Word Choice In Henry D. Thoreau's 'Walden'

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

The use of word choice in this passage helps express the idea that life should be taken slow, and we should have no anxieties. The author writes: ". . .I wanted to live deep and suck out all the marrow of life, to live so sturdily and [simply] as to put to rout all that was not life, to cut a broad [strip] and shave close, to drive life into a corner, and reduce

it to its lowest terms.

. ." (lines 5-7). In this, he tries to begin to explain that in order to truly live the fullest life possible, one must live simply; literally "driv[ing] life into a corner, and reduc[ing] it to its lowest terms" is the only way to achieve fullness. Later, he also 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. Let us rise early and fast, or break fast, gently and without [disturbance]; let company come and let company go, let the bells ring and the children cry. . ." (lines 13-16). In this, he expresses that one should not let the daily disturbances of life affect oneself. Life should be lived with litle disturbance, and even such disturbances should not be taken as seriously. In choosing to give examples, he shows just how many things go on that one can be pestered with, and that one should choose to ignore them and let them pass by. He also states: "Let us settle ourselves, and work and wedge our feet downward through the mud

and slush of opinion, and prejudice, and tradition, and delusion and appearance, that [flood] which covers the globe. . . till we come to a hard bottom and rocks in place, which we can call reality. . ." (lines 22-26). With this, he tells the reader that one must push through the varying opinions that flood one's everyday life-- by, from what has already been stated, living a simple life--, in order to reach a true and undistorted reality. His choice to word it as passionately as he did continues to exemplify that life as others live is not full of joy, but rather is full of hate and disgust.

Through several examples, Thoreau uses the literary element of word choice to both evoke passionate opinions and stress the importance of living a simple life.