ipl-logo

Henry David Thoreau's Walden

413 Words2 Pages

“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. …show more content…

“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

Show More
Related
1740 Words | 7 Pages

For one, according to Johnson, Thoreau was an abolitionist and refused to pay taxes to support what he considered to be an immoral war. Thoreau’s wilderness venture was not to cut off contact with humanity, but involved society by knowledgably standing up against it. But Johnson does report, that the closest thing to Thoreau’s Walden is Krakauer’s Into the Wild. Thoreau had conducted an experiment involving self-sufficiency in a one-room cabin in Massachusetts, while McCandless was experimenting with his life. Thoreau’s “wilderness” was anything but, with ample necessities and close region to civilization.

Read More
790 Words | 4 Pages

The bold and brash approach on life by transcendentalists was truly an ambitious lifestyle. Such individuals like Henry David Thoreau, Chris McCandless, and Jon Krakauer have renounced all of their mainstream agendas to lead a more fundamental life, but not without the criticism other have faced. The actions portrayed in their novels demonstrate how important it is to incorporate others’ ideas when one’s own choices. As the world was in the midst of transforming, Henry David Thoreau yearned to yield away from the evolving world, as he considered them corrupt opportunists who are deprived of their true nature.

Read More
526 Words | 3 Pages

During the Transcendentalist movement, Henry David Thoreau was a leading transcendentalist whose work focused mainly on nature and adventure. Walden, or Life in the Woods is an exceptional example of a story based on adventure. In Thoreau’s account of his life at Walden pond, he first states, “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.” Through this quote Thoreau explains that he was tired of the complexity of normal life and desired to go on an adventure to live simply. Additionally, Thoreau states, “I wanted to live deep and suck out all the marrow of life…,” which again reveals his motivation for new life by adventure and simplicity.

Read More
519 Words | 3 Pages

Chris McCandless looked up to Henry David Thoreau’s ideas in his Walden excerpt. John Krakauer went on to make McCandless’ journey a novel of its own. However, Chris McCandless and Henry David Thoreau’s ideas on how one should live their life didn’t always compare as much as contrast. Thoreau does not like the outdoors as much as Chris does, “I left the woods for as good a reason as I went there. Perhaps it seemed to me that I had several more lives to live, and could not spare any more time for that one” (Walden).

Read More
854 Words | 4 Pages

Chris McCandless was a young man who had been a part of a wealthy family and previously lived a comfortable lifestyle, until he decided that he was better off without it. After graduating from Emory University, McCandless cut off all communication with his family and created a new identity for himself as a form of dissociation from society. Transcendentalism influenced Chris McCandless' life and beliefs in Into the Wild as it strongly evoked the sense of abandoning his privileged lifestyle and a simple life of nonconformity. Chris McCandless felt the need to abandon his social life after he retrieved influential beliefs from the ideologies of people like Henry Thoreau and Ralph Waldo Emerson. In the excerpt ‘Walden’, Thoreau states how most

Read More
1287 Words | 6 Pages

Henry David Thoreau stated in Walden 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... I wanted to live deep and suck out all the marrow of life, to live so sturdily and Spartan-like as to put to rout all that was not life” (“What I Lived For 59). The transcendental lifestyle, as explained by Thoreau, is structured by the beliefs of purifying the mind and body from the corruption of modern society and its materialistic ideals. Embracing the spiritual aspects that nature provides allows us to grow physically and intellectually as a human, and ultimately finding our individual purposes in life. Both the book, Into the

Read More
1458 Words | 6 Pages

Yesenia Garcilazo Period 2 AP Language Mr. Jepson Solitude Henry David Thoreau is known for writing his famous book “Walden”, it is about his spiritual journey as a transcendentalist when he isolates himself from society for a few years. Even though he removes himself from society, Thoreau does not feel alone, he feels more comfortable and lives better with what nature offers him than humans do. Throughout the chapter, Thoreau mentions multiple times that he feels that he is one with nature, and is “a part of herself.” Thoreau mentions that he has no close neighbors so he feels isolated and

Read More
578 Words | 3 Pages

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.

Read More
470 Words | 2 Pages

Henry David Thoreau especially supported the interaction between man and nature. With his experiment at Walden, he addresses a modern concept known as minimalism, focusing on the way one must supply for himself with his basic necessities. His intentions were not to isolate himself, but moreso to separate himself from a life dependent upon others. Through his actions, he is able to criticise society and many of their needs.

Read More
1159 Words | 5 Pages

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).

Read More
596 Words | 3 Pages

Walden spoke on a different level which made it hard for many people to understand. For example, “If I was a that man who had ten cents in the world, and it surpassed my arithmetic to tell if I was that who had ten cents or who had a farm” (Thoreau, 254). I believe that if Thoreau accepted input from others instead of shutting himself away in the world, he could of added information to make it more intriguing instead of the story he has written which just drags on. He also contradicts himself in his own

Read More
575 Words | 3 Pages

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).

Read More
637 Words | 3 Pages

In his essay Walden, Thoreau affirms the Transcendentalist belief of living simply by emphasizing the thought of living with only the essentials and the importance of self reliance. Thoreau supports the ideal of living simply through the emphasis of only living with what one needs. Simplicity exists

Read More
188 Words | 1 Pages

Hi, I am Quinn Baumgartner and I am very excited to be apart of the tryout process for the next PHS Cheerleaders. I plan on supporting the cheerleading program as described in the informational packet by being organized, responsible, respectful, using leadership, and being kind to everyone. Whenever I will miss a game or a bus, have a family emergency, or am sick I will always call, text, email, and notify the coach as soon as possible. And I will always and forever use my kindness and leadership towards others. I would like to see a lot of team bonding with the PHS Cheerleaders.

Read More
1474 Words | 6 Pages

Reflection By studying American Romanticism, we are able to learn that American literature allows its readers to understand transcendentalist views which led to individuals in American society to realize that everyone perceives the world differently. In American literature, individuals are able to understand the values of transcendentalism in which it illustrates the importance of nature, self reliance, and individuality through essays such as “Walden” by Henry David Thoreau, and Ralph Waldo Emerson’s essays “Nature” and “Self-Reliance”. In Henry David Thoreau’s essay “Walden” he says “ life never the bone where it is sweetest.” This quote suggests the importance of individuality due to the fact that we do not need to change to make others satisfied because we are only truly happy when we are able to accept ourselves. The best part in this unit was to look at an image and listen to the different

Read More

More about Henry David Thoreau's Walden

Related Topics

Open Document