Walden by Henry David Thoreau
27 July 2012
Chapter 1: “Economy”
Henry David Thoreau begins by introducing his readers to why he was living at
Walden Pond. He dislikes how fellow townspeople had inherited farms and farming
animals which doomed them to a life of labor and debt. He says it leads to desire which
takes away from the ability to enjoy life. He then discusses what, in his eyes, are the
necessities of life, and how society is exploiting the concepts. He uses his experiences at
Walden Pond to aid in his arguments, especially about clothing, shelter, and food. Thoreau
believes that living a simple life leads to more success than living a life of luxury.
Questions:
Thoreau defines “necessary of life” as anything that is “so important to human life
that few... attempt to do without it.” The four necessities of life are food, clothing, shelter,
and fuel. The one basic necessity is fuel, or more- heat. Heat can be internal or external.
Fuel such as fire, can be used to cook food and is an example of external heat. Food
becomes fuel for the body and it creates internal heat. Clothing and shelter help to retain
the internal heat.
Thoreau believes that heat is vital for the body but too much excess of the
necessities leads to an imbalance of heat. He says that the amount of heat needed depends
on the season, and therefore the necessary elements change. He explains what is needed for
summer: “Fuel, except to cook his Food, is then unnecessary; the sun is his fire and many of
the fruits are sufficiently cooked by its rays; while Food generally is more various, and ore
easily obtained, and Clothing and Shelter are wholly or half unnecessary.”
In general, Thoreau believes that excess of the necessities is damaging. He has seen
people dress for fashion instead of for comfort and how vanity blinds them. He has also
noticed how people judge others by their clothing. Thoreau says that people’s old clothes
are sufficient for doing the same thing. He often relates clothes to skin, and says, “Perhaps
we should never procure a new suit, however ragged or dirty the old until we have so
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conducted... that we feel like new men in the old, and that to retain it would be like keeping
new wine in old bottles.”
For shelter, Thoreau again emphasizes how excess is unnecessary. He mentions how
man was able to survive without it in warm weather. He talks about how he found the
wigwams of the Native Americans to be just as comfortable as English houses. With only
half of society owning shelter, the rest of the population has to pay taxes or rent for it.
Thoreau says this gives the poor luxury, but makes them stay poor: “...we are all poor in
respect to a thousand savage comforts, though surrounded by luxuries.” He believes that
natural and minimal shelter is necessary.
When Thoreau discusses food, he talks about the plants he grew at Walden Pond. He
grew food for himself and discovered that he did not need lots of space, animals, or time. He
goes on to say of what he learned, “...if one would live simply and eat only the crop which he
raised, and raise no more than he ate, and not exchange it for an insufficient quantity of
more luxurious and expensive things, he would need to cultivate only a few rods of
ground...”
Thoreau gives a unique view on philanthropy, expressing his dislike of it. He thinks
charity is directly related to pity, and that the extent of people’s contribution is giving the
poor material items to make up for their situation. Thoreau says that to truly do good,
people have to take action. He explains that the poor, who wear rags, are given money, they
will proceed to buy more rags, and it would be better to give them better clothes to wear.
He says, “Nay, [philanthropy] is greatly overrated; and it is our selfishness which overrates
it.”
1. “The head monkey in Paris puts on a traveler’s cap, and all the monkeys in America do
the same.”
This is what happens when new trends develop. Someone influential does
something, and others follow, like a game of Follow the Leader. For example, the Twilight
Saga novel series, a group of books about a vampire love story, became extremely popular.
Readers became “obsessed” with the books and other writers wanted to dip into Twilight’s
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success. Within the next few years there was a large jump in teen paranormal romance
novels, many featuring vampires and werewolves.
2. “When the farmer has got his house, he may not be the richer but the poorer for it, and it
be the house that has got him.”
This is very much like taking out a loan to buy something, and not being able to pay
it back. If one were to buy a new car with a loan, paying it off may take years, and
eventually the amount paid would surpass the original cost because of interest rates. In
addition, insurance fees, gas, and maintenance need to be paid for.
18 August 2012
Chapter 2: “Where I Lived and What I Lived For”
Thoreau talks about when he was searching for a house. He was going to buy a farm,
the Hollowell place, but the wife of the owner decided to keep it. Thoreau had liked the
Hollowell farm because of its seclusion from the busy village. He settled in the woods on
July 4, 1845 and at this point, his house could keep the rain out, but it was not ready for
winter weather. Thoreau enjoyed the serene landscape of Walden Pond. He loved spending
mornings at his home, and says the best art and music is created in the morning. Thoreau
emphasizes simplicity as a key to a good life.
