Walden by Henry David Thoreau

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

The excerpt Walden, by Henry David Thoreau, is a piece that explores the purpose of life, especially if it isn 't lived to the fullest. Thoreau starts by sharing the meaning and value of life. His idea of his personal achievement was to live life and die with a sense of peace and knowledge that he did not waste a single moment. He wanted to live life while being true to himself regardless of whether he would find life to be cruel or a wonderful place, and this was a risk he was willing to take. In a modern sense we are intrigued by technology. Although those in favor of technology may say that the new devices and applications do not affect human interaction and our way of living we are, are unable to see that, even in a room filled with people, there is an isolation barrier and an inability to live life to the fullest.

Also, individuals begin to show a higher appreciation for literature if it relates to their own life in ways they never realized. Often times this is based upon the history of characters within the story. As readers determine the significance of each character, the purpose of analysis becomes more useful. In support of this, Thoreau’s dominant belief in self-exploration and spiritual awareness is conveyed in a such a way that the reader is influenced to change their own life. Similarly, the recurring concept of self-reliance is the principle theme indicating that independence is more valuable than the alternative. In this way, Thoreau controls his perceptions about life. Ultimately, discovering the unique meaning behind Thoreau’s work can increase one’s appreciation for literature. From the beginning of the story, the underlying importance of self-reliance is expressed through setting and

The first strategy used by Thoreau is imagery that makes an ethos appeal, meant to plead to the reader’s conscience, ethics, morals, standards, and values. In this passage, Thoreau relates life to how free and undeterred Nature can be. He wants humans to live life without fearing the small things and just thrive inside the big picture. This passage uses Thoreau’s ability to persuade to appeal to the reader’s conscience, “Let us spend one day as

It’s the end of the school day. I finally breathe and release myself of the stress and the frustration of a normal school day. I sit on the benches outside and wait for my ride. With technology gone and no people to talk to, I just sit still. The evergreen trees gently move in some of the final gusts of the summer breeze. And as I’m looking at life’s beauty and as thoughts swim through my brain, I become frightened. Because, I have never thought of life, as a whole, so profoundly. It transforms into satisfaction. Without distractions, I sit with my thoughts and world’s alluring nature. As I relive this moment in my mind, I can’t help but think of Henry David Thoreau. How he just sometimes sat and took in everything, and absorbed everything

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

In order to be heard by the government policies speak up for yourself. Speak up and let it be known what you want when you feel it’s right. “Let every man make known what of government would command his respect”. Just like what Thoreau believed to speak up and stand up for your voices to be heard. Thoreau was a man that believed that the government shouldn't be in your life business. Also a man that believed in how he could live by himself in nature and escaped from society. He wanted to be an independent person living a peaceful harmony and nature in which he focused the most on. Life was a waste of time if you rushing it in which he shows in “Walden”. “Lead lives of quiet desperation” meaning his life by living in a simple lifestyle was bringing

Thoreau takes great pains to describe each character, even down to the farmer’s “wrinkled, sibyl-like, cone-headed”[3] infant in chapter 10, “Baker Farm”. He makes sure his readers understand the unique attributes of each individual in his experiences. As Thoreau once said, “It is what a man thinks of himself that really determines his fate.”

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

Into the Wild, a book about a man who ran away from childhood problems and decided to walk into the wilderness by himself after getting rid of all of his materialistic items like his car and money, and Walden, a book about a man who ran towards simplicity and solitude to understand what life was really about, are two incredible. The stories are timeless and will still be talked about in fifty years. The protagonists, Thoreau and Chris, had their differences and similarities. A big difference between them is their motives for leaving the city and going into the wilderness; Thoreau wanted to live life to the fullest, while Chris wanted to leave the problems at home. Both Chris and Thoreau rejected materialism, and they both respected animals.

Firstly, this paper intents on addressing the similarities between Carson's and Thoreau's works. As seen rather clearly in Walden, Thoreau's primary aim is to persuade his audience. In the very first line of the chapter, he states, "I went to the woods because I wished to live deliberately". Without hesitation, Thoreau launches into his views of human society and his frank reasons to encourage his audience to move into nature. Correspondingly, Carson weaves a long and mystical tale that leads into an argument made to persuade. The potency of these two pieces relies on another similarity: the use of pathos. Both Walden and "A Fable for Tomorrow" overflow with pathos, or the appeal to the audience's emotions. In Walden, Thoreau writes, "Our life is frittered away by detail". Phrases like these, found throughout the chapter, cause the audience to feel guilty about how they currently live. This feeling causes them to wish for the happy ending or epiphanies that Thoreau is offering, making his argument successful. In "A Fable for Tomorrow", Carson states, "There had been several sudden and unexplained deaths,… among children, who would be stricken suddenly while at play and die within a few hours". This extreme image is unsettling and proves that the work portrays a strong message.

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 todays society we have a lot of comforts that we take for granted. Our daily lives are filled with plethora of gadgets, services, and machines that make our lives easier. Back in the mid 19th century there where not as many comforts as we have today. However, you would still have given up luxuries, if you decided to go live in a cabin in the woods. Henry D. Thoreau did just this when he built a house on the shores of Walden Pond. I believe that he did this to define the limits of his own strengths and connect with nature. This has made me come to reflect on what consequences do modern comforts have on our understanding of ourselves, and if we are out of touch with nature. My theory is that there are comforts that in

Henry David Thoreau, author of “Civil Disobedience” and Walden, has become one of the most influential authors of all time in the eyes of many. Though some might be led to believe his essays and writings, including “Where I Lived, and What I lived For”, make him a down to earth and even rugged author, as he spent some of his life in the forest. However, his life in the woods was not one of heavy duty work and he often was supported with objects and material possessions, contrary to what many of his essays describe. Although some might think of him as a cheater or a liar, Thoreau’s conflicting lifestyles prove him to be a literary genius as he successfully dictates a lifestyle he himself does not take part in throughout paragraphs one