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Emerson's essays still to this day are controversial, causing argument and inspiration to others. His essay "Self Reliance" is no different, bringing about questions of society and what truly makes a man. Throughout this evaluation I will summarize Emersons points, give my own opinion, and make an assessment of the way in which he makes his arguments.
First off, Emerson conveys several messages in "Self Reliance." Some of the values he places a great deal of importance are being true to oneself and not conforming, working to the best of your ability to receive happiness, and to speak out and be misunderstood. Emerson feels strongly that society is a conspiracy to get all to conform. He believes that you must be a nonconformist and speak out, even if others do not understand you. Emerson states "To be great is to be misunderstood..."
I agree with most of Emersons values but only to a certain extent. I agree that to be happy you must enjoy what you do and do it to your fullest capability. I also agree that you must be true to yourself. However, as most people agree with these things, we do not necessarily live by them to the extent in which Emerson believed we should. We all conform to a certain extent, however, we believe that we still express our individuality in certain ways. I do not agree with Emerson that society is a conspiracy and that in order to be a true man one must be a nonconformist.
Personally, I like the way in which Emerson makes his arguments. He is very direct and also uses examples, comparing things as well as proving his point. An example of how he does this is when Emerson lists a group of phenomenal men including Jesus and Galileo, stating that in their time they were nonconformist and were not understood. After this he goes on to say that "To be great is to be misunderstood..." this leaves the reader really thinking about how valid his points are.
In conclusion, Emerson was an amazing writer and really caused people to use their minds and question their selves. In this assessment I have summarized "Self Reliance" as well as stated my opinions regarding Emersons views, and his writing techniques. Emersons opinions, while widely agreed on, are to extreme to actually be lived out to the extent in which this transcendentalist believed they should be.