UNIT 12

Henry David Thoreau

Learning objectives

In unit 12 you will:

— approach Henry Thoreau both as a cultural hero of radical dissent, and an

accomplished writer of non-fictional prose, primarily knownas the author
of the internationally influential protest essay “Civil Disobedience,” and
Walden, a work whichcelebrates simple life in harmony with nature;
— appraise how Thoreau turned the theoretical principles of
Transcendentalism into a practical way of living when he movedto a
self-crafted cabin on the shores of Walden Pondsoasto act according to
an “economical” worldview which opposed the growing mechanization
of work and clashed with the materialism of industrial capitalism;
— analyze Walden not only as an example of the genre of nature writing,
but also as a complex andelusive text which touches on various subjects
and can be readat different levels: as the record of the author’s personal
experimentin essential living, a parody of the popular success manuals
of his time, a travel narrative about an inward journey of spiritual and
psychological exploration, and a work that encompasses some of the
typical features of the essay on political theory, the moral philosophy
article, the natural history treatise, and pastoral poetry;
— compare and contrast Thoreau and Emersonas the two leading American
Transcendentalists, examiningtheir stylistic differences and ascertaining
to what extent the theories expounded in Nature are put into practice in
Walden.

Suggestions for how to proceed

Begin by reading the introduction to unit 12 (American Literature to 1900,

pages 201-07) and the selected passagesfrom thefirst chapter of Walden, which
is entitled “Economy” (pages 208-12). Answer the ten questions for self-
evaluation (pages 213-14), check your choices with the help of the key (page
499) and proceed to the exploratory questions (pages 214-16).
90 A STUDY GUIDE FOR AMERICAN LITERATURE TO 1900

Activity

Writing about theme

Examination questions often begin with the phrases “Discuss the treatment of
the themeof...” or “Whatis the themeof...?” Sometimes, this kind of question
is formulated as “Whatis the main concern expressedin ...?” These are different
ways of making the same inquiry so as to elicit the same type of response.
Whenever you are asked about theme, you will be expected to focus on the
central idea or main abstract conceptin a literary work. If you are required to
deal with “themes” (in the plural), you should either point out the tension
between two ideas, or else identify several key ideas that are likely to be
interconnected. Essays often focus on a single theme, but complex novels can
have a range of themes, so that trying to choose just one of them can lead to
oversimplification. Essayists tend to express their ideas more directly than
poets, novelists, and playwrights. Therefore, stated themes (the ones that are
indicated explicitly, declared in a straightforward manner) preponderate in
argumentative essays, whereas implied themes (those revealed obliquely
through figurative language, or implicitly through the unfolding of events)
prevail in poetry, fiction and drama, as well as in narrative essays and descriptive
essays. If you analyze an argumentative essay, you can also referto its central
idea asits thesis, but in the case of poems, short stories, novels and plays,it is
better to use the term “theme,” which is broader and moreinclusive.

You should be able to distinguish between themeand subject. Manyliterary

works have identical subject matter (e.g. death, evil, freedom), but they rarely
share the same specific theme or thesis about it, for each text makes its own
point about the subject in question. A subject can be summedup in just one
word, while defining a theme requires an assertion consisting of one or two
complete sentences. For instance, “passionate love”is a subject that innumerable
texts have in common,butit is the different views about passionate love that
give rise to distinct themes (e.g. that of passionate love as destructive as a
monstrous whirlpool that inexorably sucks people under). Yet, when you write
about theme, take notice of the subject around which the theme develops.
Another important distinction should be made between theme and moral; you
should not mistake one for the other, because they are not equivalents. Do not
concludethat a theme alwaysconsists of a moral or lesson, since a theme does
not always have the didactic componentthat a moral necessarily has.

Themes are sometimes difficult to identify or determine, and can be

accurately described in diverse ways by different readers, all of whom mayput
Unit 12: HENRY DAVID THOREAU 91

forward equally convincing interpretations. Therefore, you should not assume

that your statement of theme(or thematic generalization) will coincide exactly
with those offered by other readers. Themes frequently become matters of
contention in the field of literary criticism. For instance, certain scholars
believe that the theme is expressedbythetext itself, whereas others argue that
the themeis not tucked inside the text, but in each reader’s head.

Discovering themes in a text involves making connections betweenthetext

itself and the world of ideas and experiencesoutside it. As themesare revealing,
they can give usrich insights into fundamental questions concerning human life.
In literary works, as in all art, form cannot be separated from content, since
meaningis derived from the work as a whole. Thus, in a piece offiction, a theme
may emerge in and through the developmentof the other narrative elements:
plot, narrator, characters, spatial setting and time setting. Consequently, themes
should be discussed in relation to such elements, which work together and are
ultimately fused in novels and short stories.

The purpose of the study activity recommendedin this unit is to write a

short essay on how Thoreauarticulates the main theme,thesis, or unifying idea
that holds the text of Walden’sfirst chapter together. Note that, unless you read
Walden in its entirety, your conclusions will be based exclusively on a few
pages of the book. In your essay, you may wantto include someofthe aspects
suggested in the following points:

1. Some works emphasize theme morethan others. As a rule, the themes

of highly valued argumentative essays are related to philosophical
topics of acknowledged importance, and the amountof space an author
dedicates to these topics may be an indication of the presence of a
major theme. What theme or themesare presentin the first chapter of
Walden? Look for Thoreau’s main thesis and write down a statementof
theme (or thematic generalization) about two lines long, using one or
two complete sentences. Try to be reasonably specific and avoid
vagueness. Note that determining the themeofthis text does not simply
imply pinpointing its subject matter.

