How Is Thoreau's Simplified Life On Walden

Author, Henry David Thoreau and Mary Oliver are both very passionate about nature and what it has to offer in life, as well as the symbolism behind nature and its creatures in their works of literature, in “Walden”, and “The House of Light”, Both authors discuss their views of nature and the beauty of the world that they want to make familiar to their audience. In this essay, I’ll provide my reasoning behind this statement.

In Walden, Henry D. Thoreau presented a radical and controversial perspective on society that was far beyond its time. In a period where growth both economically and territorially was seen as necessary for the development of a premature country, Thoreau felt the opposite. Thoreau was a man in search of growth within himself and was not concerned with outward improvements in him or society. In the chapter entitled "economy," he argued that people were too occupied with work to truly appreciate what life has to offer. He felt the root of this obsession with work was created through the misconstrued perception that material needs were a necessity, rather than a hindrance to true happiness and the

The excerpt Walden, by Henry David Thoreau, is a piece that explores the purpose of life, especially if it isn 't lived to the fullest. Thoreau starts by sharing the meaning and value of life. His idea of his personal achievement was to live life and die with a sense of peace and knowledge that he did not waste a single moment. He wanted to live life while being true to himself regardless of whether he would find life to be cruel or a wonderful place, and this was a risk he was willing to take. In a modern sense we are intrigued by technology. Although those in favor of technology may say that the new devices and applications do not affect human interaction and our way of living we are, are unable to see that, even in a room filled with people, there is an isolation barrier and an inability to live life to the fullest.

In this passage from Walden by Thoreau, the author articulates beautifully how he lives his life, why, and how he has adapted to his new home. Thoreau wishes to live a more free life where he can write and live void of responsibility, he wants to get the most from the remainder of his life by determining what is truly important, and he did this by removing himself as best he could from the normal life of Concord, Massachusetts in the 1840's to a decrepit cabin in the woods. Part of this was economic: he reduced his material needs by living in a simpler way, so that he would not have to spend much time supporting a lifestyle that he did not need

As Jeffrey S. Kramer relays in his article In Praise of Pond Scum, Walden is “not a book about a man living in the woods, but simply about a man living.”

He finds beauty in the lack of luxuries he has with him, and makes the claim that having too many things is directly proportional to the happiness one can achieve. Of course, he breaks this down financially as well. He includes a list of expenses he went through to achieve financial stability and freedom for his sabbatical in Walden Pond. Intelligently spending money, a total of under $30 dollars, Thoreau is able to construct a suitable living space and even sets himself up for a little bit of profit to adequately live off of. Part of this profit came from the farm he had just outside of his cottage. He makes it a point later in the book to talk about his bean farm, and how he gets up early every day to tend to it. He’s rewarded for his efforts with bountiful harvests. It’s so bountiful, in fact, that he’s wary of selling too much of it, lest he fall to the trap of industry and relish in the money he’s making. This bean farm serves as much of his food as well. Part of Thoreau’s view on simple eating also looks at the eating of meat. Trying to shy away from indulgence, he tries his best to limit what he eats solely to what he can find out in nature. Despite finding that he’s a decent fisherman, he slowly begins to shy away from that as well. Advocating that he can do without the American staples of meat, tea, and coffee, he goes so far as to claim that spending money on these things is wasteful and

Busy highways, briefcases, and paychecks. These are few of many sights seen by individuals living the ‘American dream’. It has been established in one’s development to go to school, get good grades, then slip right into college where a degree is earned and a career is cast. In a matter of a few years, one’s life is dictated and the routine of the working man, or woman, is set. Happiness is illustrated through new cars, nice clothes, and the newest phone available on the market—but what is not seen is serenity within one’s self. Thoreau describes the ability to find the true sense and meaning of happiness without all of the materialistic barriers that seem to serve as its guidelines. In Thoreau’s Walden, people are proclaimed for not living life to its full ability by impassively going through everyday routines, mistakable importance of necessities, and the idea of individual purpose.

