Emily Dickinson was a firm believer in individuality, and could be seen as somewhat of a transcendentalist. Although she is not specifically described as a transcendentalist, she did follow Emerson’s works and writings, and looked at them thoughtfully and with optimism. As stated in Emily Dickinson, The Transcendent Self, “She [Dickinson] knew what it felt like to be, as she put it, ‘a speck upon a ball,’ a proud ephemeral clinging precariously to nowhere.” (Waggoner). Because she knew that everyone in the world was so similar, and hardly noticed in the grand scheme of things, she made it her goal to be different from everyone else. Dickinson knew that the human mind had the ability to be either completely limited and small, or vastly unimaginable …show more content…
In this poem, Dickinson writes, “The Soul selects her own Society - Then - shuts the Door - To her divine Majority...” She is simply stating that some people, or some souls, basically just find something that they want to do, and do it. The problem with this is that they fail to explore anything other than this one subject or activity. This is an example of the mind being small, or limited. Conformity is a very common thing in today’s society, and it’s something that Dickinson was very aware of. Although most people don’t realize it, most of the world is made up of followers; everyone doing the same thing, few people suggesting new ideas. As said in the book, Rowing in Eden: Rereading Emily Dickinson, Martha Smith explains, “The poet objects to limits that she herself did not wish to impose...” (Smith). This statement is true in the fact that Dickinson was very much aware of the social “norms,” and very aware that she didn’t want to be a part of them. Emily Dickinson greatly studied the behaviors of people’s lives, and saw that many people of society have limited minds, from which they’ve gained from being