Walden by Henry Thoreau - Essay Example

? Walden by Thoreau Introduction The book by Henry Thoreau, Walden reveals the experimentation in individual autonomy and self dependence. The reading of the book takes one into the depth of Thoreau’s twenty six months sojourns where the author begins and ends his narrative in the month of spring. The book takes one into the lap of nature at the Walden Pond where the author spent 26 months of his life in the unity of nature and humanity and divinity. The book is a way by which the author shares his discoveries- the self discovery, the discovery of his inner being and the discovery of a way by which life can be led, with his reader. The author harps on the self sufficiency while penning down the book which is clearly evident from the lines: “There is no odor so bad as that which arises from the goodness tainted. It is human, it is divine, carrion. If I knew for a certainty that a man was coming to my house with the conscious design of doing me good, I should run to my life. No- in this case I would rather suffer evil the natural way.” (Thoreau) The paper attempts to analyze Walden with a critical perspective. Once the reader starts reading the book he/she is acquainted with the knowledge of what made the author reside in a cabin made by him by the Walden Pond. The author feels that most of the people in this world spend their time in “mere ignorance and mistakes” (Thoreau) where the quest is only for acquiring luxuries. The author feels that the labor is wasted “from excessive toil” where man fails to acquire the “true integrity”. (Thoreau) But the author makes it clear that he was not a hermit who wanted to spend the time in the nature zealot but he was guided by a set of philosophical set of ideas. The reading of the book reveals the effort of the author in self discovery which was an experiment to learn how to live life. The author approach of life is that to live free and uncommitted as he is of the opinion that “It makes but little difference whether you are committed to a farm or the county jail”. (Thoreau) He makes a difference between the mortal and the immortal by saying “In accumulating property for ourselves or our posterity, in founding a family or a state, or acquiring fame even, we are mortal; but in dealing with truth we are immortal” (Thoreau). The reading of the book reveals the author’s education from the nature when he says “I had more than ever come within the influence of those books which circulate round the world, whose sentences were first written on bark, and are now merely copied from time to time on to the linen paper” (Thoreau) The book reveals the transcendentalism of the author where he emphasizes on the beauty of the nature by describing the sides of the path being adorned by “the sand cherry with its delicate flowers”. (Thoreau) The sounds of the nature like the bird chirping make the author feel the harmony and pleasure. The author perfectly enjoys his “strange liberty” (Thoreau) The description of the nature by the author reveals the perfect harmony and joy the author is experiencing. One may be of the opinion that the books deals with the author’s opinion against the modern life settlement and the luxurious life one spends, “I see young men, my townsmen, whose misfortune it is to have inherited farms, houses, barns, cattle and farming tool” or the authors explanation of the beauty of nature while he explains the “strange liberty of nature” (Thoreau), but reading of the complete book would reveal that the book is all about individuality, about leading the life one wants without following the conventions, “The life in us is like the water in the river”. (Thoreau) The book needs a thorough reading and understanding of the reader and reassessing is required as the narrative style is difficult. The initial reading of the book reveals the sarcasm and the wit of the author where he talks about the “frivolous” (Thoreau) nature of the human kind. The book focuses on the theory of simple living by man where he would not had to work and explains on how he went on to built a house by the bank of the river Walden at the “adobe in the woods”. (Thoreau) According to Ira Brooker, Thoreau is the first American who completely developed the idea of ‘get away from all’ into a clear thinking of life in his work “Walden”. The vision of one’s fulfillment by solitude is an accepted model for harmonious existence of man. But Brooker disagrees with the aspects of experimentation. Louise Westling accuses Thoreau of “creating a sentimental stance toward the land and its creatures that masked and simultaneously erased the conquest and destruction of the wild continent” (Brooker, 138). According to Brooker, Walden was much more industrialized in the 1840s which has not been mentioned by Thoreau which also implies he was not that secluded from civilized world and that does implies Thoreau’s tendency towards romanticism. Though he does not ignore the existence of the ravages of the industrialization but he mentions of the railroads fearfully. The critic points out that “the general tone of Walden is not a hazy tribute to Nature as it was, but an attempt to record what exactly America was suffering in the name of expansion.” (Brooker, 138) The critic points out that the real problem in the book is the writing pattern which is unwitting. Though the critic goes on to say the work is unwitting but there are several instances where the author has demonstrated his wit and sarcasm like where he talks about the talks about the mass of men who is leading the life of desperation and when he tries to come out of it the author describes it as “What is called resignation is confirmed desperation.” (Thoreau) The critic says that Walden does not necessarily points out the necessity of balance between the nature and the power of man by describing himself as “partly leaves and vegetable mould.” (Thoreau). Brooker is of the opinion that the writing style in Walden reveals the dominance and self-centered attitude of the author. The critic all the more adds that the “strange blend of egotism and humility can make Walden a frustratingly conflicted read at times”. (Brooker, 