Henry David Thoreau, one of America's premier philosophers,
has, over the course of time, been categorized on many levels.
His writing is beautiful and puts him in the great tradition of the
romantic period. He is also easily identified as a part
of the transcendental movement in American intellectual history. While time has brought over a century
of criticism to his text Walden, much of the criticism has been focused on analyzing
the text in a variety of traditions that can place it historically.
These analyses often attempt to classify the text.
Such classification risks a limited understanding of Walden. What has been lost in much of the literature
surrounding Walden is the radical philosophical message that Thoreau
is sending his reader. What is
unique about Walden as compared to much
of the other philosophy of the period is that Thoreau is speaking to individuals
to reconsider their lives, not simply to society in an attempt for greater
social change. Stanly Cavell
writes on the importance of Walden: "In rereading
Walden twenty years after first reading it, I seemed to
find a book of sufficient intellectual scope and consistency to have established
or inspired a tradition of thinking. One reason it did not is that American culture has never really
believed in its capacity to produce anything of permanent value – except
itself. So it forever overpraises
and undervalues its achievements." (Cavell 1972: 32 – 33) In reading and studying Walden in preparation for
this project, I feel confident in saying that Cavell's statement on the text
and the American culture would leave Thoreau with a great feeling of accomplishment.
Not only is Cavell correct in his praise of the text, but also in his
assessment of society as Thoreau has critiqued it throughout Walden. In this paper, I will examine the various
important arguments given for different interpretations of Walden. These are interpretations of Walden as an ecological
text, as a sacred or spiritual text and as a critique of society. Each of these interpretations holds great
merit in reading Thoreau, but when used to limit ideology surrounding understandings
of the text, Thoreau's true meaning is lost. I will argue that in Walden, Thoreau asks readers
to consider a paradigm shift in their lives towards who they really are.
To do this, the individuals must take themselves out of a life that
is defined by society and enter into a life that is true to themselves.
The experience with the natural environment at Walden Pond serves as
an instigator for this process in Thoreau's life.
To truly understand the Walden experiment, one must
first examine the project in relation to Thoreau's life. Reading Walden with knowledge of
Thoreau's life in mind is necessary because one can see the dramatic shift in his
relation to the world before and after his time at Walden Pond. Thoreau was a Harvard man and became
acquainted there with the work of Ralph Waldo Emerson. Emerson and Thoreau later became close
companions, and for the first part of Thoreau's professional career it was hard
to distinguish between the two philosophers. Thoreau was a part of the transcendental tradition in
American history. The
Transcendental Club, which met in Concord, became active while Thoreau was
still at Harvard. Emerson and others
founded this club with several common beliefs:
Maintaining that the senses were unreliable allies
in the personal search for absolute truth, they (transcendentalists) believed
that insight into the universal reality of God came directly to each individual
human mind. Rational Scientific
investigation, the transcendentalists argued, uncovered knowledge only of the
inferior material world. To know
God, each individual must set aside reason and fall back on intuitive
perception. Doing so, the
individual would discover within knowledge of genuine beauty, morality and
justice. (McGregor 1997: 37
– 38)
As a student, Thoreau was first exposed to this
school of thought by reading Emerson's book Nature. He began to incorporate transcendental
ideology into his thought and writing.
After Harvard, Thoreau met Emerson and the two became close
friends. Over the course of the
several years, the two thinkers went through a series of losses and emotional
experiences together. Their bond
became so close that much of history and criticism fails to see their
uniqueness as thinkers and authors.
However, the distinction between the two became apparent after the
publication of Walden.
Thoreau's
writing is often characterized as part of the romantic tradition in literature. Romanticism of Thoreau's time was drawn
towards depicting the natural world.
This tradition links Thoreau with other authors such as Wordsworth,
Goethe, Poe, Melville, Emerson and many others. (McIntosh 1974: 58)
Thoreau's development of ideas of self and nature are, in the eyes of
literary scholars, created in the truly romantic way because of the life and
vigor he puts into the concepts as he writes. (McIntosh 1974: 50)
Walden is often read as a part of a core curriculum to
understand these characteristics of the romantic period. Thoreau's work is often cherished by
literary scholars because of his amazing use of metaphor and satire. It is important to remember that these
romantic characteristics of Thoreau's work, such as his nature metaphors and
satirical statements about society, are simply that, and not a way to classify Walden.
William J. Wolf creates an interesting perspective
on Thoreau as a part of an ecological tradition in philosophy. The chapters in Walden that most often
place Thoreau in this tradition are "Winter Animals" "The Ponds"
and "The Pond in Winter".
