Henry David Thoreau's Statement on the Classics in Walden

496 Words1 Page
bulb-icon

Recommended: Thoreau essay

Henry David Thoreau's Statement on the Classics in Walden

In the novel Walden, Henry David Thoreau states that the classics are the noblest recorded thoughts of man. He also believed that the written word is the work of art nearest to life itself. Walden fits this description through many elements in the novel including relevance, universality, and beauty. The novel is a collection of essays Thoreau wrote commenting on his experiment of living in the woods for two years. He lived in a hut off the shore of Walden Pond in Massachusetts between 1845 and 1847. The essays include his encounters with people, animals, and nature along with his philosophies on different subjects.

Though many people do not care for Thoreau's ideas, there is still significance in his work even for the twenty-first century. Escaping technology and moving into a hut is not a simple task for the average American today, however Thoreau's philosophies can still be applied to this century. He believes that you must love your life because that is the only way you will be happy. In his conclusion, Thoreau states, "Love your life, poor as it is. You may perhaps have some pleasant, thrilling, glorious hours, even in a poor-house.(chapter 18, p217-218)" That applies to the people of today as much as the people of the 1800's and will apply to people in the future as well. Thoreau feels that everyone needs to find themselves and figure out what they want out of life.

Thoreau clearly expresses that not everyone should live in the woods as he had done. He attempts to reach everyone on his or her own level which gives the novel universal appeal. He encourages his readers to undertake experiments on their own. There are general comments on life throughout the novel, which can be interpreted by each individual in their own way. Many of his ideas are broad and are not meant to be taken literally. Thoreau states that, "If a man does not keep pace with his companions, perhaps it is because he hears a different drummer. Let him step to the music which he hears, however measured or far away. (chapter 18, p217)" Such an idea can relate to anyone, no matter their age, class, or race. Thoreau also uses the word "we" to put himself on the same level with his audience.

Show More
Related

  • Night Thoreau Spent In Jail Transcendentalism

    924 Words  | 2 Pages

    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

    Read More

  • Rhetorical Strategies In Walden By Henry Thoreau

    376 Words  | 1 Pages

    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.

    Read More

  • Thoreau's Civil Disobedience and Walden

    1527 Words  | 4 Pages

    To conclude, Thoreau believed that people should be ruled by conscience and that people should fight against injustice through non-violence according to “Civil Disobedience.” Besides, he believed that we should simplify our lives and take some time to learn our essence in the nature. Moreover, he deemed that tradition and money were unimportant as he demonstrated in his book, Walden. I suggested that people should learn from Thoreau to live deliberately and spend more time to go to the nature instead of watching television, playing computer games, and among other things, such that we could discover who we were and be endeavored to build foundations on our dreams.

    Read More

  • Thoreau Distinctions

    1536 Words  | 4 Pages

    Thoreau distinguishes what he wishes his life was; he compares what he wants out of life to what he currently has. He says “I did not wish to live what was not life, living is so dear; nor did I wish to practice resignation, unless it was quite necessary.” He makes note of how dear and important life is, and how he wishes to live in a way which he hadn’t been before, by making the most out of the life he has left.

    Read More

  • Problems in Society in Walden by Henry David Thoreau

    345 Words  | 1 Pages

    Many people who happen to fall into the cultural norms find Thoreau's statement to be intimidating. The way they view the world is extremely sheltered they do not choose this, it is jus t the way they are. They have always viewed the world through a screen that filters what they see. This screen is different for each individual depending on his or her cultural background and/or home environment. These factors along with many others create the screen by which they see the world.

