Walden As A Mirror, Walden - 1453 Words

Reflections: Walden as a Mirror, Walden as a Lens When Henry David Thoreau went to Walden Pond on July 4, 1845, he had no way of knowing that 200 years later, Walden would be required reading for anyone with even a passing interest in American literature, environmental literature, or intentional living. But Walden is so much more than the story of one man’s retreat into the woods to ‘transact some private business.’ Thoreau’s disarming directness and naturalistic style aside, Walden not an incidental text. With extensive revisions, distilling a little over two years into one, every chapter, sentence and word of Walden has a purpose and place. Renaissance sculptor Michelangelo is credited with saying, ‘Every block of stone has a statue†¦show more content†¦In fact, aside from a brief reference to the cycle of the seasons, where Thoreau says that he lived ‘a summer and a winter life; saw how [he] could let the years run off, buffet the winter through and see the spring come in,’ t his chapter gains seasonal association through the knowledge that Thoreau went to Walden in the summer. ‘The Ponds’ brings us explicitly into autumn progressing from ‘a calm September afternoon,’ to ‘such a day in September or October,’ to a November after ‘the severe frosts have come.’ ‘The Pond in Winter’ brings the seasonal theme into the title and finally the culmination of, ‘Spring.’ ‘Where I Lived, and What I Lived For’ begins Walden’s central narrative. ‘Economy’ addresses the practicalities and the surface narrative, but ‘Where I Lived, and What I Lived For’ lays out the groundwork for the extended metaphor that serves as Walden’s symbolic backbone. ‘Time is but the stream I go a-fishing in, I drink at; but while I drink I see the sandy bottom and detect how shallow it is. Its thin current slides away, but eternity remains. I would drink d eeper; fish in the sky, whose bottom is pebbly with stars,’ Thoreau tells us at the end of the chapter. This quote illustrates two concepts that recur again and again in Walden. First, the idea of water as simultaneously shallow and deep. Thoreau first proclaims that he can see the bottom of the ‘stream’ but then elaborates, implying that there is something beyond theShow MoreRelatedWalden University And My Future802 Words   |  4 Pagesand my graduate degree from Walden University is almost in my hand. Walden has asked me to give a speech at the graduation ceremony. When I was asked to do this, I was not sure what I would say. I spent some time thinking about my past year at Walden, and all of the things that I learned. I went from not knowing what to say when I was originally asked to having an abundance of things I could say about Walden. My future is bright thanks to Walden University. Walden University has set very highRead MoreThoreau And Transcende ntalism Analysis828 Words   |  4 Pagesâ€Å"Nature plays a central role in most of these writings. On the one hand, it serves as a mirror and metaphor of human existence. It reflects the way one lives and provides exemplars of how one might live† (Henry David Thoreau). Thoreau was basically saying people need to live simple happy lives and believe in yourself and trust your spark. Thoreau blends his love for nature and simplicity in this quote from â€Å"Walden†, â€Å"Every morning was a cheerful invitation to make my life of equal simplicity, and IRead More Comparing Metaphors in Norman Macleans, A River Runs Through It and Henry David Thoreaus, Walden1463 Words   |  6 Pagesand Henry David Thoreaus, Walden In Norman Macleans A River Runs Through It, the author recounts the story of his early life growing up in Montana. The narrative revolves around his family and the art of fly fishing. Through the novel, Maclean begins to understand the wisdom of his father, the fierce independence and downfall of his brother, and the divinity and beauty of nature. A similar theme regarding divinity in nature is found in Henry David Thoreaus Walden. Building his own cabin andRead MoreConquering Sainte Terre in Walking by Henry David Thoreau Essay800 Words   |  4 PagesScholar is about the call for cultural and intellectual independence. He then explains the main influences on what he calls Man Thinking: nature, history, and life as action. â€Å"Men have become the tool of their tools†. He treats nature as if it is the mirror image to of the soul and mind. Emerson believed that institutions diminished the values and passion of the direct experience gained from the real world engagement with society. The American scholar agrees with Charles Darwin’s theory of evolutionRead More The Effects Of Living At Walden Essay1540 Words   |  7 PagesIn 1854, Henry David Thoreau gave us what would become his most famous non-fiction book, Walden; or life in the Woods. In this, Thoreau describes his project at Walden Pond near Concord, Massachusetts. Thoreau decided that he was going to live â€Å"deliberately† in the woods for over two years and live off of a limited economy and isolate himself from society in order to gain a more objective understanding of it. But one has to ask the question, what does Thoreau mean that he wants to â€Å"live ‘deliberately’†Read MoreWas Chris McCandless a Transcendentalism?1099 Words   |  4 PagesSociety is in a constant rush and McCandless believes that people need to slow down their lives and appreciate nature. Thoreau said something similar in ‘Walden’, which is â€Å"Hardly a man takes a ha lf-hours nap after dinner, but when he wakes he holds up his head and asks, ‘Whats the news?’ as if the rest of mankind had stood his sentinels† (Walden). They both criticize the pace of society and the need for material possessions to live. Thus, McCandless also is considered a transcendentalist becauseRead MoreThe Scrivener, By Herman Melville1722 Words   |  7 Pagesof passive resistance â€Å"all other scriveners for a few passages in the life of Bartleby, who was a scrivener the strangest I ever saw or heard of†(p1483). Civil Disobedience was written by Henry David Thoreau in 1849. â€Å"Thoreau presented himself in Walden as an exemplary figure who by virtue of his philosophical questionings, economic good sense, nonconformity, and appreciative observation of the natural world-could serve as a model for others (p 961).† Both Thoreau and Melville were seen as excellentRead More Chesnutt’s Evolving Treatment of the Color Line Through Naturalism2155 Words   |  9 Pagesto a mulatto man and his family, which will later evolve in Cedars. Chesnutt incorporates his philosophy of literary naturalism to show John Walden, Rena, and Mr. Clayton in relation to their surroundings and as governed by their instincts, passions, heredity and environment. The physical nature of a person carried great weight in the South. Both John Walden and Cicero Clayton are very light mulatto men with good educations, wealth, and clear ideas about how the world should work, mostly in theirRead MoreThe Romantic Movement Of Mary Shelley s Frankenstein, And The Rime Of The Ancient Mariner1909 Words   |  8 Pagesof beauty†, feeling the same fulfillment as his creator (Shelley 119). The ardure they have for nature can heal even the deepest of pain and its repetition emphasizes its importance. Finally, Frankenstein’s plot is slightly anti-industry. Early on, Walden, the captain that discovers Frankenstein in the Arctic, foreshadows the â€Å"painstaking† consequences that will come out of Frankenstein’s science experiment writing, â€Å"I am practically industrious - painstaking; a workman to execute with perseveranceRead MoreHelping Teens Avoid Bulimia And Anorexia1028 Words   |  5 Pagesdiagnosed with Bulimia and Anor exia doctors look for many problems that they have. Like some doctors find,† swollen glands, discolored teeth and callouses on the hands, weakness or fatigue, and broken blood vessel around the eyes† (Teen Eating Disorders Walden ). Doctors have also noticed that it starts now with pre-teens and usually goes to when they are in there twenties. â€Å" Up to twenty-four million people struggle anorexia, bulimia or related eating disorders† ( Eating). It is just not females anymore