Thoreau's careful study of the pond, measuring depth and other aspects
of it through observation, provided detailed and accurate information about the
natural environment. Thoreau also
made groundbreaking discoveries about the succession of forest trees and was
active in an early form of forest management. His Journal also exemplifies the attention to detail and
interest in the natural world that dominated much of his thoughts during his
time at Walden Pond. It is also
clear from Thoreau's Journal and Walden that he had the
unique perspective of seeing human society as intruding into an ecosystem that
belongs to the wild. The natural
response to Walden often seems to understand it in a tradition of
writing that calls for a return to the natural world, the world of ant battles
and cracking ice and sprouting beans.
Many readers of Walden may categorize it as a nature text because of the
setting and poetic language that is used to describe the environment. Wolf's interpretation of the text as a
possible part of the ecological tradition does not rely on such superficial
understandings of Walden as a nature text, but rather puts it into perspective
with the transcendentalist tradition and with Thoreau's foundational
understanding of natural philosophy.
Wolf
uses the term "ecologist" to refer to Thoreau with the definition of
someone who practices the "study of the household or environment." (Wolf 1974: 147) The careful study of nature was
important to Thoreau not only because of his experience at Walden Pond but also
because of the spiritual role that the natural world plays in his personal
understanding of reality. Wolf's
emphasis on the spiritual aspect of a human relationship with nature has its
foundation in understanding Thoreau as a part of the transcendental
movement. Wolf characterized two
major components to Thoreau's ecological philosophy. The first component is "a mystical sense of oneness of
all life through reciprocal interrelationships," and the second component
is sensitivity toward all of nature, organic and inorganic, and a desire for
fellowship with all things."
(Wolf 1974: 147) These two
components shape Thoreau's philosophy about the relationship between human
beings and nature. For many
philosophers, including members of the Transcendental Club such as Emerson, the
dominating quest for an understanding of reality bridged from the relationship
between people and nature to God.
By looking to the natural world, transcendentalists would claim one
becomes open to a relationship with God that is not found in the modern
world. Thoreau found, in his time
at Walden, that the bridge to God was not necessary. Harmony and spirituality that Thoreau found in a life
directed from a relationship with nature brings life to a new level. This level fulfills his spiritual needs
completely, leaving no necessary bridge to a god outside of the natural
world. Thoreau did not need to pray
to a deity, such as God, that existed outside of the physical world of nature
because he found spirituality within nature.
To
write, Thoreau must use words, such as nature, that in our language hold the
connotation of an attitude that views human society a separate and above the
natural world. Wolf spends a great
deal of time clarifying the use of the word nature as he believes Thoreau meant
it. "Nature for Thoreau is
therapy for tired and despairing people." (Wolf 1974 pg. 152)
While this is not a definition of nature, this explanation does
illustrate the purpose Wolf believes nature serves for human beings. Wolf continues to outline the positive
effects of a relationship with nature to the self, ranging from the
preservation of an intellectual mind to a renewal of spirit and soul. Wolf develops his theory that, when one
cannot go into the woods, Thoreau believes that one may become closer to such
renewal through reading about the natural world. Thoreau found such peace when reading natural histories
during the winters at Walden Pond.
The text Walden can easily serve a similar purpose for its
reader.
In
the transcendental tradition, Thoreau does not look at nature as a subject from
which he is separated, but looks through nature to understand greater
meanings. Nature serves as a
viewfinder for transcendence.
Thoreau wants to detail scientific facts about the natural world so that
they can become moral truths about how one is supposed to live. Wolf writes: "In Walden, Thoreau wrote a
mythology of human experience communicated in part, at least, by the symbolism
of nature as a universalizing agent." (Wolf 1974: 153)
By categorizing nature as a "universalizing agent" Wolf is
developing Thoreau's use of nature in the text to show that humans and the wild
are a part of the same universal reality.
In Walden Thoreau shifts between two understandings about
the relationship between nature and humans: the necessity of humans in nature and the need to keep the
presence of people from overwhelming nature. Wolf sees the median of these two understandings in Walden in Thoreau's
passion for the wild. The wild is
the natural environment, free of human society. It exists in an interdependence of relationships of living
creatures and organic matter that is untamed by any part of humanity. The wild serves as a visible sign of
reality that exists with people but without the corruption of society. Wolf sees Walden as an effective
text because it shows the reader the wild, its power and its spirit. The simple life that Thoreau led at
Walden Pond exemplifies the possibilities of understanding nature and human
existence before the institutionalized, cultural understanding of life that
exists in American society. For
Wolf, Walden is a text founded on ecological philosophy that is
developed around the possibility of spiritual transcendence in nature.
