#5

It is one of those fables, which, out of an unknown antiquity, convey an unlooked-for wisdom, that the gods, in the beginning, divided Man into men, that he might be more helpful to himself; just as the hand was divided into fingers, the better to answer its end.

Fables

            In the paragraph before, Emerson was talking about a The American Scholar’s biography. When he uses the word fable in this paragraph, he could mean that a man is in control is his life and it is up to him to become an American Scholar. Like a fable, he could be describing the American Scholar’s life as something the man creates and writes himself and only he can turn his story into success.

The word fable could also mean the complete opposite, and mean made-up. He could mean that people claiming they are true scholars are fake and everything written up to this point does not describe what a true a true American Scholar is.

Divide Man into men

            Emerson could be trying to say that the act of the “gods” dividing man into men means that every man lacks something and is not complete. They are all divisions from a single being that makes them incomplete in terms of complete wisdom.

            Using the man with a capital “M” could be mean he was trying to convey a more religious meaning. Like using the a capital “G” in God, Emerson could be saying that men are divisions of God and it takes looking at religious teachings to achieve real wisdom.

In the beginning

            This statement could have a literal definition and Emerson could be talking in terms of time and the gods were first creating the world and the people.

            This statement could also have negative notion to it. “In the beginning” could mean at one point and not anymore. In relation to the rest of the sentence, Emerson could be saying that when the gods first divided “Man into men,” it was suggested that the men would learn from each other and help the society and themselves; however, that does not seem to be the case anymore and men are now too content with themselves and they no longer seek true wisdom because they think they have already achieve the goal of being a true scholar.