Why Thoureaus Walden Is One of the Most Common Assigned Texts in High School - Essay Example

What would Thoreau make of the fact that Walden is one of the most commonly assigned texts in high school and college literature courses across the country? Would he welcome the fact that he has become part of the mainstream culture that he was criticizing? The most feasible reason that I can think of why Thoureau’s Walden is one of the most common assigned texts in high school and college literature courses across the country is because of its message and value of simplicity, confidence and self-reliance that it teaches. These values of simplicity and self-reliance are now seemingly gone with pervasive materialism, insecurity and dependency of which the works of Thoreau can remind and ground students on the lost value of simplicity and reliance. Assigning Thoureau to student’s makes a good reminder to students about the essence of life by engaging us to a work of genius that reflects about what really matters in life. That by truly understanding Thoreau and his work, we may realize that life is really not that complex and in fact can be better lived when we live in simplicity and reflection. One of the most invaluable lesson in Thoureau’s Walden that makes it very suited for students and probably could explain why his work is one of the most commonly assigned text can be encapsulated in Emerson’s assertion for us students to be our own genius which is “to believe your own thought, to believe that what is true for you in your private heart is true for all men”. This passage is very much applicable for us not because as young people, we often fall prey to the manipulation of society, media and peer pressure that we ascribe our value for what others think of us and not what we think of ourselves. This work teaches a healthy sense of self-confidence, to be truthful to ourselves and not to seek approval from others. It is no wonder why teachers make Thoureau’s Walden a constant assigned text because of the sincerity of its lesson in addition to the genius of how it was written. The simplicity in Thoreau’s work Walden is best summed up in this passage that every student ought to know as they engage themselves in the work of Thoreau; to live deep and suck out all the marrow of life, to live so sturdily and Spartan-like as to put to rout all that was not life, to cut a broad swath and shave close, to drive life into a corner, and reduce it to its lowest terms". It talked about living in the woods to better understand life. Student today may not have to go to this extreme but we should be able to live deeply and suck the marrow of life. Sucking the marrow of life however must not be misconstrued by modern students as an encouragement to live an indulgent and a life full of vice but rather, to live a life of essence and reflection, to be true to ourselves and to be happy not because we acquired a lot of things but because we discovered what life is really all about. In a way, this could be a realization or could be a good source of inspiration for students that it is actually better to be true to ourselves than to give in to the pressure of society, media and peers. If Thoreau is still alive today, he probably would have protested if he will be categorized as part of the mainstream system that he criticized during his time. He would have protested vigorously and even harshly because the values that mainstream society upholds today are directly opposite to what he was advocating in his work during his time. For example, Thoreau was such a stickler for a simple and ascetic life that to illustrate this, he had to live in the woods evident with this passage; "I went to the woods because I wished to live deliberately, to front only the essential facts of life, and see if I could not learn what it had to teach, and not, when I came to die, discover that I had not lived. I did not wish to live what was not life, living is so dear; nor did I wish to practise resignation, unless it was quite necessary. I wanted to live deep and suck out all the marrow of life, to live so sturdily and Spartan-like as to put to rout all that was not life, to cut a broad swath and shave close, to drive life into a corner, and reduce it to its lowest terms". Now, the values which these words profess such as resignation to simplicity in a sturdy and Spartan like living run counters to the present value system today where the place to be in is in the shopping mall and not in the woods or ponds of Walden. The higher good now is not to live a sturdy and ascetic life that is full of study and reflection but rather to get rich and live an indulgent life. This became so because people now no longer derive the meaning of their lives in reflection and learning but rather on what can be had, on getting latest gadget (particularly my generation) and getting ahead against others whatever the cost. Thus, to be categorized along this kind of people in the mainstream, Thoreau will surely protest and considering how prolific a bard that he is, he would surely make his criticism in the most scathing manner. Thoreau rejects all kinds of materialism and despised the mundane life. This is very evident in his work entitled Walden where he professed his love for the outdoors, simplicity, reflection and study. He sought to understand life, to be able to suck the marrow out of it not by living in an indulgent lifestyle but living deeply, to fathom nature, that through this deep reflection, he tasted life at its fullest. Thoreau may be too deep for a modern student to fully understand but if only we can digest some of the values that he manifested in his work Walden, students today would become less materialistic and more appreciated of the true meaning of life. Work Cited Thoreau, Henry David. Walden, 1854, Ticknor and Fields: Boston  Read More