Wolf provides many accurate reflections on Thoreau's
philosophy in Walden.
These glimpses that Wolf provides at the harmony and spiritual side of a
relationship with the natural world do not extend to the entire scope of
Thoreau's philosophy. While
transcendence through the natural world is a way that both Thoreau in Walden and his contemporaries in the Transcendental Club
achieved a better way of life, this is just one of the many levels at which Walden is attempting to
show the reader a way of life outside of society. There is never a point in the text at which the reader
should assume that a retreat into the natural world is the only way that they
may achieve a better life. Thoreau
is very clear in showing that the Walden experiment worked in his life and that
it may not extend to everyone's experience. Wolf, by showing how the ecological emphasis in this text,
hits on the fact that through the Walden experiment Thoreau saw a better way to
live with a consciousness of his relationship to the various aspects the
ecosystem. The ecological
perspective is the foundation from which one can draw themselves into Thoreau's
philosophy, but not the place to make conclusions about Walden as a whole.
Thoreau
deals with the idea that Walden will be placed in the tradition of nature writers
within the text. Stanley Cavell
gives an interpretation of the chapter entitled "The Bean Field" that
shows the satirical nature of some of Thoreau's work. In this chapter, Thoreau details the experience of growing
the beans. Thoreau takes us
through the process by detailing plowing the field, planting the beans and
watching them sprout and grow.
Thoreau's objective is not only to feed himself, but also to know the
beans. This chapter is extremely
detailed and gives a great since of the sort of meditative process that can
occur in planting, nourishing and growing plants. Thoreau himself refers to the process of growing beans as a
parable and allies the action of weeding the bean field with the actions of the
epic Trojan War. In this chapter,
Thoreau has a mocking tone for both parable and epic, two qualifying terms that
have often been used to describe much of his text. Cavell writes: "What the writer is mocking in the
obviousness of this parable is parable-making itself, those moralizings over
nature that had become during the past century a literary pastime, and with
which his writing would be confused." (Cavell 1972: 21)
As we see in this chapter, Thoreau can poke humor both at his
contemporaries within the transcendental and romantic traditions and at his own
work. It is clear that, while
Thoreau respected other thinkers, such as Emerson, he did not want Walden to fall into a
category of works that society was producing and praising during the
period. Walden reaches beyond
showing its readers the beauty of nature and their place in it to challenging
the very nature of human beings.
John B. Pickard provides an interpretation of what
he believes to be the basic principles of Walden in his essay "The
Religion of 'Higher Laws'".
(Pickard 1968: 85-92)
Pickard believes that "Higher Laws", a central chapter in Walden, serves as an
illumination of the Walden experience.
Metaphors of "Higher Laws," when connected to the rest of the
book, provide a consistent series of images of rebirth and renewal, growth and
fruition and daylight and dawn.
Pickard's analysis of the chapter as a guide and outline of the true "religion"
behind Walden puts the texts in the tradition of transcendentalist ideology,
because nature serves as the link between man and his spirituality. The chapter "reflects Emerson's
concepts in Nature, that every man possesses an inner spiritual
instinct which, if carefully nurtured, will reveal the divine. Though this force may be weakened and
coarsened by man's predatory appetite, it can elevate this physical drive and
direct it towards a spiritual goal."
(Pickard 1968: 85) From this
basis comes the paradoxical nature of man's search for spirituality that is
dominant in "Higher Laws" and throughout Walden as a whole.
The
natural instincts toward savagery, which Thoreau develops at the start of the
chapter with a metaphor about food and appetite, are a part of the complete
man, and when they are moderated and disciplined, they can promote a greater
religious end. The religious end
is achieved when man transcends his natural instincts towards savagery. The natural instincts are parts of the
total man that are below reason.
They have the capacity to dehumanize man if they are let free to
dominate behavior. In "Higher
Laws", we see Thoreau struggle with his savage instinct to eat a woodchuck
raw. Thoreau writes: "I
caught a glimpse of a woodchuck stealing across my path, and felt a strange
thrill of savage delight, and was strongly tempted to seize and devour him raw;
not that I was hungry then, except for the wildness he represented."
(Thoreau 1958: 157) Thoreau's
hunger is an internal desire to fulfill the savage side of his natural
instincts. If Thoreau follows
through on such instincts toward savagery he loses his humanness and becomes a
part of the wild.
