Allusions and References in Walden to the Greek God Antaeus
Like many great authors, both past and present, Henry David Thoreau uses literary techniques not limited to Greek mythological allusions. Throughout his masterpiece, Walden, mythological allusions are made from his ideas of life and his thoughts about his present state of the environment. Thoreau uses a mythological allusion when he states that, “They [the beans] attached me to the earth, and so I got strength like Antaeus.” (Thoreau, 1849) Although Thoreau wrote Walden many centuries after the Greek civilization had been wiped out, the historical use of strength as exemplified in the myth of Antaeus drives many themes throughout Walden.
The giant Antaeus was the child of two great gods. His mother was Gaia, goddess of mother earth, and his father was Poseidon, god of the sea. (Encyclopedia Mythica, 1) Antaeus was said to be the strongest of all the gods. He was King of Lydia and greatly renowned as a great wrestler. As the myth states, Antaeus defeated and killed all who vainly tried to upscale him. It was said that he gained more and more strength every time he touched his mother,-the earth- for she supplied him with never ending strength. Although undefeated for years, Hercules finally was able to defeat him. Hercules knew his strength was contact with the earth. He proceeded to engage in a battle with the undefeated giant. Hercules won the fight by lifting him off the ground, holding him by the neck and strangled the great Antaeus to death. Antaeus couldn’t regain his strength because he had lost contact with the ground- the source of his replenishing strength. (Eddie, 1) Thoreau uses the idea of never ending strength that is derived from the earth throughout Walden.
The earth is symbol of strength throughout the novel. An example of the strength of the earth appears in the first chapter where Thoreau is explaining why he wants to get away from every-day life and live off the land. He decides to live with only the basic necessities of life: clothing shelter, and food. (Thoreau, 1778-1781) All these things he generated with the direct help and strength of the land. He grows his own food and builds a house out of natural elements from the forest. It is the strength of the earth that allows him to rely solely on the terrain.
Thoreau uses figurative language to show how people stress about many problems in their lives and that it makes their lives difficult. For example, he states “Let us spend one day as deliberately as nature, and not be thrown off the track by every nutshell and mosquito’s wing that falls on the rails.” He compares nutshell and mosquito to irritating problems we have that we get thrown off by. He wants us to take all the junk that we don’t need out of us and focus more on living life without stress. In addition, he also mentions “In the midst of this chopping sea of civilized life, such are the clouds and storms and quicksands and thousand-and-one items to be allowed for that a man has to live.” In this text, Thoreau uses a huge metaphor to explain
As Henry is working for Waldo, he will take care of Edward who’s his son. After doing so one day, Henry is placed a very uncomfortable situation where Edward asks his mother Lydian if Henry could be his new father. Lydian then starts to want Henry gone but wants to do so by finding him a nice woman to settle down with. She tells him that and he says “you want to be a matchmaker, Lydian? Find me something innocent and uncomplicated. A shrub-oak. A cloud. A leaf lost in the snow” (Lawrence and Lee 78). By saying this Henry’s showing how he favors nature and its beauty. Adding to that, the teachings that Henrys share with others show the importance of nature. This is seen when Henry is trying to get Emily to see the fact that there’s more to Transcendentalism than being a tree-hugger and to look at nature to see its beauty. He explains this to her by telling her “what is a house if you haven’t got a tolerable planet to put it on? Did you know that trees cry out in pain when they’re cut? I’ve heard them” (Lawrence and Lee 34). With this being said, Henrys explaining that in order to have a nice place to live, nature has to be taken care of. Overall, The Night Thoreau Spent In Jail focuses on the importance of
Stacy notes that this passage is related to "a person getting a sense of their self in relation to Nature." The Web material describes Thoreau’s practice of linking landscape and identity.
This excerpt from "Walden" by Henry D. Thoreau uses the literary element of word choice to express the importance of living simply and taking life slow. He uses bold and eloquent words to evoke a sense of peace and relaxation. He stresses the importance of living a life without unnecessary anxiety, for it causes nothing but stress. To understand and appreciate what is truly wonderful in life, we must forgo our rushing mindsets
Throughout “Where I Lived and What I Lived for”, Thoreau uses allusion to evoke pathos. The first allusion Thoreau uses in “Where I Lived and What I Lived For” is, “...fable tells us that we were long ago changed into men; like pygmies we fight with cranes...” (page 276).
