The Depictions of Society and Its Effects on the Individual - Essay Example

Emerson wrote, "envy is ignorance; imitation is suicide." You have something unique, original, and great to express”.  I think that this sums up perfectly what Emerson was trying to say about society.  He clearly views society as a group that is bent on copying each other instead of becoming individuals.  As a result, instead of voicing a singular thought which is an original one, they voice the same recycled trash and as a result, are dim.   Emerson attempts to encourage the individual to take delight in their individuality and to not fear it.  Indeed, he argues that one has no idea of their capabilities, deficiencies, and talents until the person attempts to express them.  Society is not meant to be carbon copies of each other which is why we were created differently.  He further sees society as deceiving itself by not expressing itself.  

            He basically uses the same maxim as Aristotle “Know Thyself”.   Moreover, he instructs the reader to explore the person that they truly are.  He acknowledges that a person presents themselves as the person that they want society to see but that beneath that is an entirely different human being and that it is the inside person that should be exposed, not the carbon copies that we demonstrate to others simply to insure general acceptance.  He also makes the reader wonder why it is that acceptance by others is so wanted by society.  Why is acceptance by society such a prized virtue?  It is not, he answers because there is no quality in pleasing others for the sake of acceptance.

            “It is the sum of all wisdom not to do desperate things.  The great mass of mankind leads

lives of quiet desperation.  What is called resignation is confirmed desperation – from the

desperate city you go into the desperate country and have to console yourself with the bravery of

minks and muskrats.”  Clearly, Thoreau had the same sentiments as Emerson.  He too felt that society had spent far too much time deceiving itself into copying one another.  Additionally, he makes it clear that it is the retreat from a society that allows an individual to figure out who they are and what their capabilities are.  The key is to have the courage to find yourself.   Further, he sees that society is its’ own downfall.  By living his solitary existence, he notices that there really is not much that an individual needs and that through solitude living, one truly finds out what it is that they need and do not need in life.

            Finally, in comparing the two writers, it is clear that both maintain a certain loathing for society and what it has become.  Additionally, they advise the reader as to what they will become if they simply decide to become a robot designed by the futile mores and fickle mandates that society endorses.  It is up to the individual to decide what they need or do not need.  It is the society that brings its own glory and its own shame.  What befuddles both authors and indeed this writer is why then do we continue throughout the centuries to seek the approval of societal fashions?