Emerson

Emerson emphasizes over and over again that in order to gain ones own independence, one must first abandon all learned things and seek to accumulate thereafter only the knowledge which one attains firsthand and deems pertinent to be assimilated into ones own truth. "Nothing is at last sacred, but the integrity of your own mind" states Emerson, because "Nothing can bring you peace but yourself" (Emerson 203). Emerson ultimately arrives at the conclusion that one must be self aware. He believes that one must come to recognize the power one has within and to utilize that power through self thought. “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). One must learn to give up all external knowledge and begin a quest for the knowledge one has within. One will never know his full potential until he attempts to think on his/her own self derived thoughts.

David Gale, on the other hand, after finding himself in a harsh predicament turns to an internal quest as Emerson’s. A University of Texas professor of philosophy and capital punishment abolitionist, David Gale, finds himself on Death Row convicted of murder. Gale is a man who has tried hard to live by his principles but in a peculiar distorted twist of fate, finds himself on Death Row for rape and murder (Lim). Gale is accused of murdering his long time friend and co-activist. He was a self reliant man to begin with in some aspects because he was fighting for a cause which not favored in majority in favor of Gale. “It is easy in the world to live after the world’s opinion; it is easy in solitude to live after our own; but the great man is he who in the midst of the crowd keeps with perfect wetness the independence of solitude” (Oschman 41). He as Emerson states did not conform to society’s views but rather held on very firmly to his own. After the false charges of rape Gale lost his prestigious job as a professor at the university and was forced work in the post office. Although this may have been a blow to his pride, Gale remained consistent with his passion for his cause. Emerson states that one must realize that you deal with what you have good or bad, but one can make the world a good place even though all the evil in the world.