2. Thetitle of a work often points in a particular direction, or emphasizes

the importance of one particular element that may be essential for
thematic discussion. Therefore, it is worth asking yourself why Thoreau
gave Walden,or Life in the Woodsthatparticular title, and why he chose
“Economy”as the title of its first chapter, which constitutes a sort of
prologue to his book. Keep in mind that Thoreau emphasizes that most
92 A STUDY GUIDE FOR AMERICAN LITERATURE TO 1900

people are concerned with material things that do not really matter, and
offers an “economical” viewpoint of the world as an alternative, using
few resources, avoiding materialism, and rejecting industrial capitalism.

. Examining the lexicon of a text is a good procedure to find its

keywords, which often signal essential thematic features. Pay attention
to Thoreau’s diction and his recurrent use of any relevant words that
maybring into focus his main theme. For instance, note that the word
labor (and its cognates) is mentioned many times in the opening
section of Walden.

. In your discussions about the treatment of themein literary texts, you

should highlight the importance of the author’s use of language. How
would you describe the style employed in “Economy”to deal with its
main themeor themes? Note that one of the reasons why Waldenis an
elusive book stems from the difficulty to understand Thoreau’s use of
language.

. Analyzing themes also involves paying particular attention to tone,

which can be definedas the reflection of the speaker’s or the narrator’s
attitude both to the theme (e.g. humorous, serious) and to the reader
(e.g. friendly, contentious). To what extent doesthe tone of “Economy”
indicate the attitude adopted by Thoreau toward his main theme?

. Themes reflect their authors’ interests. What seems to be Thoreau’s

main concern? Note that he conducted an experiment in economic
independence because he wantedto search for spiritual enlightenment
by leading a free and simple life in harmony with nature.

. Social scientist Brian Walker contends that ““Thoreau’s central theme is

that working conditions in a market democracy can easily undermine
liberty and erode autonomy.”! Do you agree with him? To whatextent
is this interpretation specifically applicable to the opening section of
Walden? Note that different interpretations can serve a text by
approaching its deeper purpose from various perspectives.

. When you discuss Thoreau’s approach to the specific theme of this

text, compare and contrast it to the approaches chosen by other

! Brian Walker, “Thoreau’s Alternative Economics: Work, Liberty, and Democratic Cultivation.”
The American Political Science Review 92.4 (December 1998): 846.
Unit 12: HENRY DAVID THOREAU 93

authors, especially his contemporaries, when dealing with similar

issues. Note that romanticism reflected a deep appreciation of the
beauties of nature, but Thoreau did not merely concentrate on the
description of natural beauty, for he embarked upon an introspective
voyage into the self, being convinced that humankindcould find truth
and happinessin nature.

Bibliography

Primary sources:

Thoreau, Henry David. Walden. Ed. J. Lyndon Shanley. Introd. Joyce Carol
Oates. Princeton, NJ: Princeton UP, 1989.
—. Walden: An Annotated Edition. Ed. Walter Harding. Boston: Houghton
Mifflin, 1995.

Secondary sources:

Bellis, Peter J. Writing Revolution: Aesthetics and Politics in Hawthorne,

Whitman, and Thoreau. Athens: U of Georgia P, 2003.
Bloom, Harold, ed. Henry David Thoreau. New York: Chelsea House, 1987.
Borst, Raymond R. Henry David Thoreau: A Descriptive Bibliography.
Pittsburgh: U of Pittsburgh P, 1982.
—. Henry David Thoreau: A Reference Guide, 1835-1899. Boston, G.K. Hall,
1987.
—. The Thoreau Log: A Documentary Life of Henry David Thoreau, 1817-
1862. New York: G.K.Hall, 1992.
Buell, Lawrence. The Environmental Imagination: Thoreau, Nature Writing,
and the Formation of American Culture. Cambridge, MA: Belknap P of
Harvard UP, 1995S.
Cafaro, Philip. Thoreau’s Living Ethics: Walden and the Pursuit of Virtue.
Athens: U of Georgia P, 2004.
Cain, William E., ed. A Historical Guide to Henry David Thoreau. Oxford:
Oxford UP, 2000.
Dillman, Richard. Essays on Henry David Thoreau: Rhetoric, Style and
Audience. West Cornwall, CT: Locust Hill, 1993.
Fink, Steven. Prophet in the Marketplace: Thoreau’s Development as a
Professional Writer. Princeton, NJ: Princeton UP, 1992.
 UNIT 12
Henry David Thoreau (1817-1862)

