Literary Devices In Self Reliance

Ralph Waldo Emerson, believed that the human mind was the most important force in the universe. In his essay, “Self-Reliance”, hr suggests that following the laws and not standing up for what we believe in, takes away from our individuality and makes us feel as though we cannot fully express ourselves because we are afraid of judgment from society. Emerson states, “The power which resides in him is new in nature, and none but he can do, nor does he know until he has tried” (369). In other words, he believes that nobody knows what they are capable of unless they have tried. He says this to support his idea that most people conform to society’s level of ability instead of trying to reach their highest potential. People should push themselves
An example of a metaphor used is “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” (369). In other words, he believes that when people buy into society, they slowly start to give up their individual culture and morals to conform and to be apart of society. The only way to get away from society is to sell their metaphorical “share” and go against conformity. He also uses an allusion on page 370 he writes “‘Ah, so you shall be misunderstood?’-is it so bad, then, to be misunderstood? Pythagoras was misunderstood, and Socrates, and Jesus, and Luther, and Copernicus, and Galileo, and Newton, and every pure and wise spirit that ever took flesh. To be great is to be misunderstood.” Basically, he is saying that all of these people made major contributions to scientific, philosophical, or religious thinking and yet they were all misunderstood. Emerson uses this allusion to make the reader think of great minds that are well known and realize that just because people do not understand now, does not mean they will not