Henry David Thoreau is notable for his time spent at Walden Pond in Concord, Massachusetts. During his two years at the pond, he was wrote “Where I Lived, and What I Lived For.” In his text, he makes makes effective use of ethos, logos and pathos through various techniques and literary devices. However, he makes use of one more than the others. Thoreau appeals to pathos most effectively through the use of allusions, metaphors and imagery to influence the audience that simplicity was the key to a good life. Children are often told stories and fairy tales throughout their youth, but when reality sets in, the stories and fairy tales become the catalysts to the complexity of life according to Henry David Thoreau. He believed in simplicity, …show more content…
In regards to the railroads he mentions earlier in his piece, he compares the train use and schedules that confine people into a world of tension to “unrelaxed nerves” and being “tied to the mast” which is an allusion that is beneficial to his utilization of pathos. Thinking of a character or someone tied to something and is taut evokes discomfort within the audience because it means no escape and freedom. Using this comparison puts the audience’s attraction to the advancing technology into perspective of how their behavior has changed negatively. Also, Henry David Thoreau alludes to fairy tales and the impact it has on lives when people are no longer mindless children. While he may not specify a particular fairy tale, the basis of the story is the same for most; ultimately leaving an unrealistic ending of happily ever afters. “If men would steadily observe realities only, and not allow themselves to be deluded, life, to compare it with such things as we know, would be like a fairy tale…” (279) portrays Thoreau’s opinion about how fairy tales distract people from reality until they have been sucked too far into the