As contemporaries of each other, Emerson and Thoreau share many similarities in their bodies of work. They focused on simplicity and individuality, rejecting materialism. Emerson was a transcendentalist and in his writings are many characteristics of this time period such as nature, the goodness of mankind, and individualism. Henry David Thoreau, too, being a transcendentalist, valued feeling over reason, imagination over science, and nature over civilization. Emerson and Thoreau believed, basically, that we were born well and that society and government brought out the basic evil in us. These two authors wrote a plethora about self-discovery and about government influence. In some aspects, both writers’ works overlap in nonconformity, self-reliance, free thought, confidence, and the importance of nature.
In
“Self Reliance”, Emerson discusses being one’s own person and not allowing
society to mold someone like a piece of clay; “Trust thyself” are the exact
words he used. Trusting oneself means it
is okay to be different if one wants or chooses to be different. Similarly, Thoreau
believes that following one’s own path in life is the best way to go. They believe that being oneself and having a
simple life is the best life. Thoreau's Walden gives this strong message of
non-conformity. He rather suggests moving alone sticking to personal ideology.
One
of Thoreau’s famous quotes is, “Simplicity, simplicity, simplicity!” This means making one’s life as simple as
possible. He thinks that the poor are
the fortunate ones since they have the least to look after and worry about
while the rich have so much to look after that they do not have time for
themselves. Living a simple life enables one to be free of commitment and
obligations. One only has to worry about one’s self. This is possible when a
person finds the necessary confidence to express their unique inner thoughts as
a transcendentalist. It is highlighted the importance to return to nature to enhance
the quality of human beings by living simply since being apart from common
social rules is the only way to be in communion with nature’s wisdom. Those
transcendental characteristics could be seen in Emerson’s ¨self-reliance¨ or
Thoreau’s ¨Walden ¨
Consequently,
what Thoreau proposed was simplicity rejecting modern civilization to return to
nature and let the individual develop his/her highest possibilities. Thoreau
not only critiqued modern society as Emerson did but also he
practiced his ideology: he experienced that life is better without the crowd,
luxuries, and complexity. The transcendentalist poet spent two years close to
nature. He lived at Walden Pond where he wrote entire journals recounting his
experience. During the Age of Transcendentalism, people believed that if they
went to nature they would be closer to God. They used nature in order to form a
better relationship with God. Since God created nature, people believed there
was no evil there. In the text Nature, Emerson talks about getting away from
society and going to nature in order to be alone. Emerson believes that nature
can give you different emotions. “in the presence of nature, a wild delight
runs through the man, in spite real sorrows.” (Emerson 220). If you go to
nature you will have a changed experience. Nature will bring out different
emotions you have never felt and experienced before. Being in nature, you will
feel like a changed person and come out with different emotions. Thoreau said
he wanted to live life to the fullest and get the most out of his experience in
nature.
So,
both Emerson and Thoreau were Transcendentalists, who focused on nature,
individual emotion, self-reliance, non-conformity, and simplicity in their
works. They believed in the inherent goodness of humankind as well as a
universal connection of all souls to the one of God. They wanted to promote free thinking through their lives and works.
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