David Thoreaus Walden - Term Paper Example

David Thoreau’s Walden Walden, an American novel by Henry David Thoreau was published was in 1854. It is considered as one of the great books of American literature and a masterpiece in the realm of reflective philosophy. The book details Thoreau's stay in a cabin near Walden Pond. These are interspersed with thoughts on a wide variety of topics like society, government and most importantly the virtues of self-reliance and individual freedom. The book is aimed at initiating an awareness of how one should live, and how one can choose to live life differently. The author puts forth the belief that one can transcend normality and experience the Divine, by living close to nature. The book emphasizes the importance of solitude, self-reliance, contemplation, and most importance closeness to nature in transcending what he calls our "desperate" existence. The book combines autobiography with a critical commentary on contemporary Western culture that is materialistic and which has distanced itself from nature. The book was inspired by American Transcendentalism, a philosophy developed by Ralph Waldo Emerson, Thoreau's friend and spiritual mentor. According to Ralph Emerson (1837) there are three basic stages of a transcendentalist's life. First, he learns from the wisdom derived from past; second, he forms a harmonious relationship with nature and through this he discovers certain ethical truths and is able to communicate with the divine. In the third stage the transcendentalist has developed his higher faculties and has "spiritualized" his life. In Walden too the narrator passes through the first two stage and finally attains spirituality. This transcendental philosophy is the essence of this book and this philosophical theme runs throughout the book. A quick look at the book and the thoughts put forth will substantiate this. The book contains eighteen essays, or chapters, that are loosely structured according to seasons beginning and ending in the spring. Henry arrives at the pond in spring. The last but one chapter, “Spring” forms the emotional climax of the book. Spring is that time of the year when the world renews itself. Thoreau by using this symbolism wants us to take a new look at life and reinvent ourselves. In the first half of the book, Thoreau questions the lifestyles people have adopted. He makes one think whether the life one has chosen is worthwhile and whether it will bring happiness. Here Thoreau (1854) says “Most men, even in this comparatively free country, through mere ignorance and mistake, are so occupied with the factitious cares and superfluously coarse labors of life that its finer fruits cannot be plucked by them." The next half is largely about nature and is philosophical. Thoreau (1854) asks us to take a look not at the "sunrise and the dawn merely, but, if possible, Nature herself!” Thoreau was able to observe at Walden things a casual observer would not have. Thoreau through a narrator tells us that this book was written to answer questions that were asked about his stay at Walden Pond. By giving us details about the life he led at Walden he attempts to explain the spiritually rich life he lived and also teach us the shortcomings and possibilities of the life led by others. At the pond, Thoreau got the opportunity to view society from outside and discovered that while he led a happy life, most other men "lead lives of quiet desperation." While he was perfecting his life by living close to nature and leading a simple life, he observed that the other men were wasting their lives by madly running here and there and foolishly chasing wealth and social status that would never fulfill all their needs. Thoreau (1854) very sadly comes to the conclusion that modern man, who is so obsessed with material gain, has "not leisure for a true integrity . . . he has not time to be anything but a machine." Thoreau, the narrator in the book, is also sad that even an activity like farming that gives men an opportunity to live close to the spiritually uplifting influences of nature, has lost its importance and has been turned into just a means to accumulate wealth and property. The whole process of farming has been dehumanized. The stay at Walden also taught him that one need not resign himself to leading a dreary life and be "so occupied with the factitious cares and superfluously coarse labors of life that its finer fruits cannot be plucked." One needs to take a critical view of his life and then try to change his life. The narrator believes that the main hindrance to a person’s growth and happiness is the blind acceptance of traditional ways of living that has been handed down from generation to generation. The narrator derides the materialistic view of life. He wants the readers to start living like he has done. One should not get tied down by how society defines life, but must approach life in a new and fresh way. One must get rid of values that are worthless. Each one must discover himself the meaning of life. The narrator has achieved precisely this while living at Walden. It also made possible his spiritual growth. The emphasis a traditional society places on property can be dehumanizing. According to the narrator one gets the freedom to experiment and think about the real concerns of life only after one reduces his belongings and keeps only what is absolutely "necessary of life." Instead of accumulating luxuries the narrator moved to Walden, reduced his needs to a bare minimum, and thus found the time and peace of mind to try and lead a satisfying way of life. He was aware that clothing, shelter, food, and fuel were the basic things in order to survive. However, unlike most people, he had no desire to acquire the latest fashions, or a palatial estate. He did not indulge in lavish food or use expensive fuel. He led a frugal life and cultivated a garden that provided most of his food. He even made a small profit by selling the surplus produce. He also made some extra money by doing various jobs. He advises his readers to similarly simplify their lives. According to him once a person is out of the economic race he will get the leisure and the tranquility required to meditate, study and enjoy nature and lead a spiritually rich life. A person following will have reason to celebrate life and will have no reason to complain. In conclusion the narrator advises his readers that while reforming his life he should turn inward and live life in such a way so as to realize his potential for spiritual perfection. He should avoid the world of trade which according to him "curses every thing it handles". If he does this his life will be filled with ecstasy. This then is the essence of this book. The main message of the book is that if you know the direction your life should take and if this is not based on convention then you will find success. Here what Jimmy Carl Black says is very true “if you advance in the direction of how you imagine your life, not how convention dictates that it should be, then you will find success on a scale undreamed through reasonable expectations. In his "Conclusion" chapter of Walden, Thoreau (1854) says, "I learned this, at least, by my experiment; that if one advances confidently in the direction of his dreams, and endeavors to live the life which he has imagined, he will meet with a success unexpected in common hours. He will put some things behind, will pass an invisible boundary; new, universal, and more liberal laws will begin to establish themselves around and within him; or the old laws will be expanded, and interpreted in his favor in a more liberal sense, and he will live with the license of a higher order of beings." He further says "If you have built castles in the air, your works need not be lost; that is where they should be. Now put the foundations under them."  This book holds importance for people even today. Times may have changed but the message in more ways than one is still applicable today. This book can be highly recommend to all nature lovers, and to people who are not satisfied with the life they are leading and want to take their life in a new direction. According to Kathryn VanSpanckeren, "In Walden, Thoreau ... opens the inner frontier of self-discovery as no American book had up to this time. As deceptively modest as Thoreau's ascetic life, it is no less than a guide to living the classical ideal of the good life. Both poetry and philosophy, this long poetic essay challenges the reader to examine his or her life and live it authentically." The book is eminently readable with many pithy and brilliant statements. As A.P. Peabody (1854)says of Thoreau, “he says so many pithy and brilliant things, and offers so many piquant, and, we may add, so many just, comments on society as it is, that this book is well worth the reading, both for its actual contents and its suggestive capacity."  References 1. Black Carl Jimmy, The Primary Message of Walden, Retrieved from http://thoreau.eserver.org/jimmy2.html on 20/7/09 2. Emerson, Ralph W. (1`837),  "The American Scholar."  Emerson Writings.  3. Henry David Thoreau (1854), Walden, J. Lyndon Shanley ed. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press, 1971. 4. Peabody A.P. (1854), North American Review, 1854 5. Kathryn VanSpanckeren quote retrieved from http://thoreau.eserver.org/walden00.html on 21/7/09 Read More