"The American Scholar" #2

One interesting paragraph I found in this section of "The American Scholar" is the one that begins with, "These being his functions, it becomes him to feel all confidence in himself..." I thought this paragraph was interesting because it talked about the way mankind is so similar and that one can relate to generations past. Emerson sates, "The world at any moment is the merest appearance. Some great decorum, some fetish of a government, some ephemeral trade, or war, or man..." This is saying that even though events that are currently happening seem like new news, they may not need so much attention because it is just a spec of history in the long run. Furthermore, he states, "He then learns, that in going down into the secrets of his own mind, he has descended into the secrets of all minds. He learns that he who has mastered any law in his private thoughts, is master to that extent in all men whose language he speaks, ad of all into whose language his own can be translated." Essentially, Emerson is stating that once a scholar has mastered learning from within, he can find truths about all of mankind, or as Emerson calls it "universal truth." Later in the passage, Emerson states, "Brave; for fear is a thing, which a scholar by his very function puts behind him. Fear always springs from ignorance. It is a shame to him if his tranquility, amid dangerous times, arise from the presumption, that, like children and women, his is a protected class." This comment would probably strike the attention of many 21st century scholars because it suggests that women are not part of this "protected class" and are fearsome and ignorant. The word choice would probably be different if a modern day Emerson wrote this because of the feminist movement becoming more prevalent in literature.