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Life In The Woods Transcendentalism

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“Walden” Life in the Woods a narrative written by Henry David Thoreau a transcendentalist. Thoreau’s purpose for writing this narrative was to answer people’s questions about his reasons for wanting to live alone in the woods. Thoreau built himself a cabin in the woods near Walden Pond, where he lived for two years. “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” (Thoreau 1028). Thoreau wanted to live a life of simplicity by isolating himself from the civilized city. He stressed the importance of individualism, simplicity, and self-reliance. Thoreau lived in his cabin from spring …show more content…

I think that Thoreau believed that being born with inheritance was similar to being born into slavery. People slave in their jobs to maintain their lifestyles. Thoreau continues with saying, “most men, even in this comparatively free country, through mere ignorance and mistake, are so occupied with the factitious cares and superfluously coarse labors of life that its finer fruits cannot be plucked by them” (Thoreau 983). We live in a free country, but are we really free when man wakes up every day with the same routine work, eat, sleep, and repeat it all over again the next day. The life of a working man is like a robot a “machine.” As a free man are we taking advantaging of our freedom? Does man ever take a step back to indulge the beauty of nature and what’s around him? It’s true when Thoreau compares a free man to a slave, “but worst of all when you are a slave-driver of yourself” (Thoreau 983). These are the thoughts that goes on in Thoreau’s …show more content…

Men work majority of their lives saving so when they retire then they can enjoy life, but will they be in good health to do that. They can only hope so.
Thoreau explains why he left the woods, “I left the woods for as good a reason as I went there. Perhaps it seemed to me that I had several more lives, and could not spare any more time for that one” (Thoreau 1149). He continues on with saying what he learned from his experience out in the woods, “I learned this, at least, by my experiment; that if one advances confidently in the direction of his dreams, and endeavors to live the life which he has imagined, he will meet with success unexpected in common hours” (Thoreau 1149).
While living in the Woods Thoreau discovered himself and learned how to live with simplicity. He wrote “Walden” Life in the Woods, to answer questions people had about why he decided to go and live in the woods. I’m sure he inspired many readers with his views on the beauty of nature and what it has to

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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).

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At this point in the narrative he tells readers about an experience he had while observing a woodchuck in the woods while on a walk. He then tells in detail how he wanted to eat this woodchuck in a brutal way. This thought process he was having while observing this animal brought him a better understanding that human beings still have a wild instinct inside of themselves. Which he respected the idea and acknowledged that these instincts still occurred within himself. This experience supported Thoreau belief that hunting/obtaining knowledge on nature was important at an early age.

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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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In the chapter titled Where I Lived, and What I Lived For from Henry David Thoreau’s novel Walden, the author utilizes rhetorical strategies such as imagery and tone to convey how the distractions that accompany a progressing civilization corrupts society. Since he is a transcendentalist, his argument encapsulates the same principles of becoming free from the binds of society and seeking harmony with nature. He emphasizes those ideals when he states that “[he] went to the woods because he wished to live deliberately, to front only the essential facts of life, and see if [he] could not learn what it had to teach, and not, when [he] came to die, discover that [he] had not lived”(276). In other words, he wanted to escape from society and live

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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

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“While I enjoy the friendship of the seasons I trust that nothing can make life a burden to me. The gentle rain which waters my beans and keeps me in the house today is not drear and melancholy, but good for me too. ”He compares Mother Nature with humans throughout the chapter, saying that mother nature provides thousand wonderful, beautiful, and interesting things, and fellow human beings seem to be interested in only what they can get out of you and who offer little in exchange. Thoreau feels that, rather than being near the greatest number of people, people must live and work in the place most important to their various

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Lance: Lance has a seal called "Tenwouluhr" demon tongue. for "Eternal flame of the damned" it has been passed down through Lance's bloodline since the death of his great great grandfather. This brand posses many different attributes, one of the strongest things in his arsenal. Downside is that he loses control of his actions.

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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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“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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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.

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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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Henry David Thoreau is one of the primary promoters of the transcendentalist movement and has been inspiring people to take on the transcendentalist lifestyle ever since the mid 1800’s. Mccandless was an admirer of Henry’s philosophy but he wasn’t as fully immersed in his work and ideals as Thoreau was to his own. His intentions were not as closely aligned to the movement as Thoreau’s and the difference between these icons are clearly visible. Self reliance is one of the most significant components of the transcendentalism movement that Henry David Thoreau contributed to in his literary career. “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.” - (taken from Henry David Thoreau’s “Walden”).

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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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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

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