Questions:
When Thoreau complains that, “Our life is frittered away by detail,” he means that
the desire to know everything detracts from enjoying life. Thoreau stresses humans’ need
to simplify, and reduce. People want to know everything- have everything, but because of
that, they do not enjoy what they do have.
Thoreau lived from the early to mid-nineteenth century. He discusses inventions
such as railroads and the telegraph, which are all ways of communication. He loathes such
inventions, as he does not see them as necessary. He says there is rarely news that needs to
be known, and few important communications made through sending mail. He worries
that such networks make people waste their lives in hurrying.
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Thoreau would question the value of inventions that take away from simplicity of
life. Such would include most electronics, namely laptops, cell phones, television, and
gaming devices. He would not like social networking or the internet. Thoreau would
disapprove of the inventions as they show how people of today’s society rush through life
and rely on unimportant communications.
18 August 2012
Chapter 3: “Reading”
During the summer, Thoreau read Homer’s Iliad in his spare time, when he was not
working on his home or garden. He values reading and thinks every house should have
books. People learn ancient language by reading books in their original language. He says
classics are “the noblest recorded thoughts of man,” and that written language is more
valuable than spoken language because it is remembered throughout time. He is upset that
people are not reading classics, if they can read well at all, and that education is being
neglected.
Questions:
Most people consider minimal and easy reading enough. They read current popular
stories or storybooks, which Thoreau calls “Little Reading.” People also read schoolbooks
which he refers to as “Easy Reading.” People enjoy romance and adventure novels of their
time.
Thoreau would want people to read many books, often. He would only allow the
classics, in their original language. He would want people to learn the ancient languages
and history of the people before them. Thoreau would likely recommend Homer’s epics, as
he was reading one himself (the Iliad), other ancient Greek or Latin classics, and religious
texts including the Vedas and the Bible.
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18 August 2012
Chapter 4: “Sounds”
Thoreau describes the sounds he heard while living in the woods. He spent his first
summer hoeing beans instead of reading, and often contemplated. The Fitchburg Railroad
ran by Thoreau’s place at Walden Pond, and he watched the trains pass. He also discusses
the various animal sounds he heard in the woods.
Questions:
While living in the woods, Thoreau lived day-to-day. He contemplated a lot and did
not rush his life like others, as if bound to a clock schedule. He did not agree with society’s
need to find entertainment. In his mind, a person’s own life is the entertainment. About his
own life, he said, “It was a drama of many scenes and without end.” In order to be content,
people would need to observe and contemplate.
The railroad is an important subject to Thoreau. He found the sight of the train
fascinating, saying, “I watch the passage of the morning cars with the same feeling that I do
the rising of the sun...” He also sometimes enjoyed the smells of the cargo train cars carried.
However, he generally disliked the railroad. The shrill whistle and noise was disruptive,
and he had to move off the tracks whenever trains came. The trains always came in perfect
timing, so much that townspeople set clocks to them, and Thoreau disliked the regularity as
it goes against his idea of not focusing on time and schedules. He also despised the
commerce and business of the railroad. It was used to transport goods to be sold.
When Thoreau describes the sounds of animals he heard, he talks about cows,
whippoorwills, owls, frogs, and cockerels. He feels the strain in the voices of screech owls,
saying they are “... a most solemn graveyard ditty, the mutual consolations of suicide lovers
remembering the pangs and the delights of supernal love in the infernal groves.” He enjoys
the melodious quality of an owl’s hooting. “Near at hand you could fancy it the most
melancholy sound in Nature, as if she meant by this to stereotype and make permanent in
her choir the dying moans of a human being...” He dislikes the “cheap” sound of cows and
the “mocking” noise of frogs.
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19 August 2012
Chapter 5: Solitude
Almost ironically, Thoreau begins this chapter by talking about visitors who have
been to his cabin while he was away, and the signs that someone has disturbed his home.
He enjoys the rain because it is always good for something, and as he says, if it floods his
bean plants, it is still good for the grass. He feels as if gods favor him more than others
because he has rarely felt lonely. He enjoys solitude, and is not lonely, and dislikes society’s
shallow standards for communication.