Although Henry Thoreau was cohsidered a minor literary figure for quite a
long time, he has recently become one of the major American authors of the
nineteenth century. His emergence as a great writer, beyond his previous and
still current celebration as a cultural hero of radical dissent, is mainly due to
the fact that late twentieth-century scholarship has drawn attention to his
artistic achievement, in particular to his development of a distinctive literary
voice. His mastery of the English language has been acclaimed by critics
such as Joyce Carol O ates, who has paid tribute to his "peculiar triumph as a
stylist," and has nothing but praise for his highly allusive prose, often
dismissed in the past for being too difficult, but now admired for being
"beautiful, vigorous, and supple." He wrote only non-fictional works, for
he did not write any works of fiction (neither novels nor short stories), or
drama, and the poetry he did write does not seem to be of much interest for
present-day readers. Nowadays his fame rests almost entirely on Walden, an
example of nature writing and the essay "Civil Disobedience," both of
them widely translated and extremely influential in the whole world.
In his own lifetime Henry Thoreau published only a handful of essays and
poems in several magazines and two volumes, A Week on the Concord and
Merrimack Rivers (1849) and Walden (1854), both examples of nature writing.
This genre, which started in the final decades of the eighteenth century, became
popular precisely thanks to Thoreau, a pioneer in the battle to save natural
resources, the acknowledged father of the modem conservationist movements.
He once said, "What in other men is religion is in me the love of nature." Now
he is the prophet of the wildemess for the environmentalists who have adopted
as a motto his assertion that "in Wildemess is the preservation of the World."
As is the case in many other reassessments that lead to the promotion of
initially deemed second-rate writers to canonical status, the intrinsic literary
value newly discovered in Thoreau's work is also linked to the appeal that his
202 AMERICAN LITERATURE TO 1900

This image of Henry Thoreau was a

daguerreotype tak:en at the Benjamín
D. Maxham studio in Worcester,
Massachusetts, on June 18, 1856, in response
to an admirer from Michigan named Calvin
Greene, who sent money and requested a
picture.

ideas have for our contemporary readers. Another feature that attracts people to
Henry Thoreau today is his moral integrity, his determination to put into
practice the idealistic theories he leamt from Ralph Waldo Emerson (the two
leading American Transcendentalists). Thoreau was the one who most
closely and radically applied the Transcendentalist principies to his own
life until the end of his existence. Thoreau read Nature in the spring of 1837,
at the age of nineteen, seven months after it had been published, and was
profoundly impressed by this book, which propounded the then novel idea
that each individual should seek the divine in the natural world. Emerson,
being fourteen years older than his disciple, played for him the roles of friend
and that of a kind of surrogate father. This complex relationship between
them explains much of the intellectual rivalry they experienced and much
about how their work:s have subsequent]y been perceived in relation to each
other. Indeed, Thoreau's writings were influenced by Emerson1s thoughts, but
perhaps because too much emphasis was once placed upon this
indebtedness (to the point of despising Thoreau as a mere imitator), there is
now a tendency to stress Thoreau's originality, and his growing reputation
has almost eclipsed that of his master.
Henry David Thoreau 1 was bom in Concord, where his father established
1 When he was christened in 1817 he was named David Henry, but he reversed the names
after bis college graduation without going through any legal formalities.
UNIT 12: HENRY DAVID THOREAU(1817-1862) 203

a pencil-making businessafter failing at several shopkeeping ventures. His

mother wasa strong dynamic person, who dominated the whole household.
She was a born reformer, a memberof the Bible Society, and a founder of
the Concord Women’s Anti-Slavery Society. Both parents had a love of
nature which they fostered in all their children. Henry wasenrolled in the
private Concord Academy, and then spent four years at Harvard College
studying Latin, Greek, Mathematics, Philosophy, Theology, History, and
English. Although the credits obtained for courses on modern languages
were worth half those of any other course, he wasso intensely interested in
learning them that he also took Italian, French, German and Spanish. He
also went beyond the required curriculum byattending voluntary lectures on
natural history and other sciences. All his lifetime he would remain an
amateur student both of languages and of nature. Nevertheless, during his
years of formal education he wasnot considered exceptional, and he always
remainedcritical of the teaching methods used at Harvard. Emerson is
supposed to have noted that mostof the branches of learning were taught
there, and Thoreau to have replied, “Yes, indeed, all the branches and none
of the roots.”
After graduation Henry Thoreau returned to his native Concord, where he
becamea teacher at the public Center School for a very short time, for his
opposition to corporal punishmentsoon led him to resign. He workedin his
father’s pencil factory, which he improved and extended. With his brother
John he started a private school using progressive methods, butit lasted not
quite three years because of John’s tuberculosis. After the closing of this
school in the spring of 1841, Henry never went back to school teaching again.
Unable to find a job he liked, Thoreau had been thinking for some time of
retiring to a quiet place where he might rest and devote himself to writing. He
first failed to settle on a dilapidated farm (since its owner asked to buy it back
before he had even movedin), and later was refused permission by Flint to
build a cabin on the land which that farmer owned around Sandy Pond.’
Thoreau, who was unwilling to join any of the community experiments ofhis
time, did not accept the invitation most Transcendentalists received to join the
Brook Farm community, established for creative artists by George Ripley in
West Roxbury. He recorded his reaction in his journal: “As for these
communities, I think I had rather keep bachelor’s hall in hell than go to board
in heaven. [...] In heaven I hope to bake my own bread and clean my own
linen” (3 March 1841, Journal, I, 227). Finally, in the spring of 1841, he
found a temporary solution to his job and housing problems by accepting an

