Thoreau Materialism

Henry David Thoreau, born in 1817, is the author of Civil Disobedience, an essay the highlights the importance of individualism and maintaining autonomy within a society that strongly favor majority rule. In 2017, especially within the past election, this is of major significance. In his essay, Thoreau focusses on many ideas, some of the most prevalent being, standing up for what one believes is wrong, no matter the consequences, along with the idea that with the right leaders government can work.

An American Author, Transcendentalist and tax resister, Henry David Thoreau was born in Concord Massachusetts, and lived there most of his life.  He was opposed to many of the things that went on in our society and debated many issues in his life. Two of these major issues are , the Mexican American War and the implement of Slavery in our society. This was the reason for many of his writings include “Slavery in Massachusetts” and “Civil Disobedience” where he wrote about his principles and views against the U.S government and their involvement in the Mexican American War and the evil of Slavery. Thoreau opposed to these because they promote unjust government practices which he was strongly against.

After reading Ralph Waldo Emerson’s “The American Scholar,” I can see many similarities between his ideas and the themes of Henry David Thoreau’s writings. Thoreau embodies Emerson’s idea of the American Scholar in several ways.

I, Henry David Thoreau, have found myself aggrieved upon your article, Pond Scum, that questions my beliefs of nature and my way of life. You have proclaimed statements that do not fit me so, such as being sanctimonious, hypocritical, and misanthropic; for those reasons, you think I should not be as admired as I am today. However, I refuse to subject to those claims because my teachings and beliefs are all in the name of the divinity of nature. There is much more to this world than our materialistic values and complex lifestyle, and if we were just able to open our eyes and look deep within, then you as well shall be able to understand my teachings.

Society today is in an era of new innovations and technology with futuristic gadgets and modern, scientific thinking. People are now relying on machines to do everything for them. They are starting to get lazy and creating alternative machines to perform other tasks. Transcendentalists believe that humanity is at its’ best when it is independent. Inventions like the air conditioner and the microwave create a sort of barrier that separates people from their essence of humanity. Henry David Thoreau’s “Excerpt from Walden” shows how it is better to rely on oneself rather than mere electronic devices.

Born in 1817, in Concord, Henry David Thoreau became one of the greatest writers among the American Renaissance. Thoreau based his whole philosophy on the fact that man needed to get rid of material things in order to be an individual. An exquisitely educated man, Thoreau went to Harvard, which placed heavy emphasis on the classics. Thoreau studied a curriculum that included grammar and composition, mathematics, English, history, and various philosophies. He also spoke fluently in Italian, French, German, and Spanish.

In the early 19th century transcendentalism became a philosophical movement that arose the ideas of understanding life in the simplest of terms. From Thoreau to Emerson, they expressed the ideas of nonconforming from society in order to live in simplicity. Although transcendentalist ideas tend to come and go, society alters the appeal as the influence of transcendentalism occurs in many forms today.

Civil Disobedience is defined as the refusal to comply with certain laws or to pay taxes and fines, as a peaceful form of political protest. To several governments and even some citizens, civil disobedience can be seen as a bad way of handling situations. To others, it is just a way of expressing how they feel about decisions the government make and it makes them feel as though they have a voice in how the decisions are mad. In the essay, “Civil Disobedience,” by Henry David Thoreau, there are several connections made to how the people should react to the government “controlling” them and what should be done about it. “Civil Disobedience” also makes connections to the article, Faced With a Fracking Giant, This Small Town Legalized Civil Disobedience. In both of these forms of writing, they discuss the main idea of civil disobedience and the impacts it may have on the government and the people as a whole.

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

seemed so early to require at once gave the preference to this recess among the pines,

American author Henry David Thoreau was inspired by nature conservation. He wrote his book Walden between 1845 and 1847, while living in a tiny cabin on the shores of Walden Pond, a glacial lake within Walden Woods. He felt that every town needed a primitive forest—its very own natural paradise in which residents could enjoy nature.

Thoreau was a die hard individualist who consciously strove to stand apart from the crowd. Thoreau’s individualism was a way of life more than it was a political outlook. His ideas on individualism have had a lasting influence on humanity, but as for Thoreau himself the way he lived his own life was more important than the manner in which he influenced the world. Thoreau developed a philosophy around his own way of living. It was in pursuit of this philosophy of life that he went to live in a secluded cabin for two years, and to make a stand in defence of individual conscience by refusing to pay taxes. He believed that if he paid his tax he would be actively supporting negro slavery and the conduct of the Mexican war. The quote by Thoreau,

Idealism and Existentialism consolidate together in Henry David Thoreau’s work, Walking. His ethic is no other than of a man that has come to his full- senses, seeing the world from the most narrow space that society have to offer, he expanded that space and went into a journey that every man should take, a journey of self-discovery and understanding of nature.

Thoreau, fascinated by technology, saw a series of inventions that would radically change the world. In the mid-nineteenth century he saw the invention of the power loom, railroad and the telegraph, the industrial revolution. In Thoreau’s view, technology provoked an excitement that was counterproductive because it served as a distraction from the important questions of life. “Perhaps we are led oftener by the love of novelty, and a regard for the opinions of men, in procuring it, than by a true utility.” (Walden, 21). “Our inventions are wont to be pretty toys, which distracted our attention from serious things. They are but improved means to an unimproved end, an end which it was already but too easy to arrive at; as railroads lead to Boston or New York. We are in great haste to construct a magnetic telegraph from Maine to Texas; but Maine and Texas; it may be, have nothing important to communicate.” (Thoreau Walden, 52)

Reading through his journal, it seems that Thoreau is most committed to his relationship with Nature. Although he is not quite a hermit, it is a rarity for him to spend a significant amount of time in the company of other people. Moreover, when Thoreau reflects upon these interactions in writing, he describes them as being tedious and unfulfilling. Contrastingly, over the course of my life I have found that interactions with other people provide my greatest sense of fulfillment and happiness. I believe that an essential ingredient to living a gratifying life is to try to positively color someone else’s experience. To some degree I believe that Thoreau also felt this way because of his intensions of being a teacher, as well as his efforts in