Analysis Of Henry David Thoreau's Essay Where I Lived For

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Recommended: Thoreau’s understanding of nature and human life

Through the essay “Where I Lived and What I Lived for,” Henry David Thoreau expresses his interest of living life to its maximum capacity by simplifying its intricacy. Thoreau’s idea-“Simplicity, simplicity, simplicity! I say, let your affairs be as two or three, and not a hundred or a thousand; instead of a million count half a dozen, and keep your accounts on your thumb nail.”-can occur when individuals are independent and making their own choices, but dependents cannot always control their affairs, and they are as simplified as their elders allow them.
In Thoreau’s essay, he focuses his attention on simplifying individuals who have the power to make a change in their life. Independents can “instead of three meals a day, if it be necessary eat but one” (11). By eating one meal a day instead of three, individuals are able to simplify their life. However, children are not given permission to only eat one meal a day. Even if one meal per day is enough, parents would not let them. Children eat what their parents want them to eat, and they could not make that change until they are an adult. Also, Thoreau’s idea of the life individuals are living can sometimes seem like a bottomless pit. The life individuals are supposed to live …show more content…

Thoreau gives many examples in his essay that individuals have complicated lives that need fewer meals or affairs. A complicated life can be resolved with simplicity but not for children. Also, I do not have a choice whether or not I go to college, but my parents have many options that lead to a simplistic life. I agree with Thoreau that simplicity is possible, and it should be sought after, but children or young adults cannot make their life simplistic, so the essay does not provide enough clarity into the world of

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