Emerson's Influence on Other Writers

Emerson, considered the father of the American Literary Renaissance, wrote many essays to ultimately change the societal values surrounding him. In “Self Reliance,” Emerson conveys his philosophical idea that every individual has their own individual genius speaking universal truths. However this tends to be a hard to achieve with society imposing conformity, traditions, and institutions on society. “To believe your own thought, to believe that what is true for you in your private heart is true for all men, -that is genius”(19). Emerson values individuality and believed that thinking for one’s self and trusting original ideas, help reach a universal truth that will ultimately benefit society as a whole. Thoreau, Whitman, Dickson, and Frederick Douglass, and Hawthorne’s writings all have an “Emersonian” essence of self-reliance and individual genius by conveying themes of individuality and non-conformity.

Similar to Emerson, Thoreau dislikes institutions and promote...