Thoreau adopts an “I” in Walden as a persona, as a way to question different ways of living, and propose different concepts to his readers. His “I” is akin to a Dickinson poem, becoming the voice that guides the readers, but might not necessarily have been shared by the author himself. Schulz attempts to defame Thoreau literary persona by criticizing the fictional aspects of the story. “Read charitably, it is a kind of semi-fictional extended meditation featuring a character named Henry David Thoreau” (Pond Scum). Schulz fails to make the distinction between Thoreau the man and Thoreau the literary character. The “I” in the story is another side of Thoreau that he used to explore different aspects of the world. Thoreau was a vegetarian that ate meat, and a pacifist that endorsed violence. He questioned the concepts that have become associated with his name. Donovan Hahn of the New Republic says that Thoreau thought of Walden “as a poem...not nonfiction,” which is a genre and label that did not yet exist. Due to not being able to realize the split between Thoreau the man and his persona, Schulz misinterprets Thoreau’s investigation of life as that of a
Walden, J Thomas . "Literary Analysis the Ideal of Individualism in Henry David Thoreau’s Walden." Humanities. Humanities, n.d. Web. 06 Dec. 2013.
As a humble farmer Wang Lung always pay his respects to the figures of the Earth god and his mistress when he passes. Wang Lung’s love for the earth is the chief driving force in his life. It is also the foundation of his family and the one he turns to when he has troubles. Land is a sign and a symbol to Wang Lung.
Henry Thoreau uses specific rhetorical strategies in Walden to emanate his attitude towards life. With the use of many strategies Thoreau shows that life should be centered around Nature. People live their lives not ever taking a second glance of what Nature does and has done for humanity and Thoreau is trying to prove his point. Humanity owes Nature everything for without it humans would be nothing.
E. B. White’s most important literary influence was Henry David Thoreau, the author of “Walden: Or, Life In The Woods” a...
Henry David Thoreau wanted to express his thoughts to the world. He did so by writing Walden a book that gives insights on the world from Thoreau’s point of view. “Walden” gives valuable advice in all types of fields. It shows aspects of Thoreau’s personality and how he views the world. To the best of my knowledge, Henry has many characteristics that he expressed in this book. Most of what he wrote was impressive. Honestly, I was extremely enthusiastic about reading this. Initially, I thought it would be a book like Great Expectations. But my expectations were wrong. I did not think I would actually learn things. Surprisingly, it sparked motivation in me. I wanted to be more in touch with nature. It seemed like Henry David Thoreau had everything figured out. He was calm and thoughtful and he seemed to look at life in a different way. Being in solitude in nature must really get you in touch with your inner self. It allows you to look at your flaws and look at your talents. I was greatly intrigued by every page of Walden.
Earth By earth they mean dryland and the ground, which consists of soil, dirt and rocks. The earth signifies form, structure, security and stability. Mother Earth is the ancient spiritual symbol which gave us life and formed all living things (plants, animals, etc.). Earth is what nurtures life, its always stable, solid and almost unchanged.
When thinking about the transcendental period and/or about individuals reaching out and submerging themselves in nature, Henry David Thoreau and his book, Walden, are the first things that come to mind. Unknown to many, there are plenty of people who have braved the environment and called it their home during the past twenty years, for example: Chris McCandless and Richard Proenneke. Before diving into who the “modern Thoreaus” are, one must venture back and explore the footprint created by Henry Thoreau.
Hercules was the strongest of all the heroes and of course a possessor of superhuman strength. Hercules was an excellence marksman, and also a champion wrestler who once wrestled the great god Zeus to a draw! It is said that Hercules made the god of the sea Poseidon give way in battle, and wounded Ares the god of war in another battle. Hercules could toss boulders around like pebbles and move mountains that got in the way of his cattle. The possessor of superhuman strength also relieved the Titan Atlas of the burden of holding up the heavens. Like his strength Hercules’s bravery showed tremendously in times of need.
Henry David Thoreau, a transcendentalist, moved to the woods to be with nature because he desired to live without the interference of society. Walden, a novel written by Thoreau follows his experiences living in the woods, and consequently, speaks of what he had learned from nature- how to truly live. One of the major tenets of transcendentalism is that the splendors of nature inspire people, Thoreau, takes the tenant to heart as seen through his desire to "learn what it [nature] had to teach" and to "front only the essential facts of life" (Thoreau 23). Thoreau wants to live as if he is nature; every action has a purpose and time is not "frittered away by detail" (Thoreau 35). While being surrounded by nature, he sees how the materialism of