– 1862) Essay, Research Paper
Walden, or, Life in the Woods, is a superbly
written, imaginative and detailed account. The journal offers an introspective
glimpse into two years of one of America’s truly great philosophers and
nonconformists. Walden is a classic piece of American literature which
still serves as a blueprint for simple, frugal, ethereal living.
At first glance, the work may seem nothing
more than a crude diary. But careful reading reveals a complex study comprising
the human mind’s attempt to discover both the obvious and obscure behind
man’s existence and his place in the natural world. Thoreau’s collection
of essays reflects the philosophy of American Transcendentalism in practice.
To him, most men live lives of “quiet desperation,” and have need to simplify,
to cast off material encumbrances and achieve true freedom. The stages
of spiritual evolution that a man passes through all prepare him for the
more difficult inner development; and every man, he believed, possesses
an inner spiritual instinct which, if nurtured and cared for, will reveal
his divine nature.
Just before he died, Thoreau made what
was considered his most pure yet subtly humorous religious utterance. When
asked if he had made his peace with God, he replied, “I was not aware we
had quarreled.”