| | Walden, a natural analysis
“A man is rich in proportion to the number or things which he can afford to let alone.” These words of wisdom come from a man who spent two years, two months, and two days of his life seeing how much he could get along without. Some people criticize Thoreau for his lack on inhibition, and laziness for not having a job during the two years, two months, and two days that he resided in a cabin beside the tranquil pond called Walden. But the critics who evolved this thought forget the basic concept behind Henry Thoreau’s reasons for retreating to this cabin. These detractors have error in three areas. First, while not holding a job, his industry on his property outside of concord was enormous. Secondly, he employed his spare time with observing nature as a true naturalist would. Finally, and probably most important, he wrote a book called “Walden” about his stay at his cabin.
When Henry David Thoreau began his life in the forest surrounding Walden Pond, there was nothing. No house was there for him to live in, no kitchen to cook in, no bed to sleep in. But with twenty-eight dollars and diligent, hard work Thoreau build a cabin, a kitchen to cook in, a bedroom to sleep in, and a living room to entertain guests.
His second feat that he accomplished while at Walden Pond was in-depth recordings and accounts of the nature around him. As written in his book “Walden”, Henry takes a new look at nature, a look that most others (with a few exceptions) in his day and age ignored. He took soundings of the pond, wandered through the forest recording different types of foliage, trudged through the fields hunting for unusual species of life, and wrote down in detail the weather patterns.
Finally, while at Walden Pond, he recorded all these things in a long and detailed book called Walden that told of all his finding and detailed how he build his house and scouted out the surrounding area. He dedicated chapters of this work to the different seasons. One chapter was dedicated to the pond that he loved. Another chapter dedicated to sounds that he heard from day to day. It was these simple impressions that dictated this literary work to the author.
To say that Henry David Thoreau was a lazy person could be no farther from the truth. To say he wasted his time roaming and rambling about would be an equal. Rarely did men in his day and age roam from the absorption of daily toil to truly appreciate nature’s beauty. More rare still was men’s interest in affairs outside those of village life; the interest in the nature that God had created which the author of ‘Walden’ so thoroughly enjoyed. Thoreau realized what a rich man he was, not because he had enormous material possessions, but because he could “afford” to leave nature to itself. And it was that luxury that gave him satisfaction, and lead him to say that, “A man is rich in proportion to the number or things which he can afford to let alone”.
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| | Posted 10/14/2006 9:09 PM - 0 comments
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