No one expects to be thrown off a moving bus by their own mother, but sometimes society and the conditions around people force them to cross transversal lines and adopt certain unorthodox methods. The ideals of Transcendentalism seek to break these chains that bind our minds and thoughts. Ralph Waldo Emerson, Henry Thoreau, and Walt Whitman are three prominent authors and poets who dedicated their lives to the development of these transcendentalist beliefs. The book “Born a Crime” is the key topic of the essay. Here it is analyzed how Trevor Noah uses the transcendentalist ideologies of non-conformity, self-reliance and getting the most out of life in order to demonstrate the necessity of rebellion to achieve social justice. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on “Why Violent Video Games Should Not Be Banned”?Get the original essayNonconformity, a major ideology of transcendentalism, is woven into Trevor Noah's life experiences in Born a Crime. Ralph Waldo Emerson was a transcendentalist author who strongly believed in the need to rebel against the constraints of society. In one of his most famous works, Self Reliance, he states that society is like "a joint stock company, in which the members agree, in order to better guarantee their bread to each shareholder, to renounce freedom and eater culture. . The most demanded virtue is conformity.” This excerpt shows how people give up their individuality and stop thinking freely once they become part of society. Society encourages people to be similar and single-minded, but Transcendentalism believes that each person should form their own opinion instead of conforming to what the rest of society believes. Only through non-conformity can one be truly free and independent. When the mind is freed from the barriers of society, change is possible, and through change, social justice is possible. Born A Crime demonstrates how social justice can be achieved through non-conformism in a world where society imposes the systematic oppression of Africans. The author, Trevor Noah, was the product of a white man and a black woman at a time when such an act was illegal and there was apartheid, a government system designed to subjugate Africans in South Africa. None of these factors stopped Trevor Noah's mother, Patrica Noah, and she "started her little project, [Trevor Noah], at a time when she could not have known that apartheid would end." . . it was preparing me to live a life of freedom long before we knew freedom would exist. . . we just moved forward and we moved quickly, and by the time the law and everyone else came into effect, we were already miles out of the way.” Despite the conditions in South Africa, Noah's mother did not conform to societal pressures and decided to have a child of color in a world that considered it a criminal act. Apartheid had existed for generations and there was no sign that it would end any time soon. When it came to Noah's upbringing, his mother did not raise him the same way black children or children of color were supposed to be raised. People questioned her methods and “thought my mother was crazy.” Skating rinks, drive-ins, and suburbs were things that belonged to white people. Patricia Noah ensured that opportunities reserved for white children were also available to Noah. From books to films, Noah received the exposure that made him the man he is today. He discovered the world beyond the ghetto and what societyforced black people to be. It was only through this decision to rebel against the expectations of what a non-white child deserved that Trevor Noah received the childhood, education, and opportunities that every child deserves, regardless of color. his skin. It was only through this rebellion that social justice was achieved. If Noah's mother had chosen to comply, Trevor Noah's success and opportunity would have been stolen by society. Patrica Noah's rebellion through the transcendentalist ideal of nonconformity helped achieve social justice for her child. Another major belief of Transcendentalism that is evident in Born a Crime is the idea of ​​autonomy. Walt Whitman, an influential transcendentalist author, describes this pillar of transcendentalism in Song of Myself, 46. Whitman describes life as a journey that "neither I nor anyone else can travel." . . for you, you have to go through it for yourself. It's not far, it's within reach, Maybe you've been there since you were born and you didn't know it, Maybe it's everywhere on water and on land. Whitman describes the path of life that must be traveled alone, no matter who you are. Through autonomy, the idea that each person must rely only on themselves and follow their own instincts, one can fulfill one's purpose in life and achieve one's goals. Only by relying on themselves can they truly complete the journey that awaits them. If one depends on others or chooses to follow in someone else's footsteps, one's journey no longer carries the weight, meaning, and success that autonomy can bring. Likewise, Trevor Noah found his way to success by finding his own way in life, not by following someone's guide to getting out of the ghetto. He paved his way by relying on his technological and commercial skills. Noah uses crime as a tool to rebel against his situation, because "crime does the one thing the government doesn't do: it cares." [...] My life of crime began modestly, selling pirated CDs on street corners [...] but by neighborhood standards which were not even considered illegal. At the time, none of us thought we were doing anything wrong.” In a world where opportunities are only available to the rich, the poor, like Trevor Noah, find themselves jobless and without a purpose in life after limited education. They fall back into the self-destructive cycle of the ghettos and very few manage to escape. Trevor Noah only managed to become the person he is today by relying on his skills to write, mix and sell pirated music. By relying on himself, Noah was finally able to achieve the justice of being able to leave the ghettos and have the opportunity that every man or woman deserves in life. In order to achieve this justice, Noah was forced to rebel against the laws established by society and ultimately seize the success that was his. Trevor Noah's rebellion through self-reliance helped him achieve social justice for himself. Finally, making the most of life is the last transcendentalist ideal discernible in Born a Crime. Henry David Thoreau was an esteemed essayist on transcendentalism and sincerely believed in living life to the fullest. He further developed this pillar of transcendentalism in his future works. Thoreau decided to go live in the wilderness and wrote an article about his escapades called Walden. He believed he could not live fully in a city or suburb and "wanted to live deep and suck out all the marrow of life, to live so solidly and Spartan that he routed everything that was not the life ". cut a wide swath and shave close, put life in. . ..