The Relationship Between Man and Nature in Emerson and Thoreau. Part 2

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After the American independence, writers started to write about man’s relationship with nature, god, society which was called transcendentalism. Emerson and Thoreau were transcendentalists who had similar views about life and nature. As Thoreau was Emerson’s student they were both great writers who strongly believed in the idea of Self Reliance and God through nature, although they had their own style of explaining nature, their differences were of very little. This essay will however talk about the relationship between man and nature in Emerson and Thoreau. Firstly this essay will talk about Emerson’s view on man’s relationship with nature. Secondly it will talk about Thoreau’s view of how to observe nature in connection to man’s life.

Emerson believes that every individual has his own thoughts and beliefs and every man can think for themselves which he calls the ‘Man Thinking’. He mentions that there are lots of things that influence the human mind but “The first in time and the first in importance upon the mind is that of nature.” (The American Scholar,1837). Emerson says that to know God you have to know nature and that is the only way an individual can have a connection with God. He goes on to say that man’s life cannot be told how long it will live, in the same way nature also has no end or beginning, it’s in the whole system. Emerson thinks that nature has its own unique laws, in which if every individual studies nature the human mind will also have no use of laws that are set to limit the thinking of man from ‘self-thinking’. The study of science is all in the nature itself, Emerson notes that “science is nothing but the study of analogy, identity, in the most remote parts”.(The American Scholar, 1837). He compares the ...

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...r ideas about life. Both of them had similar ideas about studying nature and to be Self Reliant in life as well as to the image of god that is in nature and the only way to know god. Both Emerson and Thoreau had their own unique way of explaining about nature, God, Self Reliance. But none the less they had the same view or thoughts towards life.

Works Cited

Emerson, R.W. (1837). The American Scholar. In essays. Retrieved from http://www.gutenberg.org/files/16643/16643-h/16643-h.htm

Thoreau, H.D. (1854). Walden; or, life in the woods. Retrieved from http://www.gutenberg.org
/files/205/205-h/205-h.htm
Retrieved from http://darla0022.wordpress.com/2013/01/27/the-american-scholar/
Retrieved from http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/Anomalies
Retrieved from http://quotes.dictionary.com/To_the_young_mind_every_thing_is_individual

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