The Book Walden by Henry David Thoreau is not a novel, a narrative poem, or a play; there is no clear story line, and no plot line. Nor is it an autobiography, although much of it is based on Thoreau’s life at Walden Pond. The question of its structure is it’s a diary of Thoreau’s life at Walden. Walden is a work of many contradictions, a work that seems to make the reader feel lost. New Hampshire is the sight of Walden Pond where Henry David Thoreau spent two years of his life. His goal was to rethink his life and reflect on society. It was a grand aim, but having read his book I can honestly say he does both justice. Walden is an extremely personal account of his day-to-day life around the pond and, more importantly, the thoughts behind them. As stated by Thoreau, the theme of Walden is self-realization and self-fulfillment. Self-actualization is attained through human unity with nature. Every aspect of Walden is focused on this idea.
In Walden by Henry David Thoreau, Thoreau describes what is wrong with the American culture and society and how isolation can make the human pure. He believes that the soul needs to be whipped clean in order to learn the real meaning of life and be able to take pleasu
. . .
The American society is really overwhelmed with material things and they often seem to think that is what matters most. The daily and seasonal variations in the pond and surrounding environment are similar to the variety of and changes in Thoreau's emotional state at the time. Sometimes while he was away, visitors would come to his house and relax. Once we do this we can experience true “reality” and not what society has handed us to believe in. Personally I haven’t spent too much time unaccompanied with mother nature to realize the things that Thoreau did at Walden pond but I bet if I went out in the woods and settled there until I got bored to death I would start to appreciate the awe that Thoreau felt when he was examining the ice bubbles and listening to the animals. Personally I feel that Thoreau was a very intelligent man who thought in a way that others didn’t, but I don’t agree with a lot that he has to say and how to go about living life. If he didn't live so simply, he could never leave his home unlocked without peace of mind. Then many problems of the world would not exist. He showed the important thing is to live peacefully not minding other's business. His period of depression and doubt occurred during the winter when the pond was frozen and nature was silenced, and his joy and exultation was reflected in the thawing of the lake and growth of new life in the spring. "The cost of a thing," he reasoned, "is the amount of what I will call life which is required to be exchanged for it, immediately or in the long run. Thoreau calls for an "ideological revolution to simplification" in our lives. During the readings, Thoreau's choice of financial imagery demonstrates how tremendously our vision of life is subjected by commercial values.
Approximate Word count =
1245
Approximate Pages =
5 (250 words per page double spaced)
Simply subscribe to view this paper, and 100,000 others.
| CREDIT CARD |
ONLINE CHECK |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
JOIN BY PHONE
|
|
|
