“Walden”
“Walden”, a memoir, by Henry David Thoreau discusses Thoreau’s ideas on losing oneself when surrounded by the constant bustle of life. Thoreau’s documents his two years spent inside a cabin in Massachusetts, hoping to learn more about himself. By distancing himself from the fast paced world, he is able to think about nature of human cognizance.
“Walden”’s strongest theme would be enjoying the simplicity of life. Soon after Thoreau secludes himself in nature, he begins to realize the benefits of being away from the noise as well as being self reliant. His main idea was that one’s true self can be so easily lost among the diversions of everyday life. Throughout “Walden” Thoreau clearly states his revulsions for the outside world by explaining that all of the modern day indulgences that so many have are actually block out the real pleasures of life. Therefore, Thoreau chose to remove those distractions all together and live with a purpose instead of going through the motions, like so many do. So, he moved to his cabin and began to eat and live simply. For his daily labor he would write, as well as do outdoor work. He tells his readers that the only way to truly understand the nature of human cognizance is to remove the distractions and focus on life without luxuries.
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“Walden” is known for being a masterpiece of transcendentalism due to the fact that the memoir, as well as Thoreau, assume that there is a true self to uncover. The language throughout “Walden” is witty and ruthless as well as hypocritical with large forms of criticism for those who choose to conform. He describes that the lack of intelligibility throughout human culture, forced him to leave society and make his own life in nature. Throughout Thoreau’s two years in his cabin, he wrote vivid poetry and chose to recognize the beauty in