"Walden" by Thoreau

Paper Summary:

This paper studies a passage taken from the second chapter "Walden" by Henry David Thoreau and looks at how it is in a way emblematic of Thoreau's work. The paper illustrates how "Walden" can be considered an intense reading experience and examines how Thoreau's plea for simplicity leads us to consider true reality as the very object of Thoreau's quest.

From the Paper:

"Movement and stability, for we are mainly dealing with Life itself, go along with one natural element in particular - water, the imagery of which is much developed in the second paragraph of our text. Psychology would surely see a feminine figure here and interpret it as the representation of Mother Nature, after all Walden Pond is a big expanse of...water located in the center of Thoreau's life. In this respect, M. Granger explains in his book Henry David Thoreau: "La relation avec les femmes lui etant impossible, on peut se demander dans quelle mesure la frequentation assidue et l'observation passionnee de la Mere-Nature n'ont pas constitue une sublimation compensatrice, le reconfort d'un domaine de substitution aisement amenageable par l'imaginaire." (p.27-28) Nature is clearly an intrinsic part of Thoreau's way of writing and literature."

Sample of Sources Used:

• BICKMAN, Martin. Walden: Volatile Truths. New York: Twayne Publishers, 1992
• EMERSON, Ralph Waldo. Nature and selected essays. London: Penguin, 2003.
• GRANGER, Michel. Henry David Thoreau. Paris: Belin, 1999.
• PECK, H. Daniel. Thoreau's morning work: Memory and Perception in A Week on the Concord and Merrimack Rivers, The Journal and Walden. New Haven: Yale UP, 1990.
• THOREAU, Henry David. Walden and Resistance to Civil Government + Reviews and Criticisms. Edited by William Rossi, University of Oregon. Norton Critical Edition, 1992.

More papers on "Walden" by Thoreau:

• Book Review # 118769 : "Walden"
• Analytical Essay # 120782 : "Thoreau's Advice in "Walden"
• Essay # 26874 : "Henry David Thoreau: The Complex Struggle for Simplicity"

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