In Walden, he questions the lifestyles that people choose. He makes his readers wonder if they have been chosen the kind of life that will really offer them happiness. Are they merely living a career or some other narrowly routine or is a worthwhile life being lived. Thoreau wonders if the truly valuable elements of life are being taken advantage of if a person is not living simply. If a person is so caught up in working or never having enough in life, one wonders, and satisfaction are difficult to obtain. As he states in the beginning Walden, "most men, even in this comparatively free country, though mere ignorance and mistake, are so occupied with the factitious cares and superfluously coarse labors of life that is finer fruits cannot be plucked by them" (Thoreau 6). This means that people care more about the finer things in life and easier work instead of nature's gifts and hard work. Thoreau draws a parallel between others preoccupation with money and his own enjoyment of non-monetary wealth.

Thoreau's main concern is that the accumulation of wealth, and the desire to obtain it, distracts humans from recognizing their true essence, which is spirituality. In the chapter "Economy," he urges us to learn to live life by ourselves, without the pressures of monetary consumption, and reevaluate ourselves in order to obtain its true necessities. He states, "It would be some advantage to live a primitive and frontier life, though in the midst of an outward civilization, if only to learn what the gross necessaries of life are and what methods have been taken to obtain them" (9). Thoreau reduces the necessaries of life to four things: food, shelter, clothing, and fuel. Anything beyond these four necessities serves as a wall dividing physical from spiritual realities.

The chapter entitled “Conclusion” is a fitting and compelling final chapter to Thoreau’s Walden. Throughout Walden, Thoreau delves into his surroundings, the very specifics of nature, and what he was thinking about, without employing any metaphors and including none of his poignant aphorisms. However, placed among these at-times tedious sections, come spectacular and wholly enjoyable interludes of great and profound thought from a writer that has become extremely popular in modern America. His growth of popularity over such contemporary favorites as Emerson in our modern era stems from the fact that Thoreau calls for an “ideological revolution to simplification” in our lives. This

Henry David Thoreau Walden is a series of topics, which discuss on how to live a meaningful life. In the first chapter named Economy, he talks about the benefits of having a simple lifestyle and that luxury good are the main suppressor of humanity. I personally do not believe in his idea of an economy, because I do not believe in that running away from civilization and living alone would better for us.

    “Where I Lived and What I Lived For” illustrates the philosophical thinking of Henry David Thoreau during his time at Walden Pond. Thoreau’s goal was to “front only the essential facts of live” and “live deliberately”. His essay is often revered for the self-sufficient and individualistic thinking that he brought to his readers, but despite all the reverence, such principles could tear apart a community. Although the essay was written in the 1850s, many of his arguments for self-sufficiency and individualism hold true today.

In chapter 2 of “Walden,” entitled “Where I Lived and What I Lived For,” Thoreau claims that life is not about materialistic things, but about being simple. He supports his thesis by comparing an example of how life is supposed to be lived, beside how life is not supposed to be lived, and then contrasting both outcomes. He reveals the truths of each example; then he compares materialistic and simplicity examples in order to prove that materialistic things get men nowhere in life contrast to what being simple leads to ( simplicity leads to a strong relationship with nature, which results in one being humble and morally aware). However, he forgot to address the importance of happiness, and how people should go throughout the day with the purpose of being happy.

Simple is the way of life that transcendentalist Henry David Thoreau advocated as the most fulfilling of all. Although sometimes irrational, Thoreau wanted a life that was more closely connected with nature in comparison with the majority of a rapidly industrializing America. He favored a more agrarian approach rather than a mechanized form of work and production, for that he believed was alienating man from his roots. Walden, one of Thoreau’s most famous commentaries on such a lifestyle, puts his ideology in perspective as he trod the forests of Concord, Massachusetts near Walden Pond. Living in and around a small cabin, Thoreau realizes that when one is with nature and nature alone, he sees life as immeasurable and unlimited in its

In his book, Thoreau sets out his own beliefs about nature of human existence and society where he stated that he believes that men does not need to work hard as they do if and only if they are willing to simplify and also by following their instincts. He introduced the concept of “voluntary poverty” for himself where primary necessities were identified.