Questions:
Thoreau was not lonely during his stay at Walden Pond because nature kept him
company. There was always something to interest him. He speaks as if it is practically
impossible to be lonely and says that there is no defining distance a man has to be from
others to be considered solitary. Thoreau found kinship in nature, saying “Yet I experienced
sometimes that the most sweet and tender, the most innocent and encouraging society may
be found in any natural object even for the poor misanthrope and most melancholy man.”
When Thoreau says, “I never found the companion that was so companionable as
solitude,” he is expressing that the best partner is nobody. He said in an earlier chapter that
people hold others back, and one must always wait for the other to be ready. Being
independent means a person can work by their own speed and make their own decisions.
“I have a great deal of company in my house; especially in the morning, when
nobody calls,” simply shows Thoreau’s enjoyment of solitude. Nature is his company, and
he spends mornings in contemplation, at which time he has no desire to talk to other
people.
19 August 2012
Chapter 6: “Visitors”
While he was living in the woods, Thoreau had some visitors. Many were
townspeople coming to see him. He loved society, despite his arguments, and welcomed his
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visitors. He did not accept charity, or offer dinner. He would have intellectual conversations
with his visitors. He liked the company of a simple Canadian wood chopper. He also met a
dim pauper and a runaway slave, who he told to follow the North Star. Others did not
understand why Thoreau lived in the woods, and they tried to see him out of curiosity.
Questions:
The quote, “I had three chairs in my house: one of solitude, two for friendship, three
for society,” shows that Thoreau’s house was small. He had few possessions but as shown
in the book, he could have large groups of visitors in his home. The visitors would “share”
the chair for society, most standing up in the room. Thoreau believed that very little was
necessary, which is reflected in his not serving food to the visitors.
The Canadian wood chopper is a simple man. Thoreau learns that he knows who
Homer is and thinks he, Homer, is a good author even if he did not understand what he was
talking about. Thoreau admires the man’s simplicity, and good humor. He enjoyed his work
and did not get tired. He was very humble and true to himself. Thoreau muses, “... I did not
know whether he was a s wise as Shakespeare or as simply ignorant as a child, whether to
suspect him of a fine poetic consciousness or of stupidity.” Thoreau questioned the wood
chopper and found his simple defenses for institutions to be better than philosophers’. The
limitations of the man include that he cannot really speak ancient Greek, and people do not
think much of him because of his intellect. Thoreau sees the wood chopper’s life as a model
for others to emulate, for his simple way of living and solitude. He does not let others
influence his ideas or get caught up in thinking ahead.
19 August 2012
Chapter 7: “The Bean Field”
Thoreau focuses on his bean field and his process of growing harvesting, and selling
them. He had seven miles of bean plants, in length, and spent his whole summer growing
them. He was most successful in the morning, when there was still dew on the plants. He
hoed the plants often, but did not fertilize them with manure. Once in a while he used
animals or hired men and boys for labor. He discovered arrowheads often, and believed
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Native Americans farmed on the land before him. After harvesting the beans, he ate few
and exchanged the rest for rice, making a small profit.
Questions:
By his famous pun “I was determined to know beans” Thoreau mean that he wanted
to learn all about beans and how to grow them. He observed them closely and found out the
best techniques for harvesting them and what factors would prevent the growth of them,
such as animals or flooding.
The practical value of growing beans as a cash crop was to make some money to buy
food. The symbolic value could be seen as reviving husbandry, the science of farming.
Thoreau goes on to complain about the meaning of husbandry being lost, and the goal of it
in his time being to have large farms and make lots of money. His natural method of
growing beans and making a limited profit can be seen as a throwback to his idea of
husbandry.
The bean field taught Thoreau all about beans and the ecosystem around him. He
learned about how to grow them, and how they reacted to different weather, such as not
growing if there was too much water, or not reseeding after the winter. He also learned
about the predators, such as woodchucks, that would eat his plants.
19 August 2012
Chapter 8: “The Village”
Thoreau visits Concord every few days, and he goes to hear gossip. He does not like
it and prefers the solitude of the forest. When he is in Concord, he sees shop owners try to
lure in customers and believes people are wasting time. He left the town by visiting houses
and sneaking back to the forest. Sometimes when walking home he contemplated and did
not remember his journey back.
Thoreau was put in jail for one night because he did not pay taxes. He returned to
the woods the day after, when he was released.
Questions:
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By Thoreau’s description of the village, he does not think a lot of news is needed. He
thinks that it all creates noise. He would likely believe that people do not need to know any
news that did not concern them.
