Colonel Sherburn’s (in The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn) and Emerson’s definition of a “man” (man stands for all mankind) both emphasize the importance of being an individual in a society of followers. However, in today’s society, being a nonconformist over a conformist is hard even though many authors have advocated listening to the “beat of a different drummer.”
Few people actually follow their own ideas and decide for themselves what is good and bad, right and wrong, lawful and unlawful. Most people are like the proverbial sheep that follow the rest of the herd no matter where the herd goes and what the herd does. When they are in the herd, there is no thought of examining what they are doing; they just perform in stiff formation, one behind the other, in single-file motion. In order to become a man, a person must break away from the herd in order to find himself and follow
A real “man” sets his own beliefs and never changes for anyone. Emerson and Colonel Sherburn were completely accurate with their opinion of a “man.” Conformity is not the trademark of a true “man.” Do not be a follower; be a leader; be a “man!”
In recent history there exists one excellent example of the horrific consequences that result from men being sheep and conforming rather than being “men” and questioning the actions of the herd. The result of this senselessness and refusal to look inside themselves caused them to follow a shepherd who would lead them to their deaths physically and/or morally. The shepherd was named Adolph Hitler, and the herd was the German people. Due to the German people's conformity and refusal to question Hitler and the Nazi party, they became part of a war that would kill millions of their own. For those who would live through the war, they would l
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