Ralph Waldo Emerson's The Hunger For Self-Reliance

The Hunger for Self- Reliance

Children believe that one must follow society norms in order to fit in, causing one to lose a sense of self reliance. As a person grows to mature, making life decisions play a big role on self-reliance and how he/she wants to view him/herself as a person. Katniss Everdeen, from the movie series, ‘The Hunger Games’, portrays the characteristics of being self-reliant as she breaks free from societal rules and trusts her intuition to base her own judgments on her decisions in life. By demonstrating Ralph Waldo Emerson’s principles of non-conformity, trust, and confidence; Katniss represents an awareness for the younger generation on how they can be independent to do what is right even when it is not easy.

Being self-reliant

Emerson says, “Trust thyself. Every heart vibrates to that iron string. Accept the place the divine Providence has found for you” (Emerson 2). In order for a person to bring peace to him/herself, he or she must trust their decisions. Furthermore, being able to trust one self in the optimistic challenges one takes. For example, children are dependent on their parents until they are grown enough to be adults and take responsibility by moving out. Leaving home means challenging one’s dependency of leaving one’s parents and becoming independent. One can quickly learn to become a more self-reliant person once one is on their own. For instance, Katniss, leaves her family and volunteers as tribute for her sister in The Hunger Games. Although volunteering was considered a death sentence, Katniss did not lose hope to see the brighter side to her decision. By taking on this challenge, she trusted herself in believing she would have a better chance of survival rather than her younger sister because of her ability to hunt. Her decision showed trust in an optimistic challenge for which she developed a sense of self-reliance sacrificing herself as