Walden by Henry David Thoreau Essay Example for Free

Walden by hydrogen David Thoreau EssayNo doubt, the great Henry David Thoreau was born(p) in Concord, Massachusetts on July 12, 1817 and died there calmly on May 6, 1862. He was explained by Hawthorne as ugly as sin. He appreciated spirit, and his steady worry was exploring the woods and ponds making full observations of plants and creatures. Henry led a remarkable manners, never marrying, and marching to his hold drummer, as he put it. From 1845 to 1847, he lived unaccompanied in a little cabin he built by Walden Pond shape up Concord. He explain this sole trial in natural living in Walden criticizing those who lead lives of quiesce desperation by completely the trappings of usual society. His individualised self- government and simple manner was approximate to a number of people, and he gained very little credit throughout his lifetime. Henry David Thoreau was intent for refusing to chip in his diadem-tax because he did not believe he should be part of a governmen t which allowed the holding of slaves and invaded otherwise countries (Mexico) with a standing army. An unknown person paid his poll-tax and he was released from jail.Thoreau would have preferred to remain jailed and had others join him in his refusal. If others had joined him, based on their consciences he believes this could have caused the minority to force the mass to do the right thing. I know this well, that if virtuoso thousand, if one hundred, if ten men whom I could call in if ten honest men only yes, if one HONEST man ceasing to hold slaves withdrew from the copartner-ship, and be locked up in the county jail therefore, it would be the abolition of slavery in America (Thoreau, Disobedience 317).Summary of His arrest Today a majority of high school students do not read books because it is considered boring, and with todays technology, you dont have to read, something else go away do it for you. People who dont read often judge a book by its cover. It is not all boo ks that argon as dull as their readers. Thoreau tell this quote because people often judge books without clear-sighted about the book, in this case, the book would not be dull scarce the person facial expression it is leave alone be.In the chapter Reading, Thoreau said, To read well, that is, to read true books in a true spirit, is a noble exercise, and one that will task the reader more than any exercise which the customs of the day esteem. It requires training such(prenominal) as the athletes underwent the steady intention almost of the whole life to this object. This quote is very strategic because Thoreau is saying that reading is not an easygoing task, but it also requires agglomerates of practice and training just as athletes undergo. Throughout the chapter of Reading, Thoreau states how everyone should read books, and if we dont, we could end up being like pygmies and manikins.No wonder that Alexander carried the Iliad with him on his expeditions in a precious caske t. (Thoreau, Walden) In the chapter Solitude, Thoreau explains how being by yourself is not at all a full-grown thing. But for the most part it is as solitary where I live as on the prairies. It is as much Asia or Africa as New England, I have, as it were, my own sun and lunation and stars, and a little world all to myself. Thoreau didnt look at solitude as being something bad or a punishment, he looked at it as if it were a gift. When he said that he had his own little world all to himself, it made me think different about whenever I am alone.I used to think of solitude as something that was bad, but the way that Thoreau put it, I now matte better about being all by me. In the chapter Visitors, Thoreau talks about how having people some be just as good as being in solitude. I had three chairs in my house one for solitude, two for friendship, three for society. When visitors came in larger and unexpected numbers there was but the third chair for them all, but they generally e conomized the room by standing up. I think that when Thoreau said that he wanted to keep things as simple as possible, he closet it.For example, he only had 3 chairs in his house, and to most people that would be crazy, but when you think about it, how many chairs do you genuinely need? Or how many rooms do you need? Thoreau also said that it was amazing how he could fit 25-30 people in his tiny house, and how that brought him and all of his visitors closer together. I could not but incur some of the peculiarities of my visitors. Girls and boys and young women generally seemed glad to be in the woods. They looked in the pond and at the flowers, and improve their time. (Samuel Taylor Coleridge)Walden by Henry David Thoreau is an important book for a high school student to read because it has important itemors of life that may be needed now, or in you future. In this book, Thoreau explained many things, but I think the most important thing he explained were his chapters on Read ing, Solitude, and Visitors. He explained the importance and necessity of reading, he showed how being alone is usually a good thing, and he also showed how great visitors can be. These are all reasons why I think high school students should read Walden. ConclusionThoreau wrote a lot of stories, one counting Walden. This story clearly portrayed Thoreaus love for nature and life. Thoreau, in the primary part, defines what he sees as the main difficulty of his time. In the second part, Thoreau describes his own trial in living an easy life. Part three focuses on what is significant to him. In this case, Nature is most significant to him, believing nature of learn as a spiritual pursuit. The entire story of Walden is just a trial of a man in living well. Henry D. Thoreau also wrote Resistance which was about him refusing to pay a poll tax.He was in prison and imprisoned in agreement for one night in 1846 for dis watch of his poll tax. This act of disobedience was a complaint against s lavery and alongside the Mexican War, which Thoreau and other abolitionists regard as a means to get bigger the slave territory. Self-reliance and personal independence are hallmarks which are predominant in Walden. Thoreau went to the woods to get to the most basic facts of life and to appreciate and hump everything about these most basic facts. Thoreau viewed the woods in particular, and nature in general, as a instructor of life and living.Thoreau believed that the simpler his life became the greater his opportunity to appreciate life. Thoreau did not want to allow society to shape that which he knew as life. To live an existence based on the common experience of others would be as to neglect ones own experience. Individualism and an appreciation for nature and solitude do not necessarily mean living as a hermit. Thoreau believed that in order to truly appreciate life, to understand and experience life as ones own life, it is necessary to quiet the mind of all the surrounding trappings of society.Individualism, the importance of the individual, self-reliance, and personal independence is one of the leading characteristics of the era of Romanticism. Henry David Thoreau wrote about individualism and demonstrated his belief by the way he lived. Living at Walden Pond, standing up to his government, refusing to pay a poll-tax to a government with which he viewed as corrupt are examples of his fierce independence and individualisation. Thoreau is a stellar example of what identity can produce.A worthy goal is to make the effort to devote oneself to thought and work, to in fact nurture ones own individuality, rather than becoming lost in the mainstream of life. This will allow greater individuality and diversity to complement our current day society.ReferencesSamuel Taylor Coleridge, The Collected Works of Samuel Taylor Coleridge, gen. ed. Kathleen Coburn, 14 vols. to date (Princeton Princeton UP, 1969) 6 30. Thoreau, Walden, the literary productions of Henry David Thoreau 199. All additional citations from Walden will come from this edition and be designated by a rogue number in parentheses.