    Read More

  • Civil Disobedience In Thoreau's Occupy Wall Street Movement

    1293 Words  | 3 Pages

    He didn 't believe that the world should stop work and live off the land, on the contrary, he believed, “The human dignity, wild life force and freedom were preserved within such a working process. Thoreau believed that labor was not only the activity that could bring material profits, but also a play which make man complete and developed simultaneously” (Ma 384). Thoreau 's work was experiencing nature and living transcendentally in order to share the quality of life that nature provides. We see Thoreau in many aspects of today 's society whether it 's Lisa from The Simpsons, a means of transportation, or political protests, they all follow a Thoreauvian idea of looking at the bigger picture and seeing what really matters. This way of thinking was created because one man decided that society was too mainstream and he moved off to the edge of town and reflected; people these days that do that are referred to as “hipsters” but the influence had to come from somewhere, and that was Henry David Thoreau. A closer reading of Thoreau 's works can put a new perspective on a common thing and provide a new outlook on life. Thoreau was not one to preach rather do something about it, not for the money or the fame but because of his “love of life— reverence for all the life in the

    Read More

  • Exploring Frontiers of Thought in Walden

    1144 Words  | 3 Pages

    In his world-famous thought-provoking novel, Walden, Henry David Thoreau presents his readers with a simple, inspirational guide for living.  Written beside the beautiful Walden pond and completely surrounded by an unencumbered  natural world, Thoreau writes about his own relationship with the beauty that surrounds him.  His book provides an outlet for everyone to learn from his lessons learned in nature, whether they be city-dwellers or his own neighbors.  One of Thoreau's most prominent natural lessons running throughout his novel is that of his deeply rooted sense of himself and his connection with the natural world.  He relates nature and his experiences within it to his personal self rather than society as a whole.  Many times in the novel, Thoreau urges his readers to break away from their societal expectations and to discover for themselves a path that is not necessarily the one most trodden.  He explains that everyone should "be a Columbus to whole new continents and worlds within you, opening new channels, not of trade, but of thought (341)."  Walden inspires its readers to break out of the mold of tradition, away from outwardly imposed expectations, and out of the loyalty to society over loyalty to oneself in order to find truth and self in nature.

    Read More

  • How Is David Thoreau A Transcendentalist?

    1293 Words  | 3 Pages

    Henry David Thoreau is among many other early American transcendentalist thinkers, including Ralph Waldo Emerson. Thoreau wrote many pieces and accomplished much in his lifetime; including the time he spent in the wilderness near the Walden Pond observing only the essential facts of life to further understand life as a whole. Many would quote him for his tremendous contributions to early American thought and his outstanding thoughts, “Even to call him a Transcendentalist is to underplay the carefully observed and circumstantial style of much of his writing and the sense of physical participation on which the style is based,” (Dougherty). One of the many things that Thoreau did and journalized in his famous writing Walden was his adventure from

    Read More

  • Thoreaus Elements of American Romanticism

    1272 Words  | 3 Pages

    Henry David Thoreau pens his book Walden during a revolutionary period of time known as American Romanticism. The literary movement of American Romanticism began roughly between the years of 1830 and 1860. It is believed to be a chapter of time in which those who had been dissatisfied by the Age of Reason were revolting through works of literature. All elements of Romanticism are in sharp, abrupt contrast to those types of ideas such as empirical observation and rationality. An online article describes American Romanticism in the following manner, “They celebrated imagination/intuition versus reason/calculation, spontaneity versus control, subjectivity and metaphysical musing versus objective fact, revolutionary energy versus tradition, individualism versus social conformity, democracy versus monarchy, and so on” (Strickland). In 1845 during that period of time, Thoreau decides to spend two years of his life in an experiment with Mother Nature in a cabin at Walden Pond. He tells exquisite tales of life in natural surroundings in his book, Walden, through a most primitive organic style. Walden is a key work of American Romanticism because of its embedded ideas of solitude, individualism, pantheism and intuition.

    Read More

  • Thoreau Analysis

    1439 Words  | 3 Pages

    According to the statement, “Public opinion is a weak tyrant compared with our own private opinion. What a man thinks of himself, that it is which determines, or rather indicates, his fate,” Thoreau believes that the basis for the success of any person is his/her own individual opinion of himself/herself. Thoreau is the perfect example of his own opinion, based on his time spent living a simple life at Walden Pond. The public had varied opinions of Thoreau’s lifestyle, and Thoreau even addresses some critics in his essay. However, Thoreau himself was very content with his lifestyle, and he believed that his simple lifestyle was far superior compared to the seemingly luxurious lifestyle of men, who actually are in debt and bound to a la...

