Cummings Study Guide

......."Self-Reliance" is an essay that urges readers to trust their own intuition and common sense rather than automatically following popular opinion and conforming to the will of the majority. "Self-Reliance" was published in 1841 in a collection entitled Essays. In 1844, Emerson published a second collection, Essays: Second Series. Consequently, in 1847, he changed the title of the first collection to Essays: First Series.

Themes

Trust Your Own Inner Voice

.......Emerson urges his readers to retain the outspokenness of a small child who freely speaks his mind. A child he has not yet been corrupted by adults who tell him to do otherwise. He also urges readers to avoid envying or imitating others viewed as models of perfection; instead, he says, readers should take pride in their own individuality and never be afraid to express their own original ideas. In addition, he says, they should refuse to conform to the ways of the popular culture and its shallow ideals; rather they should live up to their own ideals, even if doing so reaps them criticism and denunciation.

Avoid Consistency as an End in Itself

.......Being consistent is not always wise. An idea or regimen to which you stubbornly cling can become outmoded tomorrow.

Point of View

.......Emerson uses first-, second-, and third-person point of view. In the opening paragraph of the essay, he first writes in the first person, telling readers about an experience of his. Then, after only three sentences, he switches to second person, as if he is advising a listener sitting across the table from him. Later, in the paragraph, he switches to third person as he presents an exhortation about humankind in general. Following is the first part of the essay, in which Emerson uses all three points of view–first person in black, second person in red, and third person in blue:

.......Among the most notable characteristics of Emerson’s writing style are these: (1) thorough development of his thesis through examples, repetition, and reinforcement; (2) coinage of memorable statements of principle, or aphorisms; (3) frequent references (allusions) to historical and literary figures, such as Socrates, Galileo, Copernicus, Napoleon, Shakespeare, Franklin, Dante, and Scipio (ancient Roman general who defeated Hannibal), who embody qualities Emerson discusses; (4) frequent use of figurative language to make a point, such as “An institution is the lengthened shadow of one man” (metaphor) and “They who made England, Italy, or Greece venerable in the imagination did so by sticking fast where they were, like an axis of the earth” (simile).

Promotion of American Creativity

Because Emerson eschewed imitation (as noted under Theme), he urged Americans to avoid mimicking art and ideas from abroad. He writes:

.......Emerson believed every human being has inborn knowledge that enables him to recognize and understand moral truth without benefit of knowledge obtained through the physical senses. Using this inborn knowledge, a gift of God, an individual can make a moral decision without relying on information gained through everyday living, education, and experimentation. One may liken this inborn knowledge to conscience or intuition.
.......Emerson and others who believed that this inborn knowledge served as a moral guiding force were known as transcendentalists—that is, they believed that this inner knowledge was a higher, transcendent form of knowledge than that which came through the senses. Because Emerson and his fellow transcendentalists trusted their own inner light as a moral guiding force, they were possessed of a fierce spirit of self-reliance. They were individualists; they liked to make decisions for themselves. If the government adopted a policy or a law that offended their consciences, they generally reacted strongly.
.......Transcendentalism, as Emerson’s moral philosophy was called, did not originate with him or his fellow transcendentalists in New England but with the German philosopher Emanuel Kant. He used the German word for transcendental to refer to intuitive or innate knowledge—knowledge that is a priori rather than a posteriori.

Epigraph

.......An ancient Latin quotation precedes the essay: Ne te quaesiveris extra (Do not look outside of yourself for the truth.) The Roman satirist and poet Aulus Persius Flaccus (AD 34-63)—usually referred to simply as Persius—wrote those words in Book 1, line 7, of his Satires. The quotation is an apt introductory aphorism for Emerson's essay, for it sums up the central idea of "Self-Reliance" and the transcendental philosophy behind it: that one should rely on his own inner voice—his own intuition and instinct—to make important decisions and put his life on a righteous path. In other words, the quotation says, rely on yourself. Emerson follows the Latin quotation with an English quotation from the epilogue of a verse drama by playwrights Franics Beaumont and John Fletcher, contemporaries of Shakespeare. That quotation, which begins with the words Man is his own star, reinforces the view expressed in the Latin quotation.

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Notable Quotations From "Self-Reliance"

• Trust thyself: every heart vibrates to that iron string.
• Whoso would be a man must be a nonconformist.
• What I must do is all that concerns me, not what the people think.
• A foolish consistency is the hobgoblin of little minds, adored by little statesmen and philosophers and divines. With consistency a great soul has simply nothing to do.
• Travelling is a fool's paradise.
• Insist on yourself; never imitate.
• Society never advances. It recedes as fast on one side as it gains on the other.
• The civilized man has built a coach, but has lost the use of his feet.
• An institution is the lengthened shadow of one man.
• Discontent is the want of self-reliance: it is infirmity of will.
• Nothing can bring you peace but yourself. Nothing can bring you peace but the triumph of principles.

• Emerson strongly urges readers to trust their own insight and common sense when making a decision. Is this advice flawed in any way? Consider, for example, that many Americans who trusted in themselves in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries argued in favor of slavery and against allowing women to vote. Also, in ancient times, many people sincerely argued that the world was flat.
• Write an essay that defends or attacks a stand taken by Emerson in his essay.
• Write an essay that explains this statement from "Self-Reliance": A foolish consistency is the hobgoblin of little minds. . . .
• If a young man who followed Emerson's thinking enlisted in the U.S. Marine Corps today, is it likely that he would become a good soldier who followed orders?