139) The criticism cannot be denied as the reading sometimes leads to confusion at places. The majority of the wisdom about Walden would bear out if majority of the conformist knowledge about man being nature’s servant would have bear out. The book reveals that Thoreau never really fitted into the “mold of the worshipful adorer” and from his attitude it can be inferred that he along with his surroundings formed a “strange peer group.” The attempt of Thoreau to locate himself in admirable environs implies that he himself wanted a position of excellence “that seems fallacious at best”. (Brooker) The critic points out that the acceptance of the “tenuous symbiosis” (Brooker) by any individual and residing at the cabin on the Pond would not had achieved the similar status as Thoreau has. (Brooker; Ireton) Conrad while writing about Walden opines that the sojourn of Thoreau in the Walden woods was off course for the quest of individual philosophy and the discovery of oneself and the discovery of leading a life but at the same time the author did write the book, which was his “burning preoccupation” (Conrad, 137) hence he was not totally at the lap of nature immersed and engrossed by its beauty. The 26 months of his life was preoccupied with the work of writing the book. According to Conrad, “As a writer, Thoreau sought to guide us to a world of higher truths, and used realities as the signposts.” (Conrad, 138) The book is “part autobiography” a “part jeremiad”, “a part invocation”, and a “part divination.” (Conrad, 138) Therefore, “If to adopt Henry David Thoreau’s own directives for effective reading, we must laboriously seek the meaning of each word and line, a perusal of Walden Pond necessitates not merely a wandering into the wandering into the Concord woods but an immersion in the titular pond itself.” (Poetzsch, 387) According to Poetzsch, the form of naturalism as depicted by Thoreau in his philosophy is anti capitalist and anti materialist. Thoreau takes pride in the self sufficiency and “Yankee shrewdness” (Thoreau) but he fails to realize that he presents a travel book where the already decided circumscribed borders are the generic designation that starts faltering thereby adopting individual isolationism and national isolationism. The idea of travel of Thoreau is more fundamentally localized. The Pond referred to in the book is an epitome of mental topography in which the author has undergone the self realization and redefinition. The book becomes a travelogue for Thoreau himself (Poetzsch, 388-389). Oleson is of the opinion that Walden is the “declaration of the personal independence” by the author, an expression of the transcendentalism which is ultimately a work of utopian manifesto. Thoreau was dismayed of the fact that “men have become the tools of their tools” and hence he went to the woods to lead a life of self sufficiency and self discovery (Oleson, 213-214). Conclusion Even though several critics are of the several views and of opinions about Walden, it is a valuable piece of reading for people. It emphasizes on the discovery of one self and discards the idea of human slavery in the hands of technology and tools and thus he embraces the nature and wants to be in its lap and spent days as a self sufficient man who is being provided with every necessity by Mother Nature. It is all good and just to spend a life in peace and harmony of nature and in the symphony of bird chirps and flowing sound of the stream for a human being who have a job but is complaining about it but that can only last for some days as at the end of the day for all what is the necessity is the comfort of a bed to sleep on. The book provokes thought in the reader about the self discovery but that again it is romanticism in this era. While stating this, one cannot deny that Thoreau harps on the fact that he is not prescribing ways of living for others, and thereby stating the valiant features while he says: “If I should attempt to tell how I have desired to spend my life in years past, it would probably surprise those of my readers who are somewhat acquainted with its actual history, it would certainly astonish those who know nothing about it. I will only hint at some of the enterprises which I have cherished.” (Thoreau) The book has great theme no denying of the fact but in the present century to abide by such an idea is like trying to do the impossible. The writing no doubt bores high literary fruit and encourages one to indulge in the thought of self discovery. References: 1. Thoreau, Henry, Economy, Walden, June 1, 2011 from: http://xroads.virginia.edu/~hyper/walden/hdt01.html 2. Thoreau , Henry, Where I Lived and what I lived for, Walden, May 31, 2011 from: http://xroads.virginia.edu/~hyper/walden/hdt02.html 3. Thoreau , Henry, Reading, Walden, June 1, 2011 from: http://xroads.virginia.edu/~hyper/walden/hdt03.html 4. Brooker, Ira , Giving the Game Away: Thoreau’s intellectual imperialism and the Marketing of Walden Pond, June 1, 2011 from: http://web.ebscohost.com/ehost/pdfviewer/pdfviewer?sid=c20d4d54-5a97-438e-bf8b-8942b08254b3%40sessionmgr104&vid=1&hid=125 5. Conrad, Randall, Indexing a Classic: Thoreau’s fully annotated Walden, 2004, 12.4, June 1, 2011 from: http://web.ebscohost.com/ehost/pdfviewer/pdfviewer?sid=85f9ebf9-a332-4f08-9e53-a155c749d357%40sessionmgr104&vid=1&hid=125 6. Poetzsch, Markus, Sounding Walden Pond: The Depths and “Double Shadows” of Thoreau’s autobiographical Symbol, June 1, 2011 from: http://web.ebscohost.com/ehost/pdfviewer/pdfviewer?sid=2390473f-f265-4f13-acc2-40a5497ab0ef%40sessionmgr110&vid=1&hid=125 7. Oleson, J, “Evil the natural way”: The Chimerical Utopias of Henry David Thoreau and Theodore John Kaczynski, 2005, 8.2, June 1, 2011 from: http://web.ebscohost.com/ehost/pdfviewer/pdfviewer?sid=8a879004-9265-4500-aee3-f1d17c0873b4%40sessionmgr115&vid=1&hid=125 8. Ireton, Sean, Walden in the Bohemian Forest: Adalbert Stifter’s Transcendental Ecocentrism in Der Hochwald, Modern Austrian Literature And Culture Association, 2010, 43.3, June 1, 2011 from: http://web.ebscohost.com/ehost/pdfviewer/pdfviewer?sid=4181a852-dcf5-46fb-8adb-31ab9e7fb6ef%40sessionmgr112&vid=1&hid=125 Read More