? In Walden Thoreaureferred to Flint as “the unclean and stupid farmer[...] some skin-
flint.” Emerson mentioned Flint as one of the landowners in thefirst line of “Hamatreya.”
204 AMERICAN LITERATURE TO 1900

invitation to live with the Emersonsin their home. He workedin their house
as a gardener and general handyman, maintaining the house and surrounding
property, and receiving room and board as payment.
Thoreau lived with the Emersonsoff and on for close to three years before
he movedto their property in Walden. He had visited Walden Pond with his
family during his childhood, and associated it with happy memories. In 1845
Emerson gave him permission to build a cabin on his parcel of land on the
shores of Walden Pondin order to conduct an experimentin essential living.
On Independence Day (July 4th) Thoreau movedinto this self-crafted cabin
and stayed there for two years, two months and twodays(a so-called sojourn
of “twos”) in order to “live deliberately, to front only the essential facts of
life.’ He ate wild berries and grew his own food, planting his beanfield,
potatoes, peas and turnips. In nature he soughtfor spiritual enlightenment, not
merely sensory pleasure} being convinced that natural phenomena had
spiritual as well as material significance. In that peaceful area he purposely
isolated himself so as to have time to meditate, read, write, and makefriends
with animals, but he was no hermit. He received a steady stream ofvisitors,
and had chats with ice cutters and railroad crews. He also walked into town
frequently to purchase supplies or visit his family, and hired himself out as a
surveyor.
In July 1846, as Thoreau walked into Concord to have one of his shoes
repaired, he was arrested and put in jail overnight for refusing to pay the poll
tax, in protest against slavery and the Mexican War. He wasreluctant to
leave the prison when he wasreleased the following day, after one of his
relatives had paid what he owed. To explain his position, Thoreau delivered
a lecture before the Concord Lyceum. Thisinitial piece of oratory led to the
publication of his most famous protest essay, “Resistance to Civil
Government,” which appeared in the first and only issue of the
Transcendentalist periodical Aesthetic Papers (1849), was later reprinted as
“On the Duty of Civil Disobedience,” and is nowadays generally known
underthetitle of “Civil Disobedience.” The essay begins thus: “TI heartily
accept the motto, ‘That government is best which governsleast’; and I
should like to see it acted up to more rapidly and systematically. Carried out,
it finally amounts to this, which I also believe — ‘That governmentis best
which governsnotat all’; and when menare preparedforit, that will be the
kind of government which they will have.” His main thesis is that if the
demands of a governmentare contrary to an individual’s conscience, it is
one’s duty to reject them. Although the essay was almost ignored in
Thoreau’slifetime, it was to become one ofthe best-knownpoliticaltracts in
history. It made a deep impression on Mahatma Gandhi, whousedits theory
of civil disobedience for his campaign of passive resistance to oppressive
UNIT 12: HENRY DAVID THOREAU(1817-1862) 205

state power? Thoreau’s thoughts also inspired the Reverend Martin Luther
King andothercivil rights activists fighting racial segregation in the United
States. “Civil Disobedience” was the most influential document for American
students in the late 60s and early 1970s, and a primary sourceof inspiration
for many pacifists, in particular for the conscientious objectors to the Vietnam
War.
During his sojourn at Walden Pond, Henry Thoreau wrote A Week on the
Concord and Merrimack Rivers as a memorial tribute to his beloved brother
John, whose death in 1842 had affected him profoundly. The book was an
accountof the boat trip he had taken with John from August 31 to September
13, 1839. He also finished a first draft of Walden while at his cabin, thoughit
would take him seven years and eight complete revisions before he was
satisfied with the results. From September 1849 onwards, he tested many of
the chapters of Walden on the Yecture platform, adding or deleting passages
partly on the basis of audience reception. The text having been repeatedly
worked over,the final version published in 1854 was greatly improved. The
volume enjoyed a respectable first-year sale (nearly two thousand copies)
and received nearly one hundred reviews and notices, most of them very
favourable. Copies of Walden were shipped to England, where the book was
finally printed in 1886 as Sir Walter Scott issuedit.
Walden is a complex and elusive text because it touches on a variety of
subjects and can be read at different levels. It is, among other things, the
record of the author’s personal experience. Its long passages on political
theory and moral philosophy, however, turn it into much more than an
autobiographical piece. Furthermore, while containing the history of the
author’s own relationship with nature, Walden showsthe characteristic
precision of a natural history treatise written by a scientist. It encompasses
some of the typical features of pastoral poetry, an old literary form which had
evolved into a mode of thought that acquired an especially poignant meaning
when romanticism confronted the forces of the industrial revolution. The
bookis also, to a certain extent, a parody of the popular success manuals, for
it mimicstheir language while offering a different concept of true wealth, not
based upon the accumulation of goods, but upon time to enjoy life. Walden
can be read as a travel narrative which is in fact an inward journey of
exploration to better know and improveoneself, since the goal of the author’s
pilgrimageis spiritual progress.
3 Gandhi wasintroduced to Thoreau’s writings while attending Oxford University about
1900, and immediately took a liking to them. In October 1908, having settled in South
Africa to give legal aid to Indian labourers suffering under segregation laws, Gandhi
refused to pay the tax imposed on all Indians by the South African government, a refusal
that led to hisarrest.
206 AMERICANLITERATURE TO 1900

