Reaction to Katebs analysis

 Kateb's analysis of Emerson's vision of self reliance was great because it further explained the essay and gave a different perspective to it. Kateb also had his own idea of about self reliance. "Self-reliance as a method of thinking with its own intrinsic value means more than any substantive commitment to a particular value, principle or idea, or to any practice or institution that embodies or derives from them" (Kateb). I  really liked what he said. He pretty much described self-reliance as being an idea you can't really put words too. It means something different to every single person, and this thought he developed further backs up his thoughts on Emerson's essay. He stated this  point by describing Emerson's essay. "His variety of declarations tempts us to say that he contradicts himself, but even if we resist the temptation, we are still not sure where he finally stands. We can admit the force of his impeachment of consistency in "Self-Reliance" (p. 265), but may still wish that his assertions did not so frequently collide and perhaps qualify one another to the point of damaging all of them, leaving us suspended and uncertain" (Kateb). Kateb made a correct inference about Emerson's essay and about self-reliance. Emerson himself bounces from point to point but doesn't chose a straight-up side. He explores a variety of perspectives, and Kateb clearly noticed this, and based his idea of self-reliance being unique on this. "In fact, many of the assertions are not assertions at all. He does not stand behind most of his utterances, even though he expends his full virtue in them" (Kateb). This was also true, and again backs up Kateb's point. Emerson describes his assertions, but doesn't choose one or the other to support. I also thought it was great how Kateb used other authors descriptions of Emerson's self-reliance essay in his analysis. He used one quote by Walt Whitman to prove that he wasn't the only one who came up with his idea. "An almost exasperated Walt Whitman can therefore say of Emerson: 'He does not see or take one side, one presentation only or mainly, (as all the poets, or most of the fine writers anyhow,)—he sees all sides. His final influence is to make his students cease to worship anything—almost cease to believe in anything, outside of themselves'" (Kateb).  

Kateb uses this quote to get another message across: Emerson didn't support just one point, or choose one certain method because he wanted readers to rely on themselves to choose the one they thought was true. He used his own essay titled "Self Reliance" to make readers exercise self-reliance for themselves. "Emerson's work shows the effort of achieving a method that refuses any 'selecting principle' which derives from something as narrow as one's 'own' personality, and which has so limited an aim as to gather one's like wherever one goes" (Kateb)" Here Kateb says that Emerson did this purposefully. He wanted readers to not be narrow minded, but to consider a variety of conflicting ideas. Kateb's essay was actually very helpful because he used a variety of different quotes from other authors. By doing this he's saying "I'm not the only source and person who thinks this," and he provides alternative views about Emerson's essay. This was extremely  smart and helpful. It makes his essay all the more convincing. 

Emerson, Ralph Waldo. "Self-Reliance and the Life of the Mind." In Emerson's Transcendental Etudes. Board of Trustees of the Leland Stanford Junior University. 2003. Quoted as "Self-Reliance and the Life of the Mind" in Bloom, Harold, ed. Ralph Waldo Emerson, Updated Edition, Bloom's Modern Critical Views. New York: Chelsea House Publishing, 2006. Bloom's Literary Reference Online. Facts On File, Inc.