldo uses provide supplemental encouragement for the reader to confidently execute their own ideas in hopes of achieving their own greatness. Waldo, himself, was once looked down upon as being the ugly duckling of the Emerson clan, however; unmoved by the doubts of society, Waldo continued to strive for his own individual greatness. By rejecting the holds placed on him by society in his early youth, Waldo’s works led him to become one of the most influential authors of his generation.
Although Waldo’s received heavy criticism, he stood by his belief that life was not tragic, instead, he believed that the problems and evils we faced were all remediable by individual action. (McKusick, 205) This explains his confidence in man's ability to progress beyond the characteristics of greed, ignorance, and dishonesty that has poisoned society for generations. Waldo writes, “Society never advances. It recedes as fast on one side as it gains on the other. It undergoes continual changes; it is barbarous, it is civilized, it is christianized, it is rich, it is scientific; but this change is not amelioration.” (“Self Reliance” 840) His judgment about society included his disgust towards the lack of drive found in people’s pursuit of self betterment. Instead, he infers that humanity hides behind false securities to avoid the fears of failure. In other words, the cowardice people of society conform to the behavior of others to feel confident in their decisions. In the essay American Scholar, Waldo speaks of the bravery needed to ensure the freedom of one conscious thoughts. He writes, “Free should the scholar be, -free and brave. Free even to the definition of freedom, “without any hindrance that does not arise out of his own constitution.” (Emerson, “American Scholar” 819) In an attempt to advocate individuality and nonconformity, Waldo addresses the lack of freedom that accompanies those who suppress their god given ideas due to societal pressures. This was the cause of one of his biggest fears; the suppression of individual thoughts which led to an ignorant society trapped by an unreasonable fear of rejection.
In accordance to his fears, tragic societal issues, such as slavery, benefit greatly from the ignorance and conformity that corrupts the minds of individuals- deeming their own moral cognition as nearly useless. “It is easy in the world to live after the world's opinion; it is easy in solitude to live after our own; but the great man is he who in the midst of the crowd keeps with perfect sweetness the independence of solitude.” (Emerson, “Self-Reliance” 828) Waldo delineates the accessibility of conforming to a majority's opinion. The issue that arises with this is that masses of people will conform to the laws placed upon them by the state, in turn, causing an exponential growth of a population muddled at the hands of governmental atrocities. Whereas, the true heroes of society are courageous enough to liberate themselves from the majority and speak out against the issues that remain uncontested. These individuals stay true to their conscience and resist societal pressures, no matter the level of opposition. Furthermore, by holding onto one's conscious values, people fill the mold of Waldo's beliefs about individuality and the benefits that he believes stem from self improvement. “He believed that individual action was better than collective enterprise.” (McKusick, 231)
Despite Waldo’s robust position on the superiority of individual action versus large scale social reform, Waldo found himself in a moral dilemma upon witnessing the barbaric nature of the slave trade. Bewildered by the actions of the governments, involved in the slave trade, Waldo found himself in the center of the abolitionist movement. Above all, the significance of his ability to move away from his own, written ideals; illustrates the severity of the situation at hand.
