In his essay, "Self-Reliance: Portable Property," B. L.
Packer states that
The essay as it stands is a kind of gigantic coda
to the work of Emerson's decade of
challenge.
Certainly, its
relevance is timeless, and it does reflect the Transcendental precept of the almost holy
worth of the individual; also, it contains timeless moral lessons. Perhaps more than
ever, Americans should heed its warnings that individualism is essential to freedom as
Emerson's essay has been likened to the message from the New
Testament:
Matthew 16:26: For what is a man
profited, if he shall gain the whole world, and lose his own
soul?
For, the
tendency of many to rely more on government than on themselves is, indeed, destructive
to the sanctity of the individual, the "integrity of your own mind." In this day of
political correctness and fear for one's job, few are willing to do what Emerson
urges: "Speak what you think now in hard words." Still, Emerson's urgings are
sound; reform cannot be made unless people address what problems really are, unless
people speak freely in a society.
Ralph Waldo Emerson's
message in "Self-Reliance" is as profoundly relevant as ever--if not more so. However,
his meanings are not divulged by definition, but by analogy, an method which makes
the comprehension of his essay more difficult for his readers as he issues.
Nevertheless, his commandment, "Whoso would be a man must be a nonconformist’’ permeates
his essay.
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