The Use Of Transcendentalism In Walden And Other Writings By Henry David Thoreau

Why is solitude looked down on society? It should be advised by people to start engaging in the concept of solitude. Henry David Thoreau and Chris McCandless were both transcendentalism that believes in the key fundamental idea that the human body should partake in such as solitude. Henry Thoreau was a transcendentalist that practiced the form of solitude throughout his life. He left society and moved into the woods to be removed from the confines of society. Along with Thoreau, a more modern-day transcendentalist was known as Chris McCandless. McCandless journeyed to the wilderness in Alaska to be able to experience a minimal amount of human interaction along with the solitude that comes with it. The concept of solitude should be

Thoreau by living in a cabin for two years near Walden Pond which is formally owned by Emerson wanted to create his own perception of society and nature. He focused on simple ways of living and self-sufficiency. He decided to direct his life in this way when he encountered Emerson’s works. He liked the idea, movement ‘transcendentalism’ and actually practiced it. Living with no money and alone, only with nature and understanding the society by this way was his main goal. He shared his experiences in his book Walden. He did not live in a wild environment as he mentioned also in his book, he lived near the town near a lake. He pragmatically wanted to see if living in this simplicity is really good or not.

In Henry Thoreau 's Walden Thoreau spent two years away from society living in a cabin in the woods with only the necessities. He was surrounded by farmers and would occasionally go into town. Thoreau was a transcendentalist that tried to find answers to life’s questions through nature. He challenged the regular way society would live and found that his way was a rewarding way of living.He compared the way that the farmers around him to how he was able to live and compared the difference of the two ways to live. Thoreau valued freethought, importance of nature, and self-reliance, Henry David Thoreau lived as an individual who did not need materialism.

“Walden”Thoreau by was published around 1854, during the reign of the transcendentalism.In order to prove his claims, he "went into the woods" and lived as simply and as inexpensively as he encouraged others to do.In “Walden”, Thoreaus argument is that people with complex and unhappy lives should live more simple lives and have what is necessary insted of living a lifestyle dependent on material possessions.In “Walden”,Thoreau for example says “I went to the woods because I wished to live deliberately, to front only the essential facts of life . . . and not, when I came to die, discover that I had not livermore”.By making these assertions Thoreau explicitly shows through his actions that you should depend on yourself and not technology.Under these circumstances with the rapidly changing technology of his time,like the train, Thoreau saw these advancements as things that hindered society from seeing what the real problems where.

Into The Wild is a prime example of Transcendentalism in the modern world as Chris McCandless, in his pursuit of happiness, attempts to replicate many of the ideas that Henry David Thoreau both practiced and preached. Thoreau preached living with little material needs or wants. Chris tries to exemplify this as he lives with no money and no home. Thoreau advocates that living in the wilderness in solitude will not only enlighten but also bring to joy in simplicity to anyone who tries it. Chris takes this to a new level as he lives about as far from society as possible and as far from other people as possible. Both Thoreau and Chris have a strong sense that society is binding and should be rebelled against when it is disagree with.

Henry David Thoreau was born and lived his life in Concord, Massachusetts. Thoreau had always been an intelligent student and eventually began his study at Harvard University and graduated at the top of his class despite having to drop out on several occasions due to his financial struggles. Around the time when Thoreau was graduating,  America had been experiencing an economic depression resulting in the loss of jobs of many and work became harder to find. But because Henry Thoreau was a Harvard graduate, the best fit field for someone like him was teaching. For a short period, he began teaching at a local public school. He along with his brother John, began working in the family pencil making business. Their pencils were considered to be

Living life in simplicity is a trend set by Thoreau as he goes to the woods to be free from society’s expectations. He desires for everyone to stop living their life so complicated as they’re being consumed by the want of materialistic things “Most of the luxuries… positive hindrances to the elevation of mankind” (Thoreau Walden “Economy”). As society

The year of 1845 Henry built a small house that he had all to himself. That house was built on a land called Walden Pond which Emerson owned. Henry lived there a good 2 years there, but the life was not simple enough for him. Henry dabbled in a pencil factory for a little while while also working as a land surveyor as well. His brand new schedule gave him tons of wonderful free time so he wasted his time writing these books; A Week on the Concord and Merrimack Rivers (1849) and Walden; or, Life in the Woods. But luckily Thoreau was smart and knew he wasn't wasting his time because Walden; or, Life in the Woods was a

Thoreau had a unique look on philanthropy. He calls philanthropy overrated due to the degree of selfishness involved. He uses the example of the poor man looking up to the kind man for helping him. Which is something that we currently do today, but Thoreau did not see it that way. He found it absurd that people looked up to kind people for actions that benefitted them rather than look up to spiritual people who were the true helpers. He is not completly against being charitable, he just feels that it should be an actual help instead of a cover up. Also, he mentioned that giving money to people with rags will just allow them to

The American Transcendental Movement emerged in the mid-nineteenth century in New England, and permeated the disciplines of politics, philosophy, and literature. Influenced by English and German Romanticism, Transcendentalism offered aspiring American writers the opportunity to reject the rigid and constraining authority of their contemporary society, and to delve further into their own individual philosophy, morals, and values. Instead of blindly conforming to the social, political, and economic constructs surrounding them, Transcendentalist writers explored the beauty of solitude, discovering that the intrinsic and fundamental inclinations that governed them were far more important and powerful

David Thoreau Thoreau believed humans live their lives too complicated and society should believe in the power in nature. By simplifying our lives, it would help us understand life’s true meaning and value. Everything a person does in life has meaning to it. This demonstrates transcendentalism in the aspect of nature. Thoreau lived

Technology and nature surprisingly can live in harmony. Henry Thoreau was a transcendentalist who moved to a cabin in Massachusetts to write about observations about life and nature in 1845. Thoreau commented about his time in the wood saying, “ I went to the woods to live deliberately, to front essential facts of life.’’ Meaning he came to live alone and truly think about what life’s meaning is. Danny Heitman claimed that Mr.Thoreau’s beliefs could have in fact co-existed with today’s technology.

Henry David Thoreau, Margaret Fuller, and Ralph Waldo Emerson were some of the most visionary authors. Transcendentalism was a hopeful philosophical and social movement that grew in New England around 1836 in response to logic. Affected by sentimentalism, Platonism, and Kantian reasoning, it taught that heavenly nature plagues all nature and humankind, and its individuals held dynamic perspectives like women's rights and collective living. Henry David Thoreau, Margaret Fuller, and Ralph Waldo Emerson had insightful thoughts that people enjoyed. These individuals revered Henry David Thoreau, Margaret Fuller, and Ralph Waldo Emerson as a result of their methods for disclosing imperative proclamations to the individuals.

Romanticism began in the time following the age of reason. Instead of philosophers focusing on logic and reason, they were less rational and more intuitive. Within this ideal, the perceived message was everything you needed to know was captured within you and nature. After this philosophy was brought into practice, many people began to branch off of this ideal. One of these branches was transcendentalism.

My creation of the heart represents the element of emotion and intuition. The left side of the heart has red, yellow and orange flames to represent the uncontrollable rage/anger and the right side of the heart is plain blue with few sparkles to show the overall calmness of the human soul. I then created the quote, “Although emotions are different one must understand their bond and follow it”. The “it” I am referring to is emotions and in order to “understand” their emotions one must have intuition. I want to show how it is important for one to first understand the emotion that they are feeling and later follow that emotion.