Government is not very necessary. Thoreau speaks very negatively about authority
and the subject of his arrest. He says he never locks his doors or has had a problem with
anybody disrespecting his house. Of his arrest, he says, “I was never molested by any
person but those who represented the state.” After he discovers his book missing, he
assumes something was wrong with it and that it was taken by a soldier. He thinks that
robbery would not exist if everyone lived like him. Therefore, government would not be
very necessary.
20 August 2012
Chapter 11: “Higher Laws”
In this chapter, Thoreau addresses his views on fishing and hunting. He has
participated in both himself, and believes they are valuable, but he no longer includes meat
and fish in his diet. He says that water is the only good drink, and other drinks, liquor, and
music are intoxicating. People who do not taste and savor their food are gluttonous.
Another higher law is chastity. He relates sensuality to sloth, laziness, another
deadly sin, and says those who are sensual are unclean and impure.
Questions:
Thoreau thinks that fishing and hunting are valuable activities. He says that children
should be taught how to hunt and fish, and that it is the only way they will learn about
nature. As they grow up, they can stop hunting and fishing.
According to Thoreau, the danger of sensuality is that it lives inside everyone as it is
a part of human nature, and it comes from sloth. Although he doesn’t mention a clear
solution, Thoreau argues that humans are no longer able to discuss human nature, and
gives an example of how people of other countries used to govern everything by law. If this
is Thoreau’s solution, it is not very convincing. It would be nearly impossible to pass a law
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to regulate people’s personal behavior, as many do not share his view and would see it as
an invasion of privacy.
20 August 2012
Chapter 12: “Brute Neighbors”
Thoreau talks about his neighbors in the woods. At the beginning of the chapter, he
talks about a human neighbor by writing a dialogue between himself, the Hermit, and his
neighbor, the Poet. The Poet brings the Hermit fishing and the Hermit tries to contemplate,
but cannot.
He then mentions the various animals that are his neighbors. He includes baby
partridges whose mother signals to them and a winged cat he admired. He also watched a
war between red and black ants, and “played a game” with a loon in Walden Pond.
Questions:
The symbolic meaning of the animals that were Thoreau’s neighbors could be purity
or innocence. The description of the animals is a contrast to Thoreau’s view of society,
which is more corrupted and greedy. The animals live like Thoreau does, with only doing
what they need to survive. They gather food and protect their young, but they never go out
of their way to harm others or rush through their live, aspects Thoreau dislikes about
people.
When Thoreau describes the ant war, he compares it to a human war, giving each
species a party (the red republicans and the black imperialists). He gives a very human
description, noting the injuries and providing words the ants would shout to their
opponent. The very personification is the lesson, showing that humans are not the only
species to fight wars. At the same time, the ants are different because their cause for
fighting was more primal and out of instinct.
In the game with the loon, the bird was able to outwit Thoreau and seemed to mock
him. The loon was in its natural habitat and was best knowledgeable and equipped to
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navigate the pond. The lesson from this is that animals and even people succeed most in
their own, familiar environment.
20 August 2012
Chapter 13: “House-Warming”
Thoreau turns back to autumn of 1845 approached, Thoreau started to prepare for
the winter. He observed that wasps did the same, and took up residence in his home. He
began building a chimney out of bricks and patching up open spots in the house. Thoreau
pictures his dream house. He becomes fascinated with the formation of bubbles in the ice of
Walden Pond, which freezes for the first time in years. At his home, the fire in his chimney
is his company. Once when he left it, it burned part of his bed, but he was able to extinguish
it. He used a stove for the next winter, but missed the presence of fire.
Questions:
Building something by yourself has many benefits when compared to having
someone else do it. Economically speaking, it saves money as there is no fee to be paid for
labor. A personal benefit is that whatever you are building comes out exactly how you want
it, granted you follow your own plans. Another is the sense of accomplishment and
gratification that comes with finishing it.
Thoreau’s idea of an ideal house is one that would have only one room where
everything could be seen. There would not be any unnecessary luxuries or decoration. The
room would have pegs where anything people needed would hang and the it would
function as all rooms of a typical house. People would be free to go anywhere in the house,
instead of being confined to a guest room.
20 August 2012
Chapter 16: “The Pond in Winter”
During the winter, Walden Pond freezes and Thoreau goes to get water. He sees men
fishing for pickerel and they explained that they were using worms from logs. Thoreau
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addresses an unsolved mystery- the depth of Walden Pond as people thought it bottomless.
