Danny's Transcendentalist Assignment

Danny File

Sept. 29, 2013

AP Lit.

Mr. Lavender

Transcendentalist Assignment

            “Trust thyself: every heart vibrates to that iron sting.” Ralph Waldo Emerson wrote this in his essay Self-Reliance, published in 1841. He was stating that people need to trust their own judgments and not rely on those of others; for that is the only way we can continue living. There is nothing wrong with getting opinions or assistance from someone else, but we all must make our own decisions. After all, no one can live life for you; you have to do it yourself. This idea is one I would apply to my own life. Whether it’s at home or at school, I need to trust in who I am and what I am capable of.

            In some cases, people lose so much faith in themselves that they start to mimic others, thinking that their lives must be better. Emerson addressed this idea in his essay, Self-Reliance, when he said, “There is a time in every man’s education when he arrives at the conviction that envy is ignorance; that imitation is suicide...”  Envy is ignorance because it shows how little we are aware of what we have or who we are. Instead of being grateful for our many talents and gifts, we envy those of others. Imitation is suicide because the more we act like someone else, the less we exist as our own person. The old life starts to be replaced by the new. In other words, we kill who we really are. 

            Every now and then, I find myself guilty of the crimes that Emerson depicts. Sometimes, I’ll look at the grades, fitness, or good looks of my peers and wish I had those for myself. I am ignorant of the many blessing I have, and become envious. Additionally, I will sometimes try to mimic the attitude, actions, or personality of someone else. I feel that I would have more friends if I acted like them, so I stop acting like myself. I need to look at my life and thank God for the many things I have and the person that I am, instead of becoming someone I’m not.

            Emerson was not the only writer to address the idea of personal identity; Henry David Thoreau, another transcendentalist, gave his perspective on the matter. In 1854 Thoreau published Walden, in which he said, “I went to the woods because I wished to live deliberately, to front only the essential facts of life, and see if I could not learn what it had to teach, and not, when I came to die, discover that I had not lived.” (This started out as a journal, so the “I” in the story is Thoreau.) He is saying that he had to get out of all the distractions of society to truly live life and learn its meaning. Thoreau later says, “Our life is frittered away by detail,” and also, “Keep your accounts on your thumb-nail,” He is implying that life is not lived to its true potential when we add so much extra detail. All the activities of the day should be able to fit on my thumb-nail. With so much extra material, it can be hard to look past the smoke and mirrors to see the true picture.

            This is definitely something that I have a problem with. It would take hundreds of thumb-nails to keep track of everything I have on my schedule. According to Thoreau, I’m not really living life. Unless you’ve lived life to its full, then you haven’t found your full potential. Could it be true that these many details are hiding my true identity and keeping me from my potential? To reveal who I really am, I need to dig through and remove all the clutter.

            “I celebrate myself……My tongue, every atom of my blood, form'd from this soil, this air, born here of parents born here from parents the same, and their parents the same, I, now thirty-seven years old in perfect health begin, hoping to cease not till death.” This quote was written by Walt Whitman in his essay Song of Myself. Whitman is able to look at the aspects of his life and say “I celebrate.” He sees who he is and what he’s become, and he’s proud. This can, however, be dangerous when it leads to extreme pride, self-righteousness, and a sense of superiority. We do not want to put ourselves above everyone else, but we do want to “celebrate” ourselves and who God has made us to be.

            There are times when people will say things about me and it makes me feel depressed and unsure of myself. I’ll look at myself and at my life and feel like nobody. For some extreme cases, people get so depressed that they will commit suicide. I need to be able to follow Whitman’s example and be proud of who I am. There are two sides to this: I want to proud of my life, and I don’t want to do anything I’m not proud of.

            Whitman, Emerson, and Thoreau were great men with great ideas. They, and all other transcendentalists, gave the world a new way of thinking. Many of their ideas can and should be applied to our lifestyles. I believe, however, that the subjects of identity and trusting yourself are some of the most important that were addressed. I am going to listen to their advice and apply it to my life. By trusting myself, by being my own person, by removing the distraction in my life, and by being proud of who I am, I am going to become a better person.