Theme Of Happiness In Thoreau's Walden

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

Thoreau galvanizes his reader into living self-dependently and being their own individual. A few ways of living with Thoreau’s virtues are to dabble with your life, and live without

Thoreau argues that many are incapable of achieving that goal because they live in a world full of details that takes focus away from living life. Moreover, we have so much on our plates, that it takes time away from reflecting on the personal self. Throughout the excerpt, Thoreau uses metaphors to approach the obstacles faced when living life in a world where everything must be done. Thoreau states that the competition for resources create a world where we are often cruel and compete with one another. In order to achieve the goal of living life fully, Thoreau proposes solutions that allow us to find our true purpose, take inconsideration nature and

He feels that everything in the universe is only created for him as if no one else is alive. The power of being alone, surrounded by your own thoughts, by your own nature, by your own world is truly an experience that Thoreau will never want to change. Thoreau values the sensation and thrill that solitude can have on one 's mind. Throughout Henry David Thoreau’s life, he preferred to spend his time in solitude. As being in the company of other people are beneficial, the interactions between them soon become dull and uninteresting. With the appeal of human interaction depleting, self-reflection and solitude are to be used for a replacement for conversing with people. This is because as Henry David Thoreau announces, “I love to be alone. I never found the companion that was so companionable as solitude”(Thoreau 128). Thoreau’s life consists of being alone for the most part of the day. He isn 't in need of friends in order push past the lifeless moments of time. He himself is the only person he needs. Why must everyone require friends when you have yourself to connect with? You are your own best friend. Thoreau knows this and lives his life constantly digging deeper into his own thoughts asking questions and pondering about himself. He is able to truly discover his inner self to the full extent by being succumbed in his own solitude. In allowing himself to be his own companion he has also allowed solitude to become his best

I believe the overall message of Henry David Thoreau´s “Solitude” is to differentiate solitude and loneliness which are totally different. It is more of a state of mind than something real. People around by other people would feel more loneliness than people who are physically alone. For Thoreau being in solitude is the best way to discover your mind and spirituality and is the best way to know yourself.

The theme of Henry David Thoreau and his book Walden, is the effects of oppression. In his book he wants to get away from the industrial society. “Escape the trappings of industrial progress ” (Thoreau). He isolates himself from the outside world and chooses to live alone in the middle of the woods. He is living in a world of oppression because he is in isolation and believes in living life simply.

“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.

Thoreau wished to live with only what was essential. He felt that how people in society were living was not how a man should truly live. At one point Thoreau described how most people go through the day as people who are sleeping.The text reads”The millions are awake enough for physical labor; but only one in a million is awake enough for effective intellectual exertion, only one in a hundred millions to a poetic or divine life. To be awake is to be alive”(14).The people who are sleeping just go about their day not really living, but just getting by. In order to keep himself awake, Thoreau distanced himself from society and decided to “drive life into a corner, and reduce it to its lowest terms.”(16) McCandless held a similar view. He wanted to get out of the simple suburban life he had been raised in and live on his own away from others. In a letter to Ronald Franz, one of the many people touched by McCandless’ company, the young man encourages the older man to drop everything and do the things he may never have thought of doing before. he continues in saying,”So many people live within unhappy circumstances and yet will not take the initiative to change their situation because they are conditioned to a life of conformity, and conservatism, all of which may appear to give one peace of mind, but in reality nothing is more damaging to the adventurous spirit within a man than a secure

To Henry David Thoreau, nature serves as a reminder to take a break from the fast paced style of life. Thoreau is a transcendentalist writer who isolated himself from society to live a life at his own pace. The title of his work, Where I Lived and What I Lived For, presents the purpose of his writing. Thoreau expresses where he resided and his reasoning for living there. He successfully achieves his purpose through the use of aphorisms and paradox. He begins his essay with direct and simple vocabulary that clearly states his purpose. He “went to the woods” in order “to front only the essential facts of life”. His destination and intentions are clear. His diction represent his way of thought where details are not needed. His use of aphorisms

Thoreau conducted his experiment to understand what it meant to lead a simple life. He wanted to grasp and live a life free of all unnecessary comforts and material attachments. He sought to understand what it meant to take hold of life on a daily basis and experience what it means to be truly alive without any of the conveniences that we take for granted. The “it” that Thoreau refers to is life. He comes to the conclusion that men in reality have no understanding of what “life” is really about or what it is to really live. In stating that men are “in a strange uncertainty about it…”, Thoreau reiterates his conviction that men lead lives on a day-to-day basis and accept good fortune and misfortune without any comprehension of how to truly experience life. Life is rarely uniform, but has ups and downs and is interspersed with evil and good. This uncertainty about our daily lives can lead men to question their circumstances. Depending on their state of mind and their convictions, men attempt to rationalize these uncertainties. Thoreau states that although men

The philosopher Aristotle once wrote, “Happiness is the meaning and the purpose of life, the whole aim and end of human existence.” This famous quote compels people to question the significance of their joy, and whether it truly represents purposeful lives they want to live. Ray Bradbury, a contemporary author, also tackles this question in his book, Fahrenheit 451, which deals heavily with society's view of happiness in the future. Through several main characters, Bradbury portrays the two branches of happiness: one as a lifeless path, heading nowhere, seeking no worry, while the other embraces pure human experience intertwined together to reveal truth and knowledge.

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.

For Thoreau, the escape from society was a way to deeply learn about himself and human nature. He writes, “Every morning was a cheerful invitation to make my life of equal simplicity, and I may say innocence, with Nature herself” (Thoreau 72). This simple way of life allowed Thoreau to analyze himself and tendencies within society. He explains the effects of this solitary life on a person: “In proportion as he simplifies his life, the laws of the universe will appear less complex, and solitude will not be solitude, nor poverty poverty, nor weakness weakness” (253). Thoreau was able to discover flaws in society. He states, “... men establish and conform their daily life of routine and habit every where, which still is built on purely illusory foundations” (78). Unlike Hester and Sethe, the societal norms Thoreau experiences are not painful punishments or dehumanizing treatment. However, the “opinion, and prejudice, and tradition, and delusion, and appearance, that alluvion which covers the globe … through poetry, philosophy and religion” (80), can still have a profound and often negative effect on individuals and society as a whole. Thoreau is able to overcome these societal norms because he separates himself from them. Thoreau explains of humankind, “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

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

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.