Having avoided social reform movements for his whole life, the abolitionist movement was one he could not ignore. Encouraged by his wife, Lidian Emerson; and best friend, Henry David Thoreau, Waldo accepted an invitation to address the tenth anniversary of the emancipation of black slaves in the British West Indies. (Allen, 427) On the first of August, 1844, Waldo delivered his speech with passion and promise. His decision to avoid censorship in his speech enhanced the message he was trying to convey. One example reads:
“If we saw men's backs flayed with cowhides […] if we saw the runaways hunted with bloodhounds into swamps and hills; and, in cases of passion, a planter throwing his negro into a copper of boiling cane-juice,—if we saw these things with eyes, we too should wince. They are not pleasant sights. The blood is moral: the blood is anti-slavery: it runs cold in the veins: the stomach rises with disgust, and curses slavery.” (Emerson, “Emancipation Address” 104)
This specific excerpt reveals Waldo’s interpretation of the slave trade and the reasons behind its undisputed growth. He speaks of the horrors that were hidden behind a curtain of lies by using specific, yet cruel examples. Addressing the crowd, Waldo explains that if these heinous actions were witnessed by normal members of society, their moral conscience would overpower any feelings of doubt. By reverting back to his idealistic roots concerning the natural goodness in people, he provides reasoning behind his denial of evils. Waldo demonstrates his thought process through indicating one’s inability to ignore immoral situations by referencing their involuntary reaction. He continues his speech by showing the advantages of being informed about social conditions. “The horrid story ran and flew; the winds blew it all over the world. They who heard it asked their rich and great friends if it was true, or only missionary lies. The richest and greatest, the prime minister of England, the king's privy council were obliged to say that it was too true.” (Emerson, “Emancipation Address” 105) He depicts how enlightening the public, with concrete evidence, can change people’s course of action and bring them to a united stance against crimes protected by the government. In order to reassure those who still felt trapped by fear, Waldo used a successful example of social reform that took place in England.
Regardless of Waldo’s stance on slavery, he rarely strayed from his beliefs. Rather than enforcing breakthroughs with discipline, he conceived that “the dictates of humanity make us tender of such as are not yet persuaded.” (Emerson, “Emancipation Address” 100) By doing so, he promoted a second chance for those in need of grasping their own conscious thoughts, in hopes of reaching a conclusion about the moral issues surrounding the oppression of races.
Nonetheless, Ralph Waldo Emerson points out one of the biggest causes of social conflict to be the issues surrounding conformity. In Self-Reliance, Waldo’s call for individuality spurs from a separate essay of his, The American Scholar, which spoke of governments ability to control its population until they transform to mere pawns. In order to defend equal rights and freedom, Waldo wrote “an indignant letter to President Van Buren,” in 1838. (Allen, 372) This letter discussed the treatment of the Cherokee Indians and questioned how; “The American government could lie and steal and act brutishly” (Allen 372). Considering his beliefs began to develop at a young age, it is no surprise that his support of a free society was seen in his early years at Harvard when he hoped that India would become independent and return to its former glory. Anarchist ideas began to grow and develop in Waldo’s mind as he witnessed more and more government atrocities.
His fear of government propaganda, fueled by his disbelief of the treatment of slaves, eventually did lead him to reach anarchist levels. (Allen, 442) As seen by his unwavered ability to stand firmly by his beliefs, his own individuality led him to be able to openly speak out against the government's wrongdoings. Furthermore, by expressing his opinions on the importance of non-conformity and individualistic ideas, he hoped that there would be a remediation of the issues at hand.
According to his teachings, it is easily inferred that the simplest way to avoid the issues that emanate from conformity is to seek out one's individual identity. By
discovering one's identity, Waldo hoped for individuals to improve themselves, rather than focusing their concern on the remaining populations’ issues. When contemplating the reasoning behind his idea, it is surprisingly comprehensible and justifiable. By grasping an understanding of his various ideals, in particular, the concept of individualism and idealism; it becomes evident that, in conjunction, these two ideas would compel people to face their conscious morals. In doing so, conflicts produced by social reform would be eradicated and replaced by a society of individual’s striving for their own unique greatness.
The concepts put forward by Waldo explain a logical remediation for the societal issues caused by conformity. Waldo adhered to his own ideas, as shown by the actions he took, as an individual, to inform humanity of the dangers of conformity. Furthermore, his admiration of the concepts he writes about is seen in his decision to hold back from joining the abolitionist movement, until he deemed his own progress as being complete. The solutions that Ralph Waldo Emerson speaks of must be more significant in today's society, because of the issues that still haunt humanity. Unfortunately for Waldo, the people of today are still lost in their own greed, ignorance, and dishonesty; providing an even greater need for his values. In order for our society to become an amelioration, the judgments and decisions made by an individual must stem from his own god given conscience for; “Imitation is suicide” (Emerson, “Self-Reliance” 825).