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Henry David Thoreau Symbolism

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I Hope You are Thoreau(ly) Impressed with this Essay
(TS) In Henry David Thoreau's memoir Walden, Thoreau relies upon symbols to illustrate that personal exploration in nature illuminates life more than material wealth. (PS1) Thoreau utilizes an isolated house as a symbol for living simply with influences of nature. (SS1) Thoreau recalls gaining independence when “[he] began to spend [his] nights as well as days [at his new house]” (1) on the same day as Independence Day representing the day he becomes self-reliant and an inhabitant of nature, thus leaving society behind. (SS2) Moving into a secluded house, he was unbound from the trivialities of reality and society and in a position to seek the true inspiration of nature saying, “I wanted …show more content…

(PS) Thoreau depicts life as needing to be simple and free of the distractions of material wealth. (SS) By reducing one’s life to its lowest terms one can understand the world and appreciate its “whole and genuine meanness” (Thoreau 1). Thoreau’s beliefs of living simply can be applied to reality and more specifically my life. My lake house, located two hours north, is used as an escape from the modern world as it lacks technology. This includes the removal of television and telephones. All that is contained in the house is an old-fashioned radio used to listen to summer Major League Baseball games. While staying at the lake house, it is a place of relaxation from life’s daily routines and chaos. As opposed to spending time watching television or using telephones, instead I play card games, reading books in the treehouse, eat s’mores around the campfire, and swim or boat on the lake. This connects to Thoreau’s personal beliefs as he argued life should be simplified and condensed to the point of no material wealth. I attempt to seek this claim in my personal life by taking away all material wealth including technology and focusing on enjoying nature around me and what it has to offer. (CS) Thoreau mentions we need to create self-reliance and discover true individuality in

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In the chapter “Where I Lived, and What I Lived For” in “Walden” by Henry David Thoreau it says what it 's about practically in the name “where I lived, and what I lived for”. which by saying a rhetorical device it would be deductive reasoning there would be plenty of deductive reasoning in “where I lived, and what I lived for”. When I read “Where I lived ,and What I lived for” I saw in my perspective a guy that wanted to find a meaning in life, maybe it 's because it 's what I want to do and my brain is just analyzing it as if I’m perpetuating myself in his shoes or mindset . Thoreau seemed like he knows what to do and why to do it as if he wasn 't accidentally halting a risk he even said why he went to the woods. Thoreau exclaimed “I went to the woods because I wished to live deliberately” he wanted to be free.

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Furthermore, his use of tone to exemplify his argument is also effective as he condemns people for living rushed, unfulfilled lives for the sake of prosperity and materialistic possessions. When Thoreau says that ”when we are unhurried and wise, we perceive that only great and worthy things have any permanent and absolute existence, that petty fears and petty pleasures are but the shadow of the reality,”(279) he employs a critical tone by stating that people are blinded by these petty things that misconstrue

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The passage, by Thoreau, “Where I lived and What I Lived For” tells us how Thoreau believed we should live. He was inspired to live by, “Simplicity, simplicity, simplicity!” and not indulge ourselves upon unnecessary tools. He believes in independence and being yourself; he does not want conformity to the rules of this world. In the next paragraphs Thoreau’s idea of virtues will be displayed and their effect on the community both then and now will be described.

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Henry David Thoreau was a philosopher, poet, and a very outspoken person about society. He discusses his opinions on how people should live in his essay “Where I Lived and What I Lived For.” Thoreau's philosophy of simplicity and individualism and self-sufficiency poses many dangers for communities as a whole. Although there are many setbacks, his philosophy is, however, still viable today. Thoreau strongly advocates self-sufficiency and individualism in this essay.

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It is easy to see how Thoreau was encapsulated by the simple mystique of the wilderness. Nevertheless, I sit motionless in a tree, a sleeping monster in my arms, waiting to tear through the soft spoken forest surrounding me. I am not saddened by the idea of disturbing the sanctuary because the thoughts filling the silence enshrouding me are instead

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“Men have become the tools of their tools.” -Henry David Thoreau Henry David Thoreau displayed his disapproval and rejection for the ideas of the industrial revolution through his essays by stating that nature was lost by the usage of technology and the industrial revolution caused humans to lose their self identity; this led Thoreau to believe that people had to go back to nature for purification. During Thoreau’s lifetime, he saw many technological advancements, which he believed to be detrimental towards nature. In one of his essays called Walking, Thoreau expands on how and people began lose their self identity and their old lifestyles which had given them their identity.

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When I began reading Chapter Two of Walden, I didn’t quite understand the point he was trying to make. From the title of the chapter, I had expected Thoreau to have written something of a philosophical nature and experience relative to his environment, based upon the title; “Where I lived, and what I lived for.” After finishing the chapter, I started making connections to my own life experiences when it came to pondering simplicity over detail rather easily. From this reading experience, I now have a better understanding on the simplistic lifestyle answer to the overtly complicated life problem, based on Thoreau’s perspective. One theme that seems to be present throughout the read is Thoreau’s emphasis on his comfort with isolation.

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Consequently, what Thoreau proposed was simplicity rejecting modern civilization to return to nature and let the individual to develop his/her highest possibilities. Thoreau not only made a critique of the modern society as Emerson did, but also he practiced his ideology: he experienced that life is better without crowd, luxuries and complexity. The transcendentalist poet spent two year close to nature. He lived at Walden Pond where he wrote entire journals recounting his experience. Thoreau is well known for his book “Walden” (1854).

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In Walden, written by Henry David Thoreau, the author expresses the immense longing that we, as human beings, need to give up our connection to our ever-growing materialism in order to revert back to self-sufficient happiness. In Walden, the reader is able to infer that Thoreau feels as if we are becoming enslaved by our material possessions, as well as believes that the study of nature should replace and oppose our enslavement, and that we are to “open new channels of thought” by turning our eyes inward and studying ourselves. Thoreau feels that we are becoming enslaved by our material possessions. As stated in the chapter “In the Where I Lived, and What I Lived For”, Thoreau states that “I went to the woods because I wished to live deliberately, to front only the essential facts of life, and see if I could not learn what it had to teach, and not, when I came to die, discover that I had not lived.” (972).

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Why I Went to the Woods by Henry David Thoreau is a piece of literature taken from the book Walden that discusses Thoreau’s desire to experience life and it's meaning by living by the most simple terms possible. Thoreau lived off the land, built his own home, hunted and fished his own food. Through these things, Thoreau experienced how life is lived without luxury and only with the raw basics. Although his passion for the natural world shows through his writing his goal is not to persuade others to follow in his footsteps by going out and living in nature. Thoreau wanted others to follow him by living their best life which would be achieved by following their passions and the things they enjoy.

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