"The Foul Reign of 'Self-Reliance'" by Benjamin Anastas Analysis

"As a sad result, it has been the swagger of a man's walk that makes his measure, and
Americans' right to love ourselves before any other that trumps all" (Anastas 5).
Image credit to www.mychild.gov.au

Benjamin Anastas is the author of many works of fiction as well as memoirs, articles, and book reviews. However, his essay “The Foul Reign of Self-Reliance” is rather a combination of a memoir and a review, as Anastas uses his high school literature class as the basis for a criticism of Ralph Waldo Emerson’s “Self-Reliance”. Anastas claims that the self-centered, arrogant nature of the essay has damaged the American public since its publication, convincing them that they always deserve more, are able to achieve absolutely anything, and should only care about themselves. Though no context is given, one can assume that Anastas is becoming increasingly concerned by the prevalence of these attitudes in modern American society and the pride of place given to “Self-Reliance” in American literature. This essay is clearly not meant for fans of Emerson or those who agree with his ideas, as he attacks both throughout his entire essay. Instead, those who are fans of Anastas, staunchly opposed to either Emerson or the overconfident message of “Self-Reliance”, or merely interested in literary criticism would enjoy the essay.

One of the most important things in the essay is the anthology Anastas used in high school, and he describes it in the beginning and refers to it a few times. He vividly illustrates, “The class was early American literature, the textbook an anthology with the heft of a volume of the Babylonian Talmud; a ribbon for holding your place… and a slick hardcover the same shade of green as the back side of a dollar bill.” (Anastas 1). The aforementioned passage sticks in the mind of the reader because it describes the anthology so well and gives it pride of place in the essay. It is also where Anastas found “Self-Reliance”, the piece that his essay is centered around. Anastas also uses a lot of cause and effect analysis, citing Emerson’s work as a possible cause of America’s bloated sense of self-importance; this is the very theme, the very purpose, of his essay, so in addition to being a review-memoir, “The Foul Reign of Self-Reliance” is an examination of this cause-and-effect relationship. Due to the nature of the essay, one can easily say that Anastas accomplished his purpose quite well, as one can hardly find a single praise of Emerson. A reader would walk away knowing that arrogance is not a positive trait and that Emerson’s approval of such an attitude is plainly wrong.