He used a stone tied to a string to find the actual depth, 107 feet. Thoreau thinks Walden’s
inner shape is like the woods, and finds that the bottom is generally flat. He also found that
the point of greatest depth was located at the intersection of the line of greatest length and
the line of greatest width. He wondered if it was true for other bodies of water. In the
winter of 1846-7 people come to Walden to take ice and sell it to India, which Thoreau was
excited for. They ended up keeping the ice in the town because of the water’s color and it
did not melt until over a year and a half later.
Questions:
The value of being able to prove something as fact is the additional knowledge.
Sometimes proving one fact can help to prove another, and other times it is the satisfaction
in answering an long-time question. The value of leaving some things mysterious is the
sense of wonder and striving to find the answer. The questioning of some things create
interest and an eagerness for truth, but once the solution is found, the following joy is short
lived and leaves an empty feeling. Unanswered questions are related to our individual
religious beliefs because the beliefs are often unproven. The basis of religion is the beliefs
and the only way people can believe in them is if they think they may be true. They put faith
behind them and if they were disproven, there would be no religion.
Thoreau describes Walden Pond’s depth to how we may judge human ethical
behavior. His comparison suggests that we should not judge a person just by their “length
and bredth” or the deepest part of them, but should also look to their individual waves and
inlets- their emotional issues.
20 August 2012
Chapter 17: “Spring”
As spring approaches, Thoreau writes about his observations with exuberance. He
watches as Walden Pond melts, steadily with the rising temperatures. He hears the booms
from ice melting. The snow melting on the banks reminds him of leaves, which he compares
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to organs of the body. He loves the symbolic new life of spring, after a dead winter. Frost
melts and animals start reappearing. Thoreau left Walden Pond in September 1847.
Questions:
Thoreau was captivated by the pattern of crossing lines that appeared on a thawing
sand bank. He thought the pattern looked like leaves. He compared everything to a leaf and
leaves to organs. The bank is a symbol of resurrection because the pattern had appeared
after the snow melted, so it was like the birth of new life.
The melting ice on Walden Pond is a symbol for resurrection because when the
pond had frozen in winter, it was as if it was dead. When it melted, it was coming back to
life. All the animals who depended on the pond came “back alive” too.
Light is a common symbol for life. As winter came, the woods became dark and
dead. But as spring approached, the light came back and brought a sense of joy and life to
Walden.
The dead horse symbolizes the life cycle. Nature took its life and it will eventually
become part of new life, from animals eating it to it decomposing into soil.
20 August 2012
Chapter 18: “Conclusion”
In the last chapter, Thoreau discusses the main ideas he taught throughout the book.
He instructs people to follow their dreams and is still against materialism. He advises to
return to old clothes, as it is people who change and not clothes. He says that anyone who
follows the path to their dreams will reach success at an unexpected time. People do not
need to conform to the expectations of society, and can achieve their own greatness.
Thoreau compares life to water, and speaks how it often changes.
Questions:
Thoreau tells the story of a traveler who asks a boy if a swamp has a bottom, to
which the boy affirms. When the traveler’s horse sinks, he doubts the boy. The boy tells him
that there is a bottom, and that the traveler had not found it yet. The story suggests that it
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is possible to find truth at the bottom of the swamp. The boy knew the bottom, but the
traveler did not, much like the townspeople believing Walden Pond was bottomless.
Thoreau discovered the truth- the depth of the pond- like the boy in the story. He is telling
readers that anyone can find the bottom of the proverbial pond if they look for it.
1. “I left the woods for as good a reason as I went there. Perhaps it seemed to me that I had
several more lives to live, and could not spare any more time for that one.”
This quote reminds us of how Thoreau left the village for the woods as a personal
experiment. He felt that his work was done and he found his answers, and it was his
obligation to return.
2. “If you have built castles in the air your work need not be lost; that is where they should
be. Now put the foundations under them.”
This castles of this passage represent dreams. Anybody can achieve their dreams
true if they follow through with them and build the “foundation.”
3. “If a man does not keep pace with his companions, perhaps it is because he hears a
different drummer.”
Thoreau is saying that not everyone must do the same as others, and that someone
who is different can be just as successful as someone else. Some need more time to grow.
4. “Rather than love, than money, than fame, give me truth.”
Truth is the most ultimate thing to discover. It is worth more than love, money, or
fame, and the person who finds truth has the greatest gift of all.
5. “Only that day dawns to which we are awake. There is more day to dawn. The sun is but a
morning star.”
Every day is like a new start, and it is never too late to begin something. People
should look at every day as a new day and disregard anything of the past that will hold
them back.
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