In short, Walden has been defined as a celebration of a simple life in

harmony with nature. Although Thoreau spent over two years at Walden
Pond, he condensed his narrative within the frame of one year, progressing in
a circular pattern through the four seasons and ending in spring, thus involving
readers in the cycle of nature. This is perhaps one of the easiest aspects for
everyone to grasp, but interpreting the whole book involves other more
demandingtasks. The fact that the natural environment was Thoreau’s primary
source of inspiration does not preclude Walden from holding a dense
intertextuality which accounts for muchofits difficulty. Readers unacquainted
with certain literary references often feel that they are missing important
points made by an author whoseextensive knowledge seems astounding.
Manyofthe quotations and allusions in Thoreau’s writings were culled from
the notebooks in which he jotted down passages from the books he had avidly
read. He wasparticularly attracted to the Greek and Romanclassics, English
literature of the Middle Ages and the Renaissance, and the ancient Hindu
scriptures. Probably introduced to Indian literature by Emerson, who had
opened his large personal library to his friend, Thoreau read the Dharma
Shastra in 1841, when he was twenty-four, and the Bhagavad Gita when he
was twenty-eight. Of the latter, which he kept during his stay in Walden, he
wrote: “The reader is nowhereraised into and sustained in a bigger, purer, or
rarer region of thought than in the Bhagavad Gita.”
One of the mostinteresting aspects of Thoreau’s work is his social
criticism, in which he showed how deeply he cared about the problemsofhis
contemporary society. As he preferred the individualistic to the organizational
approach,he distrusted average “professional” reformers. He believedthat all
reforms must begin with the individual, not with society, but at the same
time he realised that the reform of individuals could only occur if personal
freedom was guaranteed by society. That is probably the reason why, in spite
of his reluctance to join associations of any kind and his initial antipathy
towards many abolitionists, he wrote antislavery essays, spoke at abolitionist
gatherings and participated actively in the Underground Railroad, helping
runaway slaves escape to freedom in Canada.
Always supportive of marginalized groups, Thoreau strongly identified
with Native Americans, for he felt a special affinity with their attitude to
nature. He developeda scientific interest in their cultures and accumulated a
collection of about nine hundred items related to them (arrowheads, axes,
omaments, etc.). As his health deteriorated, he was forced to abandon the
book he wasplanning on Native Americans, and the hugepile of notes he had
gathered about them nevertook shape.
Apart from A Week on the Concord and Merrimack Rivers and Walden,
Thoreau wrote but did not publish any other booksin his lifetime. Thanksto
UNIT 12: HENRY DAVID THOREAU(1817-1862) 207

Emerson’s support, the Transcendentalist journal The Dial had publishedin its
inaugural issue of 1840 the poem “Sympathy,” which Thoreau had written for
Edmund Sewall. Other poems and an essay entitled “Natural History of
Massachusetts” had also appeared in the magazine. Between 1849 and 1853
Thoreau madeseveral brief trips, which supplied him with materials for
travel books posthumously edited by relatives and friends, and published as
Excursions (1863), The Maine Woods (1864), Cape Cod (1865), and A Yankee
in Canada (1866).
When Thoreau died of tuberculosis at the age of forty-four, Emerson
preached the eulogy at his funeral. This funeral oration, later published and
often reprinted, has become the most famousessay on Thoreau, and for a long
time has determined how his work wasinterpreted. Recently some scholars
have blamed Emerson for expressing his disapproval by suggesting that
Thoreau had not achieved what he might have done if he had followed a
different path. Emerson honestly cameto think that Thoreau had wasted his
talents in his solitary observation of natural phenomena. As Emersondrifted
away from his early idealism and toward an increased interest in material
accomplishment, and Thoreau stubbornly continued to practise the theoretical
principles that his friend had preached years before, they both felt
disappointed at each other’s behaviour and their once genuine friendship
began to cool. Muchofthe rebellion that Thoreau gradually developed against
Emerson wasdue to his need to free himself from an imposing intellectual
tather and master figure. It was over a century after Thoreau’s death that his
work, inevitably linked to Emerson’s, began to be considered as worthy of
attention in its own right and for its own sake.

We are going to read some passages from Walden’s first and longes
chapter, entitled “Economy,” which provides a prologue to the book.”
Economy wasa crucial aspect of Thoreau’s response to nature, for his
message of simplification had to be consistent with his environmentalist—
perspective. His effort to live in harmony with nature at Walden required |
the literal economyof using as few resources as possible. In a more general
way, Thoreau believed that people should not be driven by materialism nor —
become entangled in the complexities imposed by civilized society, but
should simplify their life-styles and fully enjoy them.
 208 AMERICAN LITERATURE TO 1900

From Walden, or Life in the Woods (1854)

1. Economy

WhenI wrote the following pages, or rather the bulk of them,I lived alone, in
the woods, a mile from any neighbor, in a house which I had built myself, on
the shore of Walden Pond, in Concord, Massachusetts, and earned myliving
by the labor of my handsonly. I lived there two years and two months. At
present I am a sojournerin civilized life again.
I should not obtrude* my affairs so much on the notice of my readers if
very particular inquiries had not been made by my townsmen concerning my
mode oflife, which some would call impertinent, though they do not appear to
meat all impertinent, but, considering the circumstances, very natural and
10 pertinent. Some have asked whatI got to eat; if I did not feel lonesome; if I
wasnotafraid; and the like. Others have been curious to learn whatportion of
my income I devoted to charitable purposes; and some, who have large
families, how many poor children I maintained. I will therefore ask those of
my readers whofeel no particular interest in me to pardon meif I undertake to
15 answer some of these questions in this book. In most books, the J, or first
person, is omitted; in this it will be retained; that, in respect to egotism, is the
main difference. We commonly do not rememberthatitis, after all, always the
first person that is speaking. I should not talk so much about myself if there
were anybody else whom I knew as well. Unfortunately, I am confinedto this
20 theme by the narrowness of my experience. Moreover,I, on myside, require
of every writer, first or last, a simple and sincere accountof his ownlife, and
not merely what he has heard of other men’s lives; some such accountas he
would sendto his kindred from a distant land; for if he has lived sincerely,it
must have been in a distant land to me. Perhaps these pages are more
25 particularly addressed to poor students. As for the rest of my readers, they will
accept such portions as apply to them.I trust that none will stretch the seams
in putting on the coat, for it may do goodservice to him whomitfits.
[...]
I see young men, my townsmen, whose misfortuneit is to have inherited
farms, houses, barns, cattle, and farming tools; for these are more easily
30 acquired than gotrid of. Better if they had been born in the open pasture and
suckled by a wolf, that they might have seen with clearer eyes whatfield they
were called to labor in. Who made them serfs of the soil? Why should they
eat their sixty acres, when man is condemnedto eat only his peck of dirt?°

