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Walden by Henry David Thoreau - Essay Example

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Summary
The essay "Walden by Henry David Thoreau" is an autobiography, in which the author appears the main character and the narrator, a transcendentalist, who disregards material things and people who are focused on them, appreciates nature and focuses on mulling over spiritual and societal problems…
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Walden by Henry David Thoreau
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By this, he delivers himself as quite an eccentric person who is looking for the answers to questions that bother him a lot, for example, those that deal with spiritual and social problems. In addition to this, the narrator explicitly demonstrates his somewhat scornful attitude to people and believes that life is a great gift bestowed on people, and many of them cannot use it properly.

More specifically, he shows that he is disappointed in people wondering why many of them attach themselves to material things and forget about spirituality. At the same time, the narrator delivers himself as a true lover and admirer of nature. He tends to show his love and appreciation to every part of nature, whether alive or not, and talks about them with awe. In other words, the narrator acts as and sticks to the ideas of Transcendentalism.For those, who have not read Walden by Henry David Thoreau, the main character and narrator of the peace can be described as a person who wants to simplify his life but, on the contrary, makes it more complex because there are contradictions that struggle in his mind.

For example, despite his appreciation and love of nature, he expresses an ambivalent attitude towards the impact of people on nature. At first, he argues against using natural resources in order to get material gain; on the other hand, he uses these resources for personal advantage. In addition to this, the narrator is a bit arrogant as it sometimes seems he considers himself to be superior to other people because he has managed to deal with his longing for material gain; he even calls his friend on whose land he lives by surname.

At the same time, the narrator is a wise and insightful person. In particular, he is very skeptical when it comes to society, he looks below the surface, criticizes American consumerism, and even foretells it flourish in the future. Thoreau is also determined and persistent to accomplish what he has planned to do. Finally, he appears to be a well-educated person as he is able to apply his knowledge of Ancient Greek literature to life and accepts it as a way of seeing and understanding the world around him.

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