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Essay / Research Paper Abstract
A 4 page paper that consists of a 3 page essay and a 1 page outline. In Walden, Henry David Thoreau presents his basic philosophy of life and the lessons he garnered by living simply and “deliberately” in the woods next to Walden Pond. A principal lesson that Thoreau emphasizes repeatedly in this narrative is that materialism clouds the perception as to what is truly important. It keeps people preoccupied with trivialities rather than appreciating the beauty of reality. Thoreau puts this well by saying that in the mainstream course of life “Sham and delusions are esteemed for soundest truth,” which ignores the fact that “reality is fabulous” (Thoreau 398). This examination of Thoreau’s argument shows his reasoning to be persuasive and sound. No additional sources cited.
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4 pages (~225 words per page)
File: D0_khthwaar.rtf
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principal lesson that Thoreau emphasizes repeatedly in this narrative is that materialism clouds the perception as to what is truly important. It keeps people preoccupied with trivialities rather than appreciating
the beauty of reality. Thoreau puts this well by saying that in the mainstream course of life "Sham and delusions are esteemed for soundest truth," which ignores the fact that
"reality is fabulous" (Thoreau 398). The following examination of Thoreaus argument shows his reasoning to be persuasive and sound. Thoreau begins his account of life at Walden by
discussing his reasons for assuming this lifestyle, which was to illustrate the benefits that can come with a simplified lifestyle. It is Thoreaus contention that possessions are only a burden
that bring with them excess labor. He writes with sympathy of "young men...whose misfortune it is to have inherited farms" (Thoreau 326). With a farm comes the responsibility of
so much work that the man who has to do it never truly sees the field in which he works, as he is "crushed and smothered under its load" (Thoreau
326). Thoreau goes on to describe the Herculean labors involved with running a large farm and, indeed, these do depict the average nineteenth century man and his family as "serfs
of the soil" (Thoreau 326). In one of most famous lines in his text, Thoreau writes that "The mass of men lead lives of quiet desperation" (Thoreau 329). Furthermore, Thoreau
argues that life in the city is no better, "From the desperate city you go into the desperate country" (Thoreau 329). Certainly this point is easily argued from a modern
perspective, as in the contemporary world, it has become the norm for both the husband and wife to need employment in order to earn sufficient income to make ends meet.
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