Henry David Thoreau: The Complex Struggle for Simplicity

Paper Summary:

This paper looks at the life of Henry David Thoreau, recognized as one of the great writers of America and a product of the New England transcendental movement. It examines how Thoreau's life was greatly influenced by his friends and family when he was young and how his family and their abolitionist views provided a foundation for Thoreau's seemingly eclectic ideals which later showed themselves in many of his actions. It analyzes how "Walden" and many other works were written when Thoreau lived at Walden Pond for two years to isolate himself from society and to expand his transcendentalist philosophies. It shows how Thoreau's views on society and his transcendentalist philosophies have hugely impacted many people in today's society and how his writings and ideals have left a lasting legacy in the minds of Americans throughout the years.

From the Paper:

"Christened David Henry by his father, John Thoreau, and his mother, Cynthia Dunbar, Thoreau was a product of heterogeneous ancestry "Scotch, English, and French" (Harding 1). He later changed his name, for reasons he would never reveal, to Henry David. The Thoreau family was known as a family of independent thinkers, and the ideas and moral traits that he was exposed to as a boy helped to build his character. Thoreau's mother was a strong-minded woman who was actively concerned with abolitionist issues and social work, as well as an immanent interest in natural history. The family had even harbored fugitive slaves, which instilled in Thoreau an abolitionist conviction. Thoreau worked with his father for a short time producing graphite for pencil lead, but "his father's long series of business failures during Thoreau's youth must have had a profound influence on Thoreau's outlook toward society" (Harding 102). Thoreau was introduced to the daughter of a Unitarian minister, Ellen Sewall, on July 30, 1839."

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