Asia Johnson
Walker
American literature
December 2008
Emerson’s “Experience”
Emerson wrote many essays, and within his essays many ideas were presented. One essay in particular had within it many ideas that make a powerful statement is “Experience” a lot of the reason “experience hits home for me is because a lot of the ideas in experience are things that I have realized and recognized in my own life. Particularly ideas on grief and “anchors.”
Experience is unique from Emerson’s other essays in that it actually goes into detail on the events that took place in Emerson’s life that influenced the view from which he wrote the essay. His son had died before this essay antimerism actually talks about it and the effects it has had on him. He goes into detail about how grief is a tool people use to try and find reality and reprieve from hurt. But Emerson believed that this was not possible and that grief does nothing for a person but teach them how to deal with grief better the next time it comes around. After talking about this idea Emerson talks about if he were to loose all his land now it would not effect him because the loss of his son is on such a higher magnitude that the loss of his property would have no effect. There is a lot of truth to this idea. People that have suffered major loss in their lives, may come across other difficulties but because that pain does not compare to the pain they felt before the new difficulties have little effect.
Also in experience Emerson talks about the way people experience life is based on the way they view it. Emerson talks about how peoples moods and attitude toward event untimely determines how that event goes in their life. Again this idea is a basic one and if any one person would think about it then they would more than likely come to the same conclusion, but Emerson actually states it. In any given event, if multiple people are present then depending on there background, prior bias, and position, the same experience can be very different for an individual.
Probably the most interesting idea in “experience” is when Emerson talks about “anchors.” this idea is of particular interest to me because it is something I recognized a in the last year. Before I had read any of Emerson’s work though I thought of it by a different name. An “anchor” is a person that another uses to keep themselves grounded. Emerson explains this in “experience.” the problem with an anchor is that they cannot always be there. This brings everything back to one of Emerson’s main ideas being that every individual must rely on themselves because really that is the only person in any individuals life that is guaranteed to be there all the time.
Throughout “Experience” Emerson talks about how things that happen in peoples past ultimately effect who they are. Starting in childhood all that a person goes through makes them who they are. “the plays of children are nonsense, but very educative nonsense” is a line that gives an example of this idea. In more detail, this statement is explaining how the games children play may seem ridiculous but all the games are teaching the children something about life.
The most amazing thing about “Experience” is nearly any sentence can be taken individually and analyzed. Any one sentence can be developed into a larger idea. “I am thankful for small mercies,” a single sentence in a larger m idea, but it can be developed into an entire new idea on its own. The idea that in life it is the small things, relief’s, that Emerson is thankful for. And any person can go on and develop that idea into a larger one.
Emerson’s essay “Experience” is not one that is particularly known, but it has many ideas that are more than relevant to life. He takes the simple ideas and puts them together to create a much larger picture. The picture being life.
