Transcendentalism In The Hunger Games By Ralph Waldo Emerson

Transcendentalism focuses on the ideals of nature, nonconformity, and individualism. As a leader of the Transcendentalist movement, Ralph Waldo Emerson, once expressed, “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 sweetness the independence of solitude.” Emerson illustrates on how it’s very easy to conform to society’s beliefs and ideas, but for a man to be great he must have his own ideas and create his own path. Although the intellectual movement was very brief and ended over 100 years ago, there are still numerous forms of Transcendentalism that can be found in modern society. Transcendentalism still thrives

Thus, Transcendentalism is able to remain viable in modern literature. There are many popular books written on self-reliance and non-conformity. For example, Katniss Everdeen, the main protagonist of the novel The Hunger Games refuses throughout the whole story to conform to the government’s ideals. Also, she must solely rely on herself throughout the games, because only one tribute comes out alive. Famous poet, Walt Whitman, has also gamboled with Transcendentalist ideas in his popular works “Song of Myself” and “Out of the Cradle Endlessly Rocking”. Transcendentalism is exceedingly popular in modern times, and continues to grow as a consistent topic in

For example, a considerable measure of people have been speaking out against newly elected President Donald Trump’s election and have even started a movement #notmypresident, where they deny him being their president. In modern society it’s actually encouraged for a person to be unique and not conform to the local standards. The word conform is defined in Merriam-Webster’s online dictionary as, “to be similar or identical; also : to be in agreement or harmony” (“conform”). To conform is to give in and become indistinguishable from anyone else in society. People are always not conforming without their knowing, it can be anything from wearing a hat a different way to eating cereal without milk. Some of the most successful people on the planet are nonconformists, for example, Bill Gates the founder of Microsoft dropped out of college after only 2 years. In modern society dropping out of school is viewed as destructive and shameful, even though it has been proven that a higher education doesn’t guarantee anyone a higher standard of living, so why is this action viewed with so much negativity? As long as people are capable of producing their own thoughts and ideas, the ideals of Transcendentalism will never truly be