Hannah Melton

Mr. Conrad
English 3, Period 7
17 November, 2014

Stand Out(If You Want to)

Weve all done things to fit in or to look cool, whether we like to admit it or not. But
during the growth of transcendentalism, authors began to discuss the idea of not sticking to the
status quo, be your own self and not trying so hard to fit into society. Many authors such as,
Henry David Thoreau, Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, and Ralph Waldo Emerson show in their
writings that they are big supporters of individuality.
In Thoreaus essay Walden, he speaks of people straying away from their friend groups.
His reasoning behind this is,If a man does not keep pace with his companions perhaps its
because he hears a different drummer(Walden 226-227). Thoreau is saying that maybe the
friend who left is not a jerk, maybe they do not want to go down the exact same path as you, and
if they stayed by your side without standing up for what they want to do, they would be
conforming to society. It does not mean that you can no longer be friend with or associate with
those people but, you just do not have to do everything they do. Its about being yourself, even
when your friends do not completely agree.
Like Thoreau, Longfellow also agrees with nonconformity ideals, in his poem, A Psalm
of Life. In one instance he says, Be not like dumb, driven cattle! / Be a hero in the
strife!(Psalm 19-20). Longfellow is calling on the reader to not just go along the path that
society creates for you, break free. If you push away from the norm you will be a hero to
others and maybe even inspire them to do the same. He uses cattle as an example because one of

the first thing you think of is a bunch of cows being driven into the shoots on their way to the
slaughter house, not knowing what is coming. Longfellow is telling you to question why we are
doing what we are doing.
Yet another author who supports non-conformity through his writing is Ralph Waldo
Emerson. In his essay Nature he says, What I must do is all that concerns me, not what the
people think(Emerson ). What Emerson is saying is that the only thing he worry about is what
he is doing not what anyone thinks about it. Do not be concerned with what people think of your
actions, because they are yours and not theirs. Emerson believes that unless it affects them
directly, it is none of their business what you do. Nor is it your business what their doing with
their life.
Throughout history there have been rule-breakers, martyrs, and people who go against the
social norms. Such as Henry David Thoreau, Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, and Ralph Waldo
Emerson who wrote about things that were not exactly normal for their time. Now they are some
of the biggest writers in history, because no one remembers the guy who just stood by and
watched.