Compensation Summary and Analysis

Appearances to the contrary not withstanding, the natural, spiritual and human realms achieve a stasis or balance between positive and negative forces, Emerson observes. For every human defect, there is a compensating trait; for every profit a corresponding loss; for every action a reaction. Mankind, like nature, is defined by a "dualism [that] bisects nature, so that each thing is a half, and suggests another thing to make it whole," according to Emerson. The perception of the common man that the evil go unpunished for their misdeeds is refuted by the fact that the wealthy and powerful are soon brought down to the same level as the rest of mankind by the levelling force of nature and the world.

Indeed, Emerson argues, history shows that those who appropriate for themselves undue amounts of power, wealth, prestige and position actually begin to...