A Reading of Self-Reliance in terms of non-conformity
...tends, “Society everywhere is in conspiracy against the manhood of every one of its members. Society is a joint-stock company in which the members agree for the better securing of his bread to each shareholder, to surrender the liberty and culture of the eater. The virtue in most request is conformity. Self-reliance is its aversion.” It is important to first note that Emerson states that society is in conspiracy, as if it is almost a living entity, against manhood. The word conspiracy is also important because it implies that “manhood” is not fully aware of what is going on; that society is doing this undercover. He then continues to say that society is a sort of organization, or company, in which it member, citizens, buy into in order to secure, or feel secure with, their values even at the expense of true freedom or cultivation. Thus he is saying that society is an entity that people become a part of, or conform to, to feel secure and that in doing so they give up a piece of themselves and can no longer truly achieve their fullest potential of manhood. He finishes by saying that “self-reliance” is the aversion to conformity. Therefore it is only reasonable that we say that if “self-reliance” has an aversion to conformity and non-conformity is clearly opposed as well to conformity then “self-reliance” and non-conformity are nearly identical. The idea of creating a gap between society and its practices and/or notions is explained further on page 1163. Emerson gives his own testimony, “I know that for myself it makes no difference whether I do or forbear those actions which are reckoned excellent….What I must do, is all that concerns me, not what the people think.” Emerson is again asserting that above all people need to trust themselves and their inner voice beyond any other influence. Emerson does, however, acknowledge the difficulty of non-conformity and the need to be apart from the pressures of society. “The other terror that scares us from self-trust is our consistency; a reverence for our past act or word, because the eyes of others have no other data for computing our orbit than our past acts, and we are loath to disappoint them”, is one example statement. Emerson recognizes the difficulty in breaking free from the society which we have been born and/or immersed in, stating that people grow to know and trust each other based on what they have seen of each other, and disappointing that trust is a fear the leads people away from self-trust and thus away from non-conformity. On page 1171 he states,...