ipl-logo

Thoreau's Essay: Examining Progress And Freedom

1524 Words7 Pages

Audrey Nace Literary Analysis Honors English 10 17 February 2023 Thoreau's ¨Walking¨; Examining Progress and Freedom The year 1851 presents itself as a time of great change, in the industrial revolution´s heart, which radically changed western society´s landscape. Although the industrial revolution is widely hailed as a catalyst for civilizational advancement, Thoreau presents an opposing viewpoint. In the essay ¨Walking¨, he explains his life´s yearning to be guided by the natural world. However, his philosophy placed him at odds with the world, so he advocates radically changing humanity´s life approach. He explains how nature has impacted his own life, his observations concerning the people around him, and how he himself would fix the world. …show more content…

Walking devotes large portions within the essay detailing an individual’s spiritual necessities. Chief among the necessities comes time away from society, in which a man can adequately reflect. Thoreau himself recounts an anecdote during his own time away, narrating: “I am alarmed when it happens that I have walked a mile into the woods bodily, without getting there in spirit. In my afternoon walk I would fain forget…and my obligations to society.” (Thoreau) The author deliberately selects his “obligations to society” as an obstacle, creating difficulty in achieving the right spirit. Repeatedly, Thoreau symbolically mentions walking in the woods as a spiritual respite, gifting him a closer relationship with the natural world, and subsequently his God. While his contemporaries regarded spiritual growth in more materialistic terms, Thoreau emphasizes his belief in the simple steps: the woods, the sky, uninterrupted reflection. The author reiterates his belief in nature’s powerful spiritual effects when drawing a correlation between land and potential: “For I believe that climate does thus react on man, — as there is something in the mountain air that feeds the spirit and inspires.” (Thoreau) In Thoreau’s view, a life lacking time outdoors represents a lost opportunity for self-improvement, despite the productivity stemming from time indoors. Contradicting the ideal detailing an individual steeped in human culture as most spiritually developed, Thoreau’s ideal is one who not only reflects but draws from their setting, not their fellow man. The author chooses mountain air as his example because of the inherent difficulty and inhospitable nature mountains present settlers, indicating spiritual growth derives not from ease but nature’s bold challenge. Indeed, Thoreau attributes not only spiritual growth to natural

Show More
Related
606 Words | 3 Pages

By establishing common ground with the reader who are religious by mentioning “god”. The author portrays his journey as sacred. Thoreau’s usage of descriptive language of scenery appeals to the readers as his location is a source of tranquility and sacredness. Furthermore, Thoreau argues that people should take into consideration everything; the details. Human life is clouded and surrounded by thousands of task rather than a

Read More
239 Words | 1 Pages

Throughout history there has been a constant, man’s desire to experience new things. Two men that come to mind are Chris McCandless and Henry David Thoreau. Both men shared a similar reason for traveling into the wild. The differences in their journey’s that led to McCandless’s death and Thoreau’s success is the preparation and approach to the journey’s. Even though Chris failed on his journey he still was very much like Thoreau wanting to leave society in search for enlightenment.

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
541 Words | 3 Pages

Both Thoreau and Mccandless took steps to live apart from others to simply free themselves from the limitations of society. As a matter of fact, the most notable similarity these two men shared was their strong disagreement with the attitude of the governments they lived with. Currency and government rule was nothing but an obstacle in their pursuit for more independent lives. Unlike Thoreau, “Mccandless went into the wilderness not primarily to ponder nature…but, rather, to explore the inner country of his own soul”(Krakauer 183). He did not know what Thoreau already knew, as a result, Mccandless learned later that “an extended stay in the wilderness inevitably directs one’s attention outward as much as inward, and it is impossible to live off the land without developing both a subtle understanding of, and a strong emotional bond with, that land and all it holds”(Krakauer 183).

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
441 Words | 2 Pages

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

Read More
510 Words | 3 Pages

The authors main point is that when you are in nature it blocks out any outside influence and allows you to think for yourself. Being alone for Emerson allowed for him to feel different and be at one with his surroundings. Thoreau’s short story, “Civil Disobedience” and Emerson’s short story “Nature” are examples of Transcendentalism because they include intuition, non conformity, spiritual well being, and individualism.

Read More
443 Words | 2 Pages

–Here, McCandless expresses his desire to set off for the experience of living completely involved with nature and ultimately untouched by modern day society and everyday living. –Thoreau says in Walden, “I went to the woods because I wished to live deliberately, to front only the essential facts of life” (Walden). –Here, Thoreau expresses his desire to retreat to the woods and live as he pleased. He only wanted the ‘essential facts of life’, which one could infer means Thoreau wished to live as man before civilization, with only the facts of survival or death. –Connecting with nature is only one of the many ways McCandless and Thoreau’s

Read More
1217 Words | 5 Pages

He talks about being connected with one's self and with the world around them. He elucidates, “I wish to speak a word for Nature, for absolute freedom and wildness, as contrasted with a freedom and culture merely civil, — to regard man as an inhabitant, or a part and parcel of Nature, rather than a member of society” (Thoreau). Nature big part of what Thoreau believes is important. The benefit of nature and explaining how people can be a part of nature reveals how he thinks of nature; Being a “Parcel” of something signifies being featured in a way that cannot be avoided (Cambridge dictionary). Being connected to nature allows a person to be more aware of their surroundings and the bigger picture of being a part of something.

Read More
923 Words | 4 Pages

He talks about how “the leaves and tender twigs are an agreeable food to many domestic animals,” emphasizing on how all living things depended on nature (Wild Apples 1). This led to the idea that without nature humans cannot survive, so people cannot neglect nature. He pointed out how “the fragrance of some fruits is not to be forgotten, along with that of flowers” portraying a message to others by telling them that they should not forget nature due to their technological advancements (Wild Apples 1). Thoreau later on states “I saw a vigorous young apple-tree… uninjured by the frosts, when all cultivated apples were gathered.(Wild Apples 1)” This can be seen as an allusion towards transcendentalists, who, despite being outnumbered, continued to believe and have faith in nature while the rest of the world has been injured by “frosts” or technology and corruption.

Read More
1159 Words | 5 Pages

Transcendentalist writers were focused on the belief of the divinity of the individual soul, the inner voice, (Crawford, Kern & Needleman, 1961) to overcome social stereotypes and to avoid conformity. It is highlighted the importance to return to nature to enhance the quality of humans beings by living simply since being apart of common social rules is the only way to be in communion with nature’s wisdom. Those transcendental characteristics could be seen in Emerson’s ¨self-reliance¨ or Thoreau’s ¨Walden ¨ bearing in mind that although, Emerson’s ¨Self-reliance¨ adheres more descriptive examples to illustrate metaphors and Thoreau’s ¨Where I lived and what I lived for¨ introduces metaphors creating much more imagery, both make a critique of the modern individual using

Read More
783 Words | 4 Pages

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”).

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
684 Words | 3 Pages

When Thoreau mentions that many philosopher import the woods to themselves, it must be for a reason. The woods and nature are needed in life, or human life may perish without

Read More
1048 Words | 5 Pages

Smoking – It’s A Menace Smoking will give you a full body makeover in a bad way – as it affects every part of you both inside and out. Keeping fit is also a lot harder if you smoke. Those who smoke: • are more easily exhausted • suffer shortness of breath • have reduced endurance • are slower to react • have poorer visual judgement REASON OF SMOKING • Addiction • Psychologically Dependent • Relaxation • Stress Removal • Relaxing breath • Weight Control • Weight Control • Social Integration • Family Attitudes SMOKING KILLS

Read More

More about Thoreau's Essay: Examining Progress And Freedom

Related Topics

Open Document