What Does Independence Mean Strength?

Self-reliance is the freedom of being independent. One only relies on oneself and doesn’t look for help or for anyone to save them. One is perfectly content with being solely reliant. Three people who believed greatly in self-reliance were Chris McCandless, Ralph Waldo Emerson, and Henry David Thoreau. They had many different beliefs and along with acting out in civil disobedience, acting in nonconformity, thinking nature was most important, and being a transcendentalist, they was also self reliant. McCandless, Emerson, and Thoreau were all people who believed strongly in self-reliance.

Humans in society are like musicians in an orchestra. Solo, their parts sound odd and out of place, lacking the harmonies mindfully composed for the rest of the orchestra. Humans are interdependent, social creatures by nature. We rely on each other to survive. We rely on each other to do jobs that might require a certain skill set or jobs that we might not have time to do ourselves. We even rely on each other to bring a sense of familiarity and security to our communities just by knowing one another. If we all remained anonymous, then we could not rely on each other to satisfy these vital societal needs. Scott Russell Sanders, in his essay “The Common Life”, states that the more people in a community who prefer to live isolated and reclusive lives, the more susceptible the community is to a division that impedes its ability to live together, interact synergistically, and thrive. He correctly believes that this division can lead to a total “breakdown” in society.

“Love is all we have, the only way that each can help the other.” Euripides

In Ralph Waldo Emerson’s essay titled “Self-Reliance” he speaks on the topic of the individual, creating the idea that an individual being independent leads to greatness. Emerson’s writing within this memoir is relatable to young individuals who are looking for themselves, an individual must avoid conformity and false consistency while following their own thoughts making themselves an individual. Within the essay, Emerson uses a range of rhetorical devices to prove that every individual can do great by being an individual and not like everyone else, something that young people everywhere should hear while growing up with the heinous act of peer pressure.

To be self-reliant calls for the individual to rely on themselves, but even more so, it calls for he or she to forego society and “be a

Chris McCandless misunderstood Emerson’s words in “Self Reliance”. Chris may have been bright when it comes to academics, but when it comes to analyzing and understanding a writer’s words…he is as dark as the night. Emerson states “but the great man is he who in the midst of the crowd keeps with perfect sweetness the independence of solitude” (Emerson 2). Solitude has a positive connotation about being alone like finding one’s true self. Isolation has the negative connotation that means forced being

Independent and dependent both have their good and bad reasons in Ayn Rand's novel “Anthem” Equality 7-2521 experiences both of these. Equality 7-2521 starts out in this novel as everyone else in his society dependent on each of their brothers on every decision. He then slowly starts to become independent towards the end of the novel. Well Equality was still depending on his brothers he was disobeying the law by working by himself. He had discovered electricity and he then invented the “glass box that was able to hold light,he soon after wanted to show his new invention thinking that it would be life changing to the house of scholars but they rejected him causing him to become completely independent and not rely on any of his brothers.

Individualism and self-determination are against the needs of society for conformity and stability, because a society needs people that help out for it to function as a constant, strong society. People acting on their own will only bring down a society, because a society runs on its people contributing to it.

"The laws say that none among men may be alone, ever and at any time, for this is the great transgression and the root of all evil." (p. 17) This states that no man is allowed to be alone at any time. The leaders have put this law into the minds of its people. The reason why any man cannot be alone is because we are all brothers, and we must always be together, no matter the circumstance. This also states that being alone is the largest sin a man can commit.

Being an independent person can help to be successful in life. It can lead to survival, being the bravest person of the group, And helping others survive. In the novels Night by”Elie Wiesel” and Sold by ”Patricia McCormick” The characters in both novels have something to do with being independent. Eli and his father stuck together and tried to fight their way out of the concentration camp. Lakshmi went to the Happiness House and made a few friends that told her tips about how she can make it through the house but she didn’t follow them, She did what she thought she could. By examining the novels Night and Sold we can see that being an independent person is the key to survival which is important because even if a person is in a difficult

Individualism is not selfishness. However, individualism helps people stand on different position and try to make changes in the society. These changes bring the America new ideas, push the nation make progress. There is not too much emphasis on individualism at the expense of social unity in American culture. Instead, individualism needs to weigh a higher status in this nation.

Many people today are dependent on one another, and could not live alone in this world, due to how they would take it as a negative aspect of their lives. The new generation of humans is raised in a way that makes them believe that being lonely is the worst quality to have, and all prefer having a social life. However the people of the 20th century did not view independence the same way people do today. People of this time believed in something called Individualism, and took pride in independence rather than sociality. Individualism was widely believed during this time period and various authors wrote many novels, that displayed how independence can be advantageous and social values could cause many predicaments in a person's life.

Many people across the world have their own definition and beliefs of the word individualism. There is nothing selfish to be able to express ones personality and internal emotions. Being an individual alone could value a person’s overall true character. The claim presented would be opposed by many because people like to feel independent and self-reliant. Individualism in today’s society lets people express themselves, and helps create something small into something big. For a long time now individualism has existed since the founding of our country. History was created by those who showed independence and proved that an individual can do it all.

The Bible teaches us that we have to work together to find success and happiness. First Thessalonians says, “Therefore

"No man is an island." This famous quotation explains the nature of man as a social being. It is truly a fact that human beings cannot exist in isolation. They need to be interdependent with each other in order to survive. This interdependence is needed because a human being alone will not be able to fill his own social needs, and his material necessities came from other people as well. All acts of society such as sex, love, and dependence are essential for the survival of any species. Interaction and socialization is the only way to prevent people from isolation, from solitude.