Ralph Waldo Emerson once wrote, “To be yourself in a world that is constantly trying to make you something else is the greatest accomplishment”. In order to live a content and fulfilled life, one must think and act independently. Emerson and Mark Twain are both influential twentieth century writers who addressed conformity. Emerson's ‘Self-reliance” and Twain's “Corn Pone Opinions” both argue to live a content life as an independent nonconformist.
Ralph Waldo Emerson was transcendentalist philosopher and essayist, who was also the voice of his twentieth century generation. In his essay, “Self-Reliance”, Emerson campaigns for independent beliefs and for not conforming to society. For example, Emerson states the aphorism, “Whoso would…show more content… In Twain’s “Corn Pone Opinions”, he analyzed the effects conformity on people's thoughts and behavior and concludes that everyone is easily a conformist. Twain’s argument, is that blind conformity needs to stop because it is not a good thing, and is just getting worse as time goes on. Twain uses an example of blind conformity when he wrote, “A new thing in costume appears -- the flaring hoopskirt, for example -- and the passers-by are shocked, and the irreverent laugh. Six months later everybody is reconciled; the fashion has established itself; it is admired, now, and no one laughs” ( Twain 2). Twain is examining how people make decisions by association. It is important for all people to have their own style and not conform to the masses. Having individual style is an example of how people can truly be themselves, which is a way to live a complete life. Twain later explains , “The insistence that moves to conformity did the work. It is our nature to conform; it is a force which not many can successfully resist” ( Twain 2). Mark Twain recognize that as a human race, it is “in our nature to conform”, because everyone wants self-approval which is essentially approval from others. Those people that can “successfully resist” conformity, are typically the ones most complacent with their lives. As long people can assure self-approval from themselves they will be more satisfied with themselves and no longer need other people's