* Offer or force upon others.

> Cf. the old saying “You’ll eat a peck of dirt before you die.” One peck is two gallons.
UNIT 12: HENRY DAVID THOREAU(1817-1862) 209

Whyshould they begin digging their graves as soon as they are born? They
have gotto live a man’slife, pushing all these things before them, and get on 35
as well as they can. How manya poor immortal soul have I met well nigh®
crushed and smothered’ under its load, creeping downthe road oflife,
pushing before it a barn seventy-five feet by forty, its Augean stables never
cleansed,’ and one hundred acres of land, tillage,” mowing, pasture, and
wood-lot!!° The portionless,'! who struggle with no such unnecessary
inherited encumbrances,’ find it labor enough to subdue andcultivate a few
cubic feet of flesh.
But men labor under a mistake. The better part of the man is soon plowed
into the soil for compost. By a seeming! fate, commonly called necessity,
they are employed, as it says in an old book,'* laying up treasures which 45
moth andrust will corrupt and thieves break through andsteal.!° It is a fool’s
life, as they will find whenthey getto the endofit, if not before. It is said
that Deucalion and Pyrrha created men by throwing stones over their heads
behind them: —'¢

Inde genus durum sumus, experiensque laborum, 50

Et documenta damus qua simusorigine nati.!”

6 Almost.
7 Stifled.
® Cf. the Greek legend of Augeas, king of Elis, whose stable holding 3,000 oxen remained
uncleaned for 30 years until Hercules, as the fifth of his twelve labours, cleaned it in one
day by diverting two rivers through it. Thoreau had referred to “the twelve labors of
Hercules” above, in the third paragraph of this chapter.
° Cultivation; plowing.
'0 A piece of land on which trees are cultivated, specifically as a source of firewood,
timber,etc.
1 Those who havenotthe part of an estate received by an heir.
2 Burdens.
‘3 That seemsreal, true.
4 The Bible.
'S “Lay not up for yourselves treasures upon earth, where moth andrust doth corrupt, and
where thieves break though andsteal” (Matthew 6:19).
'6 According to Greek mythology, Deucalion was king of Phthia in Thessaly when the god
Zeus destroyed the humanrace by flood because of their wicked ways. Only Deucalion
and his wife, Pyrrha, survived drowning because they had led goodlives. To repopulate
the earth the oracle at Delphi commanded them to cast the bones of their mother over
their shoulders. Understanding this to mean the stonesof the earth, they obeyed, and the
stones thrown by Deucalion turned into men whereas the ones thrown by Pyrrha turned
into women.
” “Hence come the hardnessof our race and our enduranceoftoil; and we give proof from
whatorigin we are sprung.” This is a quotation from Ovid’s MetamorphosesI, 414-15.
 210 AMERICAN LITERATURE TO 1900

Or, as Raleigh rhymesit in his sonorous way,—

“From thence our kind hard-hearted is, enduring pain andcare,

Approving that our bodies of a stony nature are.”!®

55 So muchfor a blind obedience to a blundering oracle, throwing the stones

over their heads behind them,and not seeing where theyfell.
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. Their fingers, from excessive toil, are too clumsy and tremble too
much for that. Actually, the laboring man hasnotleisure for a true integrity
day by day; he cannot afford to sustain the manliest”° relations to men; his
labor would be depreciated in the market. He hasnotimeto be any thing but
a machine.”! How can he rememberwell his ignorance—which his growth
65 requires — whohasso often to use his knowledge? We should feed and clothe
him gratuitously sometimes, and recruit him with our cordials,” before we
judge of him. Thefinest qualities of our nature, like the bloom on fruits, can
be preserved only by the most delicate handling. Yet we do nottreat ourselves
nor one another thus tenderly.
[...]
70 The mass of menlead lives of quiet desperation. Whatis called resignation
is confirmed desperation. From the desperate city you go into the desperate
country, and have to console yourself with the bravery of minks and muskrats. A
stereotyped but unconscious despair is concealed even under whatare called the
games and amusements of mankind. There is no play in them,for this comes
75 after work. But it is a characteristic of wisdom not to do desperate things.
When weconsider what, to use the words ofthe catechism, is the chief end
of man,” and whatare the true necessaries and meansoflife, it appearsas if

