After having read the works by Emerson and Thoreau, such as Self-Reliance or Civil Disobedience, many of the readers keep questioning the actual point of each work supported by so many repetitions and restatements. Indeed, these transcendent literary compositions do leave its examiners in a dark spot searching for light. Many are left with the mystery; others uncover what the authors have been addressing to the population. Through a careful examination, I got the sense of the authors" directions, and was able to establish that mine led the same paths. .
What really got me involved in the lecture of the works, especially Self-Reliance by Emerson and Civil Disobedience by Thoreau, was the style of writing used to compose the works. Even though at times it appeared to be dull, the restated text had its significance. In Self-Reliance, Emerson encourages the people to have "the integrity of your own mind". Then he comes again and supports his statements with that fact that even if one's previous thoughts do not agree with the most current ones, he still should keep his head up high because he used his integrity and courage to keep them alive. And even in our own life, how often do we make wrong judgements, and then refuse to admit to our mistakes? What good does that brings us? That is where the integrity of mind applies. You remain true to yourself when you stand up for yourself. After all, even if we are not perfect "To be great is to be misunderstood". In my opinion, Henry D. Thoreau takes this idea even further and applies it into a more realistic situation. His main idea is that it is perfectly "ok" to stand against what we feel is unjust, and to actually do something about it. But unlike the people of many years ago, the present day society has a much greater influence on the events of world. Thus reading Civil Disobedience in our age can bring much more benefits to the civilization that it could years ago when majority of people chose to remain inferior to the authorities and therefore limit the ideas of the minority, who Thoreau believed to be just as influential and intelligent.