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Comparing Emerson And Thoreau Analysis

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Context In Nature Walking, Emerson and Thoreau’s essays discuss man’s interactions with nature and the transcendental idea of people being at one with their surroundings. Emerson delves into a person’s place in nature and how one can benefit from interacting with the view and beauty of nature. In essence, he makes the argument that many people have become so involved in the minutia of everyday life that they neglect to see the rebirth of nature and its appeal each and every day. Similarly, Thoreau discusses walking and how people have forgotten the draw of a good walk through nature for its own sake. He asserts that walking has merely become a mode of transportation or exercise rather than a way to commune with one’s own mind and the world …show more content…

God is not a person, but a force or entity in which all things belong and all things are controlled while also retaining a portion of that control for themselves. Rather than adhering to the idea of theism, where a single entity makes up a Godly being of immense power, Emerson and Thoreau believe that all people and matter in nature contain the power and deity of God collectively. Each of the essays reflect the idea that man can transcend a tedious daily life that is characterized by being controlled by outside forces. Each author makes the assertion that people hold a higher power inside of them that can be harnessed for greater happiness and peace in a chaotic world. Through powerful pictures painted with words, Emerson and Thoreau ask the reader to appreciate the beauty and form of the world around them. From Emerson’s discussion of seeing an oft witnessed landscape upside down through one’s legs to Thoreau’s dialogue about walking through the woods with no destination in mind, the reader gains an understanding of the immensity of the universe while also respecting the tiniest of changes and unobserved items of the past. Who has not had the pleasure of driving down an often travelled path to see something that was never noticed before? It is not that the item was absent on the previous trip, but that the mind and its business prevents one from seeing all of the nuances of a scene that has been viewed hundreds of times before. Both Emerson and Thoreau bring about a greater appreciation for nature through excellently written essays meant to enlighten one to the nature that surrounds and fills

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