18 This is the translation of the Latin quotation in Sir Walter Raleigh’s History of the World
(1614). Thoreau delivered a lecture on Raleigh at the Concord Lyceum in 1843, andlater
revised and expanded his manuscript to publish an essay on the famous Renaissance
writer and adventurer.
19 Unnatural; false; artificial.
Strongest.
21 Thoreautreated time as a precious, irrecoverable commodity. He found that “by working
about six weeks in a year” he “‘could meetall the expensesofliving.” He would also say
that rather than work six days and rest one day, one should reduce one’s material needs so
as to do the opposite: devote one day to work andsix to leisure.
22 Medicine, food or drink which stimulates the heart.
3 From the Shorter Catechism in the New England Primer: “What is the chief end of
man? Man’s chiefendis to glorify God and to enjoy him forever.”
UNIT 12: HENRY DAVID THOREAU(1817-1862) 211

men had deliberately chosen the common modeofliving because they

preferred it to any other. Yet they honestly think there is no choiceleft. But
alert and healthy natures rememberthat the sun roseclear. It is never too late 80
to give up our prejudices. No way of thinking or doing, howeverancient, can
be trusted without proof. What every body echoesor in silence passes by as
true today may turn out to be falsehood tomorrow, mere smoke of opinion,
which some hadtrusted for a cloud that would sprinkle fertilizing rain on their
fields. What old people say you cannotdo, you try and find that you can. Old 85
deeds for old people, and new deeds for new. Old people did not know enough
once, perchance, to fetch fresh fuel to keep the fire a-going; new people put a
little dry wood undera pot,”* and are whirled round the globe with the speed
of birds,in a way to kill old people, as the phrase is.*° Age is no better,
hardly so well, qualified for an instructor as youth, for it has not profited so
muchasit has lost. One may almost doubtif the wisest man has learned any
thing of absolute value by living. Practically, the old have no very important
advice to give the young, their own experience has beenso partial, and their
lives have been such miserable failures, for private reasons, as they must
believe; and it may be that they have somefaith left which belies that 95
experience, and they are only less young than they were. I have lived some
thirty years on this planet, and I have yet to hearthefirst syllable of valuable
or even earnest advice from my seniors. They have told me nothing, and
probably cannottell me any thing to the purpose. Here is life, an experiment to
a great extent untried by me; butit does not avail methat they havetriedit. If
I have any experience whichI think valuable, I am sure to reflect that this my
Mentors”’said nothing about.
[...]
Let us consider for a moment what mostof the trouble and anxiety which
I have referred to 1s about, and how muchitis necessary that we be troubled,
or, at least, careful. It would be some advantageto live a primitive and frontier 105
life, though in the midst of an outward civilization, if only to learn what are
the gross necessaries of life and what methods have been taken to obtain

4 A reference to the steam engine.

25 Thoreau often wondered about the American obsession with speed.
26 An allusion to the railway, which spread rapidly in the 1840s and 1850s. In 1843, the line
of the railroad that was to run from Boston to Fitchburg was constructed alongside the
western edge of Walden Pond. When Thoreau drew a survey map of Walden Pond, the
only element not directly related to the natural contours of the pond he included was a
ruled line which he labelled “Rail Road.” In Walden therailroad stands as the symbol of
technology, both admired and distrusted by the writer.
77 From Mentor, in Homer’s Odyssey, the elderly friend and counsellor of the hero
Odysseus and tutor of his son Telemachus. In modern English the tutor’s name has
become an eponym fora wise, trustworthy counsellor or teacher.
 212 AMERICAN LITERATURE TO 1900

them; or even to look over the old day-books of the merchants, to see what it
wasthat men most commonly boughtat the stores, what they stored, that is,
110 what are the grossest groceries. For the improvements of ages have had but
little influence on the essential laws of man’s existence; as our skeletons,
probably, are not to be distinguished from those of our ancestors.
[...]
Mostof the luxuries, and many of the so-called comforts of life, are not
only not indispensable, but positive hindrances” to the elevation of mankind.
115 With respect to luxuries and comforts, the wisest have ever lived a more
simple and meagre life than the poor. The ancient philosophers, Chinese,
Hindoo, Persian, and Greek, were a class than which none has been poorerin
outwardriches, none so rich in inward. [...]. To be a philosopheris not merely
to have subtle thoughts, nor even to found a school, but so to love wisdom as
120 to live according to its dictates, a life of simplicity, independence,”
magnanimity, andtrust. It is to solve some of the problemsoflife, not only
theoretically, but practically.

WALDEN;
os,

LIFE IN THE WOODS.

Ry TENRY DD. THOREAT,

bowi protein bs w ser ass to depron, but to eng ae hastily wn comeiclaattm the
mien.eating Oe hie vm, Away be wake ay aacighlone wp. ~ PageMe

BOS TO Wx
TICRNORANEFIREBE. oe Thetitle page ofthe first edition of
: Walden, with Sophia Thoreau’s
drawing of her brother’s cabin.

28 Obstacles, impediments.
2? Thoreau left his native town of Concord to live at Walden Pond on July 4th,
Independence Day. Although some have speculated that the author chose the date to
symbolize his personal declaration of independence, others have pointed out that it was
the day before his late brother’s birthday.
UNIT 12: HENRY DAVID THOREAU(1817-1862) 213

. Thoreau explains his decision to write abouthis life in the woodsforall of

the following reasons except
a. to satisfy some people’s curiosity.
b. to write about the man he knowsbest.
c. to give an honest accountof his experience.
d. to encourage other people to follow his example.

