Rhetorical Analysis of Emerson's "Self-Reliance"

                Ralph Waldo Emerson was a phenomenal essayist.  One of his most famous essays was, “Self-Reliance”.  This essay was written in the 1800’s, which was the start of the movement for individualism. Emerson was the founder of transcendentalism, who strongly believed in truly being yourself and not being altered but the influences of the world.  He wrote this essay to encourage people to have confidence in who they are. Emerson’s audience is “the unknown friend”, which means anyone who can relate to him or apply his lessons to their lives. He wants people to break out of their shell and be the person God made them to be. Emerson uses many rhetorical strategies in this work to express his true feelings.

                Starting at the second paragraph, Emerson uses pathos and repetition to convict the reader. He writes that “envy is ignorance” and “imitation is suicide”. This merely means that if you are jealous of someone, then you are a fool because everyone has problems and no one is perfect, and if you imitate someone, then you are sacrificing your own individuality. These short ideas are emphasized by being straight forward and to the point. Emerson then continues to say that we should take ourselves for better or for worse. This line relates to wedding, where we take those we love, for better or for worse. Emerson writes this to encourage the reader to love themselves for who they are, just like we would love our significant other. In this same sentence, he compares a nourishing kernel of corn of the growth of an individual and explains that we must use what the good world has given us to become the people we were meant to be. We are in control of our destiny. Emerson wants the reader to feel powerful and confident in themselves.

                In the proceeding sentence, Emerson writes in a motivating tone to once again make the reader feel in control. He says, “The power which resides in him is new in nature, and none but he knows what that is which he can do, nor does he know until he has tried.” Emerson doesn’t want his unknown friends to limit themselves or assume that they are incapable of accomplishing something. This motivating tone he is expressing emotionally makes the reader feel secure with themselves and their ability to branch out of their comfort zone. In the next sentence, Emerson again uses repetition by repeating all the things we as individuals face in our lifetime. He does this by using multiple different short experiences to create one big idea that we are influenced everywhere we go. With this repetition, Emerson informs the reader that everything happens for a reason. He then goes on to use the metaphor, “the sculpture in the memory”, to describe our life experiences. By this he means, all of one’s experiences leave a mark on our life, like an imprint in our brain, and we can’t go forward in life without looking back at the past and what it has done to us and our society. This “sculpture” grows as we grow. Emerson once again does this to remind the audience that we are in control of our future. Pathos is used many times throughout Emerson’s work and is used to stir the emotions of the reader by giving them a hope for the future.

                Later on in the paragraph, Emerson uses a simple style to convey simple ideas. He says, “A man is relieved and gay when he has but his heart into his work and done his best.” This simple statement is purposeful by making this idea clear and easy to understand. If you simply do your best, then you will experience true happiness. Once again, Emerson plays with pathos to assure the audience that they will be happy if they simply put their heart into their work. The next idea of this sentence contradicts happiness and portrays a feeling to distress. Emerson does this by saying that if you don’t give life your all, then you won’t have peace. This warns the reader of the negative emotion they could potentially experience without a motivated heart.

                Emerson’s “Self-Reliance” essay is very influential and encouraging to whoever reads it. He teaches the importance of individualism and how it affects our lives daily. The use of pathos, repetition, motivating diction, and metaphors effectively portrays the beauty of being one’s self. Emerson wants the world to be unique and diverse. His powerful essay has truly spoke knowledge and hope into many lives and will continue to for many more years.