Henry David Thoreau And Ralph Waldo Emerson On Self...

Henry David Thoreau and Ralph Waldo Emerson were neighbors and shared a strong bond of friendship. It was Emerson’s interest and support that encouraged Thoreau to become an aspiring writer to achieve greatness. Both Emerson and Thoreau were Transcendentalists. The most important belief of Transcendentalists was the idea that people should act upon their own conscious without giving away to what society thinks of their actions. Thoreau is usually referred as the disciple of Emerson, who’s known as the father of Transcendentalism but critics have argued about the similarities and differences in their work. The main focus of this paper is to compare the works of two writers, Emerson’s essay On Self-Reliance and Thoreau’s Walden, and show the influence of Emerson on Thoreau’s literature. Thoreau was one of the many followers of Emerson but he acted upon his teaching most consistently. Emerson’s essay, Self-Reliance, had made an abiding impression on Thoreau. Towards the end of his essay, Emerson asserted, â€Å"It is only as a man puts off all foreign support, and stands alone, that I see him to be strong and to prevail.† Acting upon Emerson’s call for self-reliance, Thoreau went to Walden Lake in Concord, Massachusetts to learn to lead an independent life. It was an experiment, as he said, to lead a life without materialistic possessions, people, society and the government and his initial intentions to live isolated was development of his own spirit and soul. Emerson’sShow MoreRelatedTranscendentalism And Its Impact On Society1491 Words   |  6 Pagesmovement during the 1820’s through 1830’s, ideology was widely changed for the people who believed in such a movement, this took place in the Eastern United States. Since this was such an early era, not many people could agree on the same two things, which is why so many ideas arose during the period of time within the United States. 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