. Thoreau considers that inheriting property

i)

a. has advantages and disadvantages.

b. constitutes a heavy burden.
c. generally helps people toslead happierlives.
d. is a sign of goodfortune.

. According to Thoreau, most Americans

tos

a. work too hard.

b. do not work hard enough.
c. treat themselves too tenderly.
d. are not efficient enough.

Thoreau thinks that most people do not improve their wayoflife because
+

a. society prevents them from doing so.

b. they believe that the choice they have madeis the best.
c. they feel they cannotlive otherwise.
d. they are too lazy to makeaneffort.

. Thoreau advises young people to

a. listen to their elders.
b. do whattheir elders say, instead of what they do.
c. do whattheir elders do, instead of what they say.
d. disregard their elders’ advice.

Leading a primitivelife
a. teaches people to distinguish between whatis essential and whatis
superfluous.
. is impossible in a highly civilized world.
Ane

causes trouble and anxiety.

. teaches people about the improvementsof civilization.
214 AMERICAN LITERATURE TO 1900

7. In Thoreau’s view, as years go by, human nature

a. is greatly improved.
b. remains the same.
c. is degraded.
d. undergoes a cyclical process.

Thoreau observes that a comfortable life

a. is all we need to be happyandfree.
b. may lead people to sin.
c. allows people to spend more time cultivating their minds.
d. is an obstacle to a truly worthy existence.

The ancient philosophers worldwide were

a. materially rich and spiritually poor.
b. spiritually rich and materially poor.
c. materially and spiritually rich.
d. materially and spiritually poor.

10. Thoreau thinks that what distinguishes true philosophersis

a. the numberof followers they have.
b. their ability to express their thoughts subtly.
c. their ability to solve some of the problemsoflife both in theory and in
practice.
d. their ability to found a school of thought.

. Analyse how Thoreau declared the purpose of his Walden experiment,

considering the reasonshe gavein thefirst chapter of his book.

Discuss the meaning of a passage from the opening chapter of Walden

which you considerparticularly important, paying attention to its diction.
Remember that diction refers to an author’s choice and arrangement of
words, and that when you write about it you should deal with the effect of
selecting a particular range of vocabulary (from everydaylife, politics,
science, or any otherfield).

. Explain Thoreau’s rhetorical strategies to express his attitude towards the

ownership of material possessions. In other words, do not simply
reformulate the author’s thoughts on this topic, but examine closely his
UNIT 12: HENRY DAVID THOREAU(1817-1862) 215

languageskills, that is, the means he uses to admonish, indict, provoke or

persuadehis audience. Bear in mind that from the beginning of Walden he
was determined to revise and subversively undermine the popular reform
rhetoric of his time.

4. Compare the passages from Emerson and Thoreau you have read, and
explain the ways in which the theories expounded in Nature seem to be put
into practice in Walden. Apart from commenting on similarities mainly due
to the former’s influence uponthelatter, note also how their styles differ,
partly because Emerson’s expression tends towards abstraction, whereas
Thoreau presents experience through concrete images. Emerson’s outbursts
are in sharp contrast with the matter-of-fact voice with which Thoreau
turns the commonplaceinto the mythical.

5. While at Harvard College, Thoreau studied Latin and Greek. Analyse any
references (both quotations andallusions) to the classics to be found in the
passages you haveread.

6. In his formative years at Harvard College Thoreau seems to have waved

aside the “cold tea of Unitarianism” that he formally declined in 1841.
Rather than accept the rules of any institution, he preferred to live
according to the moral dictates of his own conscience. Considering that
the author espoused no conventional religious faith, how do youinterpret
his references to the Bible and to Christianity in the first chapter of
Walden?

7. Thoreau’s writings are highly allusive, his allusions not being restricted to
literary works, but extended to many features of his contemporary world.In
particular, as a witness to the industrial revolution, he felt both fascinated by
technology and threatened by an excessive dependence uponit. He also
feared the negative impact that certain modern inventions might have
upon the environment. Bearing in mind this ambivalentattitude, analyse his
references to therailroad.

8. Thoreau has often been described asa strikingly original and sometimes
eccentric humourist. When hefirst delivered “Economy”as a lecture in
1848, his listeners were amused rather than offended byits sarcasm. The
Salem Observer reported that the lecture “was done in an admirable
manner, in a strain of exquisite humor, with a strong undercurrent of
delicate satire against the follies of the times.” In his successive drafts,
Thoreau tended to make Walden more vividly grotesque. Discuss any
evidence of Thoreau’s humour to be found in the passages you haveread.
You maypayattention to some of the plays on words or puns used by the
author to conveyhis ideas.
216 AMERICAN LITERATURE TO 1900

9. Analyse Thoreau’s first-person narrative, commenting on the author’s

awarenessof himself as an object of scrutiny and as a source ofinsight into
the meaning of human experience. You maylink this exaltation of the “I” to
the romantic emphasis on the creative powers of the individual mind.

10. Reading Walden simply as the work of a romantic individualist may lead
readers to miss the political content of its pages. Some parts of Walden can
be read asa satirical criticism of modern life written by a radical moral
reformer. Of the passages you have read, discuss the ones that address
social issues which not only concerned people in Thoreau’s time, butstill
concern us today. You may concentrate on how Thoreau makes people
think critically about the place labour hasin their lives, since he believes
that current working conditions are a threat to their freedom and well-
being.

Henry Thoreau’s 1846 survey of Walden Pond.