    Read More

  • Thoreau’s Journey: Problem, Need, Lifestyle, and Revelation

    1286 Words  | 3 Pages

    Walden; Or, Life In The Woods is a self-experiment that provides an ideal opportunity to evaluate the author’s philosophy. The book is an account of Henry David Thoreau’s journey of self-discovery as he attempts to live a life of simplicity and self-reliance in the woods of Massachusetts. His exploration of his two years and two months living in a cabin near Walden Pond is considered a seminal work of early American transcendentalism. Thoreau never explicitly reveals the spiritual truth at the end of his journey. Still, a discerning Christian reader can note the main transcendental themes and ideals that Thoreau demonstrates, separating that which should be applauded from that which should be rejected.

    Read More

  • Emerson's Ideas Of Transcendentalism By Henry David Thoreau

    1112 Words  | 3 Pages

    The core belief was that society, and its organized religion and political parties, contaminates the pureness of the individual. Transcendentalists believe people are at their best when they are truly independent, and self-reliant. In his book “Walden; or Life in The Woods” Thoreau stresses the idea of self-reliance and independence. The first few chapters in Thoreau 's, "Walden; or Life in The Woods" Thoreau’s experiment of living without the government and still maintaining a stable lifestyle is attainable. The first chapter in Thoreau 's, "Walden; or Life in The Woods" is entitled Economy. Thoreau starts off by introducing

    Read More

  • Concept of Transcendentalism in Walden

    625 Words  | 2 Pages

    Walden is written by Henry David Thoreau, an American author, poet, philosopher, and a leading transcendentalist. The Walden is written in 1st person on how the author, Henry David Thoreau, was determined to find out everything he can about human nature. In order to do so, Thoreau moves to the woods because he believes that Society’s Normal concerns like, Money and material goods would block his understanding. Transcendentalism is a philosophy that emphasizes the Importance of the spiritual over the physical. Thoreau’s idea of transcendentalism stressed the importance of nature. Henry David Thoreau uses literary devices such as imagery and metaphors to assist him in getting across his concept of transcendentalism.

    Read More

  • Analysis Of 'Why I Went To The Woods' By Henry David Thoreau

    1404 Words  | 3 Pages

    The main element of “Why I Went to the Woods” is nature and to live without distractions. In order for Thoreau to be able to do this, he went into the woods to be one with nature to make sure he was not missing what was really important. Thoreau presents his point by stating, “I wanted to live deep and suck out the marrow of life, to live so sturdily” (Thoreau 579). Thoreau wanted to live deep within nature, to take in all nature has to offer, and to get a deeper understanding of his own life. We all have an opportunity to have the same tranquility as Thoreau. Nature is one of the greatest gifts that is given to us freely. We could all have a deeper fulfillment by consuming the same peacefulness in our own mind and souls that Thoreau had. The society we live in today is complex and very dependent, opposite of the life that Thoreau had wanted to live. You do not need to have material items to have a fulfilled life, but a fulfilled spirit. We as a society have become greedy and selfish

    Read More

  • Thoreau's Transcendentalism: Impact Beyond Literature

    1456 Words  | 3 Pages

    Henry David Thoreau was a renowned American essayist, poet, and philosopher. He was a simple man who built his life around basic truths (Manzari 1). Ralph Waldo Emerson deeply impacted Thoreau’s viewpoints and philosophies, specifically by introducing him to the Transcendentalists movement. There seems to be no single ideology or set of ideas that entirely characterized Thoreau’s thoughts, but principles encompassing Transcendentalism come closest (Harding and Meyer 122). Spending time in nature and in solitude gave Thoreau an entirely new perspective on life. In fact, his doctrines regarding nature and the impact of the individual on society have transformed realms of political, social and literary history. Politically and socially, Thoreau’s

    Read More

More about Henry David Thoreau's Statement on the Classics in Walden

Open Document