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Thoreau Handout

Henry David Thoreau (1817-1862) was an American essayist, poet, and philosopher who was one of the leading figures of the Transcendentalist movement in New England. He studied at Harvard and taught school before building a home at Walden Pond, where he lived simply for two years. His most famous works included Civil Disobedience, an essay advocating for individual resistance to unjust government, and Walden, which described his experience living at Walden Pond in a simple life away from society. Throughout his career, Thoreau emphasized ideals of self-reliance, individuality, and living closely and harmoniously with nature.

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250 views2 pages

Thoreau Handout

Henry David Thoreau (1817-1862) was an American essayist, poet, and philosopher who was one of the leading figures of the Transcendentalist movement in New England. He studied at Harvard and taught school before building a home at Walden Pond, where he lived simply for two years. His most famous works included Civil Disobedience, an essay advocating for individual resistance to unjust government, and Walden, which described his experience living at Walden Pond in a simple life away from society. Throughout his career, Thoreau emphasized ideals of self-reliance, individuality, and living closely and harmoniously with nature.

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randomeo
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Henry David Thoreau (1817-1862)

American essayist, poet, and practical philosopher, one of the leading figures in New England
Transcendentalism.
Born in Concord, Massachusetts, studied at Harvard University, graduating in 1837. He was
teacher in Canton, Massachusetts (1835-36), and at Center School (1837).
With his elder brother John he opened a school in Concord. Thoreau taught there from 1838-41
until his John Thoreau became fatally ill. From 1848 he was a regular lecturer at Concord
Lyceum.
Met Emerson in 1841.
In 1845 Thoreau built a home on the shores of Walden Point.
Died at Concord on May 6, 1862.
Main works:
Very prolific but published only two books in his lifetime.
Resistance to Civil Government / Civil Disobedience 1849. Thoreau's most famous essay, the
result of a overnight visit in 1846 in a jail, where he ended after refusing to pay his taxes in
protest against the Mexican War and the extension of slavery. Great impact on Gandhi.
Walden; or, Life in the Woods, 1854; describes a two-year period in Thoreau's life from March
1845 to September 1847. From the Fourth of July, the author retired from the town to live alone
at Walden Pond.
Walking, 1862 (Atlantic Monthly)
Main recurrent themes throughout his career:
Optimistic idealism: the belief that beyond reality beyond nature and human existence
there is a higher truth, that nature symbolizes this higher truth, and this other
transcendental reality can be grasped by the human mind. In this way, he asserted the
unity of man, nature, and heaven.
.The superiority of intuition over reason.
.Nature as a morally enhancing force in a time devoted to commerce, to politics, to
dehumanizing industrialization and urbanization.
.Romantic primitivism; praise of the primitive or simple man fascinated by the American
Indian, a fascination grounded in the Native's closer relationship to nature.
Simplicity; for a simple life away from luxuries and comforts. He wrote in "Economy," the
first chapter of Walden, "Most of the luxuries, and many of the so called comforts of life,
are not only not indispensable, but positive hindrances to the elevation of mankind."
Emphasis on self reliance and individuality, concern with the relationship between the
individual and society. The individual should stand up against the abuses and shortcomings
of institutions. Thoreau recommends disobeying unjust laws. "I think that we should be men
first, and subjects afterward. It is not desirable to cultivate a respect for the law, so much as for
the right."
Slavery; attacked the immorality of slavery. Supported John Brown in his essay "A Plea
for Captain John Brown."
.Allusive writing, mainly to classical literature.

"Walking"
Thoreaus final statement on nature. It contains views he had developed in earlier works.
Major Themes/Metaphors
. The image of The Wild as the limitless, promising, and yet unrealized possibilities of man.
Related to the metaphor of the West which brings also to mind the idea of the American
frontier.

The east, to the contrary, represents the history, art, and literature

of the past.
.The metaphor of the walker as a crusader; walking as a spiritual quest; as
a experience in which the walker recognizes, understands and celebrates the wildness of
nature. He speaks of the need for nature and wildness both for individuals and for society.
STUDY QUESTIONS
Henry David Thoreau, Walking
1. What kind of walking is Thoreau describing? What does such walking ask from the
walker? What impact/influence does it have? How is it related to the concepts of West and
Wild?
2. What does the West represent? In what way is it related to the Wild?
3. What does Thoreau mean by the Wild? To what extent is it related to Nature? How is
the Wild related to culture and civilization?
4. What kind of freedom does Thoreau defend in the essay? How is it related to walking, the
West, and the Wild?
5. Does Thoreau attack his contemporary culture?

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