The Art of the Essayist
"Commerce is unexpectedly confident and serene, alert, adventurous and unwearied." (84) Through the personification of commerce Thoreau is able to show that commercefluctuates in the same manner as humanity. The adjectives he uses to describe commerceshow that commerce has some of the same tendencies as humans, and Thoreau believesthat it is these tendencies that make commerce so successful."who keeps himself more secret than ever did Goffe or Whalley." (96) Thoreau is making a historical allusion to William Goffe and Edward Whalley whowere English regicides during the English civil war. They were signers of the deathwarrant for Charles I then after his Restoration in 1660 they fled to America for a life ofseclusion in Hadley, Massachusetts. The use of this allusion contributes to Thoreau's stylebecause it expresses the remarkable secrecy and remoteness of the old settler's life. Thisalso shows the contrasts in this man because Thoreau says he is "most wise andhumorous" (96) but also discusses his almost anti-social tendencies."speech is for the convenience of those who
Chapter 9: The VillageMetonymy"perhaps my body would find its way home if its master should forsake it. He also says, " It is remarkable how long men will believe in the bottomlessness ofa pond without taking the trouble to sound it. "(191) In this passage Thoreau tells the reader that he is using the bottomlessness of thepond as a metaphor for society. Thoreau believes that "big thoughts in big words" (98)have to "run a course or two"(98) before comprehension is truly possible. " (221) For Thoreau, life may be similar to the water in the river, because it flows overanything in its path, it babbles or communicates with everything it meets, follows manydifferent directions, continually has something to keep it connected, or on atranscendental level, it would have no clear beginning or end. " "Master"logically connects to Thoreau's mind or intuition. This is aparadox because life is impossible if one is dead. Thoreau uses this simile toachieve a philosophic effect and as the beginning of a metaphor. This metaphorgives the effect that people often find themselves in unexpected situations, and they maynever suspect their adversary to "play" so well. are hard of hearing" (98) In this hyperbole Thoreau is exaggerating his proposition that silence and space areeffective tools for communication. Thoreau has no difficulty using theword "I" in other parts of Walden , but he uses "master" here because in this situation hismind is separate from his body. Life has become so trivial that, in effect, any hopeof a "real," meaningful life is dead. The exaggeration that speech is aconvenience for the hard of hearing is a hyperbole because that would be an impossiblesituation. Chapter 19: ConclusionParadox"the dead dry life of society" (221) Thoreau creates a paradox by using the adjective "dead" to describe life. Chapter 12: Brute NeighborsMetaphor"Suddenly your adversary's checker disappears beneath the board, and the problem is toplace yours nearest to where his will appear again.
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Acceptance Essays
