Ralph Waldo Emerson's Essay 'Self Reliance'

Ralph Waldo Emerson’s essay Self Reliance is widely regarded as one of his most influential and enduring pieces of work. Since its publication, Self Reliance has been quoted endlessly by people of diverse backgrounds and opinions on topics that range from politics and economics to modern day social issues. Some of the most intense exploration and discussion of the moral questions raised in Self Reliance, surface within the plots of the popular superhero franchises derived from the comic book film adaptations. Within this genre, movie and television show audiences are presented with the physical manifestation of the genius Emerson speaks of; which follow the stories of superhuman individuals who seek to right a perceived lapse in the individual’s/societal moral code and bring the offender(s) to justice, bypassing due process. Marvel Comic’s fictional characters, The Punisher and Batman, demonstrate the idea of individualism and nonconformity brought to the extreme, and in turn, both the pitfalls and benefits of the lifestyle presented in Self Reliance are

This swinging sense of morality is contrasted with the iron clad moral standard that is expected from the ideal non-conforming individual, and ironically it is partially due to this unyielding set of principles that both in fiction, and real life, that Emerson’s ideal person finds themselves the public