Walden Economy Summary

Instead, Thoreau built a simple but efficient cabin and furnished it with the basic necessity of a bed, table, chairs and desk. He also didn't waste his time and energy trying to keep up with the latest fashions; he wore comfortable and long lasting clothes. Thoreau explained to his readers that this simplistic way of life decreased the dreariness of every day life and left more time to explore one's meaning of life and his role in the world. Freeing oneself from the economic race, Thoreau argued, allowed for individual to be inspired by nature and focus on the genuine concerns of life.

These hypocritical lines make the tone appear to be jealous or that he's hard to please materialistically. The tone in these statements become more clear in the final paragraph when he says that his favorite "room" is the woods in his backyard. The tone becomes more clear that he was not jealous or hard to please, but he was quite the opposite. He didn't want any possessions, or larger rooms inside of his house. Thoreau wanted to be able to have a distant but close conversation in the comfort of his

Thoreau believed it was best to live a simple life claiming,’’I wanted to live deep and suck out all the marrow of life’’ (par. 1). He wanted to get the most out of life and make sure he was truly living. Although he lived in the woods he went to Harvard University’s library to check out books. Many people wonder how could you

Thoreau wants people to know that they are allowed to live life simply. They are allowed to wake and fast or breakfast, they are allowed to let company come and go, they are allowed to let the bells ring and the children cry. People should ignore what other people think, or want and focus on what they think, or want. Thoreau wants people to elude the little things and focus on the bigger, simpler picture for themselves.

The point of the essay is to encourage the reader to act upon their opinions. Thoreau believes that simply having an opinion or casting a vote doesn’t cause change in the world, so it is important that people take the necessary steps to fix the problems they face as a society.

In the end, much of Henry David Thoreau’s motivation for coming to Walden Pond was for the betterment of the self. Indeed, this desire for personal betterment could be boiled down to what I’ve surmised to be the three things Thoreau valued more than anything else. Of course, these three values, self-discipline, self-reliance, and self-reflection are themselves a part of the man’s own view that everyone should try their hardest to live deliberately. Though his value system seems constrained and stiff, Thoreau spends almost the entirety of the book living out these values, and finding purpose and fulfillment in doing so.

Thoreau implies that if one is to live happily they must let go of all their obligations and responsibilities in favor of a simple life. For the most part, his suggestions are for one’s own happiness instead of others’ happiness. He does not take into account if the “accounts” that people have are for others instead of themselves. Thoreau assumes that everyone is living a life where they have no dependents and all the obligations they have taken upon themselves are for their own

We practice the Thoreauvian principle of unnecessary possessions. Thoreau pointed out that the average Concord laborer worked ten or fifteen years of his life just to have a roof over his head (Skinner,

The main message of Thoreau’s “Walden” is that humans need to stop living so materialistic and they need to rely more on what is really important in life like nature. When Thoreau says “We must learn to reawaken and keep ourselves awake, not by mechanical aids, but by an infinite expectation of the dawn, which does not forsake us in our soundest sleep.” he is implying that humans and society need to wake up and see that nature is more significant than materialistic elements. I agree with Thoreau because humans need to praise nature more and not praise materialistic items as much as we do, but I also disagree with him because materialism is what makes us individuals and unique. People need items that make them individuals, items that define them, items that tell people a story about them.

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

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.

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.

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

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.

Therefore, Thoreau was ahead of his time as historians place the golden age of free thought from 1875 to 1914. This idea of personal freedom was not popular at the time “Walden” was only a marginal success. Afterward, in the Civil Rights moment the “Walden” became very popular with young Americans. The “Walden” inspired theses’ Americans to obtain real freedom with many examples. “I see young men, my townsmen, whose misfortune it is to have inherited farms, houses, barns, cattle, and farming tools; for these are more easily acquired than got rid of.” At the time most, parents expected their sons to take over the farm after the father became feeble. Therefore, most men were forced to work the farm instead of pursuing what they wanted. Instead a man becomes a machine that has no freedom. Therefore, have a feeling that his only function was to replace the old machine before him. “The mass of men lead lives of quiet desperation” Technologies today give us the illusion of heightened freedom. In the United States, we can obtain every material item we desire. Even though we still have the highest rate of anxiety disorders and depression in the world. Thoreau explains “Rather than love, than money, than fame, give me truth.” To have true freedom and happiness you must face your demons. As material earnings can’t cover up your inner truth. Many Americans can’t handle the truth and this why we live a life of desperation. Thoreau