Reflections on Literature by Tim O'Brien and Henry David Thoreau

Henry Thoreau and Chris McCandless seem very similar. At a first glance when you hear their stories they sound pretty much like the same people in different time periods. Both left normal lives to live off the land and both loved that lifestyle to death. Chris even took inspiration from thoreau and took his book, Walden, into the Alaskan bush with him. However, McCandless and Thoreau are very different in their desire to move, social interactions, and their spiritual journeys.

Secretary of State John Kerry once said “I saw courage both in the Vietnam War and in the struggle to stop it. I learned that patriotism includes protest, not just military service.” The Vietnam War was a conflict that lasted from 1956-1975 which the United States participated in along with the South Vietnamese who fought against the Communist North Vietnamese. Many Americans strongly disapproved of the war which caused many protests and riots. The war lasted 25 years killing many people and eventually the North Vietnamese won. The Vietnam War was important to Americans back home because it tested the citizen’s right to free speech, effected future foreign policy, and created many issues for returning veterans.

Lieutenant Cross was in love with a girl back home named Martha. He carried around letters that she wrote to him and pictures that she gave him. His obsession of Martha took his focus away from the war. “He had loved Martha more than his

“I went to the woods because I wished to live deliberately…to suck the marrow out of life…and not when I came to die, discover that I have not lived.” Thoreau, Walden. Thoreau was not just a radical yet respected thinker for his time, but now as well. Thoreau has a very important lesson and idea to teach through the workings of a pen. Thoreau’s works have greatly influenced our culture for over a hundred years. Thoreau’s ideas have definitely influenced contemporary ideas, but we have also developed our own separate ideas in the past century and a half.

He calls himself a coward for going to war which sounds very weird. The quote means it is very hard to be brave during a war like Vietnam. Since the author turned in to a coward right when he was on the edge of the border, this quote relates well to this story.

Love is a powerful force, and Lieutenant Cross sometimes gets lost in his musings while thinking of Martha. O’Brien writes: “His mind wandered. He had difficulty keeping his attention on the war. On occasion he would yell at his men to spread out the column, to keep their eyes open, but then he would slip away into daydreams, just pretending, walking barefoot along the Jersey shore, with Martha, carrying nothing.” Like any sane person in his situation, Lieutenant Cross wants to escape – to anywhere else but the war. The war brings terrible experiences – fear, death, hunger, and pain beyond imagination. The only way that Lieutenant Cross can endure these things is by escaping to an imaginary life with Martha. Although to her, he is little more than a friend, to Lieutenant Cross, Martha represents innocence, perfection, and a world free from war.

“Not until we are lost do we begin to understand ourselves.” Henry David Thoreau stood behind the fact that all change is a miracle that happens in every instant. World travel has the potential to introduce an individual to the various miracles that life has to offer through aspects like culture, scenery, and language. In fact, there is a psychological concept that goes by the name of the “Big Five.” The number five refers to the five most dominant characteristics of personality: openness, extraversion, neuroticism, conscientiousness and agreeableness. Meeting new people and exposing oneself with new culture is one of is an activity that is one of the main contributors to the openness factor of personality which in turn has a domino effect on the remaining four characteristics (“5 Ways…”). That being said, by travelling the world an individual is able to become more adventurous and well rounded.

The impact of the Vietnam War upon the soldiers who fought there was huge. The experience forever changed how they would think and act for the rest of their lives. One of the main reasons for this was there was little to no understanding by the soldiers as to why they were fighting this war. They felt they were killing innocent people, farmers, poor hard working people, women, and children were among their victims. Many of the returning soldiers could not fall back in to their old life styles. First they felt guilt for surviving many of their brothers in arms. Second they were haunted by the atrocities of war. Some soldiers could not go back to the mental state of peacetime. Then there were soldiers Tim O’Brien meant while in

pictures of her. He would read the letters at the end of a long day in a foxhole he dug. He would sometimes lick the seal of the envelope because he knew that Martha’s tongue had been there. This obsession distracts Cross from the war and from his platoon.

Thoreau characterizes life in New England as tough especially for immigrants, who are exploited for cheap labor. It is also a struggle for many people who live every day as they are expected to, but still do not find happiness, as seen through his example of the son who inherited his family’s farm but has no personal inclination to be farmer. Society is setting boundaries for what is accepted as good behavior and what is not, plus, there is an abundance of basic necessities beyond the required food and shelter. As a result, he simplified his life. When Thoreau says that “men remain in their present low and primitive condition…” in his comparison to people and a thawing snake, he is noting how society as he observes is filled with people who follow and conform instead of following their own instincts and principles. Applied today, places like North Korea show an extreme dictatorship where the government firmly establishes the norms of society and forces the expectations of the regime into its citizens. Propaganda is seen everywhere and even though the people conform to society’s will and are told to be happy, there is without a doubt people in North Korea who are suffering under the strict regime and are not satisfied with the restrictive and conformist lifestyle.

Although neither John Field’s nor Thoreau’s lifestyles and ideologies fall entirely in line with my approach to life, I would lean more toward the way in which the Irishman lives. My reasoning for this is that he works hard and then reaps the benefits of his labor, which he is subsequently able to enjoy with his family. Although Thoreau spends less time working, he is not completely able to appreciate all that life has to offer, while limiting himself to an incredibly basic diet, which hardly seems sufficient in order to lead an active and healthy lifestyle. The aspect of John’s lifestyle which for one; points out a limit to that of Thoreau’s and secondly; to me proves the most intriguing, is that he has a family and is able to provide for

Religion and politics are perhaps the most important topics of discussion, and paradoxically, the ones least discussed. Our differences cause us to shy away from such depth in our conversations with others and it is a remarkable human being who can share her opinion honestly on the subjects, and even more so, transcend the current popular opinions of the time. Henry David Thoreau was a man such as this. He spoke out against an unjust society and challenged the comforts and distractions that society has become so accustomed to. He preached simplicity in daily life and peace in protest. His words of wisdom have influenced many great leaders since. Thoreau’s call for social reform, individualistic

The well-known writer and philosopher Henry David Thoreau has said “ Regard not your past failures nor successes. All the past is equally a failure and a success; it is a success in as much as it offers you the present opportunity.” I interpret these words as having a meaning that I shouldn’t dwell on my failures or successes as they are it is equal along with the present that provides me myself with greater opportunities. The present should provide me myself with a sort of motivation, along with getting rid of failures and making sure my life has successes too. When I consider these words what comes to my mind is when I was playing little league baseball for the all star team in Seymour as this experience it provided successes and

Henry David Thoreau is a man of many facets; a man who refuses to conform to what the masses believe is acceptable. He calls for the rejection of complexity and for a change in mankind’s view of life. Thoreau, in his many writings, demands change in a stagnant society. He emphasizes respect for nature, even to the point of blatant disrespect for humanity.

Henry David Thoreau was a nineteenth century American author who lived during the height of Transcendentalism. He became an important contributor to this movement (“H. D. T.” Poetry Foundation). Thoreau received much information about this movement from Emerson, a noteworthy friend of Thoreau. Thoreau wrote many significant works in American literature, including Walden and “Civil Disobedience.” The works of Henry David Thoreau were strongly influenced by the Transcendentalist movement and centered around his stay at Walden Pond.