America was changing in many ways. Man was searching for relation with his environment and nature, while a slave born into bondage would go on to be an extreme representation of an American success story. However America was not without its judgmentally cruel and mistreating side, as people were outcast from their hometown, and sent to their death under the misinterpretation that they were “bad seeds”. Nature by Emerson is drastically different from both My Bondage and My Freedom, and The Outcasts of Poker Flat.
Nature deals with a man’s spiritual enlightenment searching for his place in nature and in life. The other two literary pieces deal with the maltreatment of individuals and their struggle for survival and a sense of companionship. Emerson deals with an understanding of Nature and praise of individuality where in The Outcasts of Poker Flat, individuality is condemned to exile. Emerson, a divine intellect reflecting on “the occult relation between man, and vegetable” fails in comparison to the hardships faced by Douglas in his time as a slave.
Although we have these differences, there is a common thread throughout these American literary works. Nature by Emerson does compare to My Bondage and My Freedom by Frederick Douglas as they both are very well written by extraordinary intellectuals. They both delt with a mans desire for connection and importance in life. While Emerson was searching for a part in the universe and nature, Douglas was searching for a way to be free and become part of American society and the free.