Thoreau sees another instinct in man. This instinct is towards a higher,
spiritual life. Pickard writes:
This instinct symbolizes an attraction toward the
spiritual existing in all men, which transcends the senses and the individual
ego without denying them.
Fundamentally, the chapter is concerned with the complex problem of
reconciling the discordant attraction of the wild (body) and of the good
(soul). (Pickard 1968: 86)
The connection between Thoreau's theory and the
fundamental understanding of mind/body dualism in Platonic thought cannot be
ignored. Pickard sees Thoreau's
understanding of the body through a lens of dualism; this dualism is
characterized with the low being appetites, the high being spiritual and the
harmonizer being mediation of the two.
Both the savage and spiritual aspects are necessary within human beings,
but spirituality can only be achieved when the two co-exist in harmony,
maintaining moderation within the soul.
Thoreau calls these instincts toward a spiritual life "the faintest
but constant suggestions of his (Thoreau's) genius." Pickard sees Thoreau's "genius"
as the highest reality, the "inner being through which the Absolute is
revealed." (Pickard 1964:
86) In Pickard's understanding of "Higher
Laws," the "Absolute" is the spirituality that may be achieved
when the savage within a human is being moderated by the genius. This concept refers back to the
Emersonian concept of self – reliance. The genius, unlike the appetite instincts of the body,
cannot mislead man. The genius is
a part of the nature of man that stands in contrast with man's instincts
towards savagery. The genius is
often overpowered by man's savage nature because man does not have access to
his genius without disciplining his savage instincts, which he must learn to
do. When directed, the genius
gives man insight to the "higher laws." Higher laws are characterized as "poetic faculties"
that Thoreau associates with the imagination as "innate and beyond mere
understanding which enables man's mind to perceive and ultimate supersensous
reality." (Pickard 1964:
87) The ultimate reality is
achieved when the spirituality of a human soul is guided by harmony between the
savage and the genius.
Thoreau
is optimistic that most men can achieve this pure state of existence because of
the powerful natural appeal of the opposing natural instincts. As "Higher Laws" develops,
Thoreau begins to equate instincts with temperance and chastity. This reflects his faith that the genius
can come to a front within man's nature and the savage instincts can be
tamed. Temperance and chastity are
equalizing characteristics when applied to the natural instincts toward
savagery. The human exercise of
temperance and chastity rely on the will and discipline to transform the
brutish appetites of the body into direct "channels of grace and sainthood." (Pickard 1964: 86)
The
movement of the seasons throughout Walden is important to understanding the
spiritual nature of the text.
Spring and summer time are periods full of attractions for the savage
appetites of the soul. The
activity and stimulation of spring and summer drain the soul of deliberation
and direction towards "higher laws." Within Walden we see this strain throughout nature as it blooms,
mates and battles during the warm months.
Fall serves as the preparation for the winter. We see the animals scavenge for nuts and such to prepare
their cabinets for the long cold winter.
Winter is a time for isolation that gives the complete man an
opportunity for "religious rebirth to his vital spiritual core." (Pickard 1964: 87) The placement of "Higher Laws"
in the text of Walden affirms the
understanding of the importance of winter as a period of isolation and
opportunity for rebirth.
The
paradox of the two opposing natural instincts, savagery and genius, is
developed in "Higher Laws" through Thoreau's experience that makes up
the text as a whole. The
water-soul-purity image is an example of the connection of this paradox to the
rest of the text. In "The
Ponds" the water is clear and pure.
The pond is an embodiment of the higher laws and of God's creation. In "Higher Laws" Thoreau sees
the pond both as an embodiment that contains God but also that contains equally
the savage instinct of nature that can destroy God. The water is cleansing, nourishing and clear but it also has
a harsh side that will suffocate and devour any who dare enter its waters. The paradox lies in the fact that the
pure and divine can be destroyed by the savage instincts within nature; this is
disturbing for Thoreau. This image
extends to man's existence.
Pickard finds the most disturbing part of this paradox to be that God
keeps the savage destructive instincts of man alive and constantly overpowering
the spiritual needs of the soul.
Thoreau does not find transcendence of the savage natural instincts of
man but maintenance of temperance between the soul and the savage body as the
reality of the human condition.
The natural world, where many scholars believe Thoreau has found
spirituality, has failed him. It
has failed him because nature holds the savage instincts as primary, lacking
the taming genius that exists in human beings. "Higher Laws" shows that nature does not
necessarily reveal the divine; it can also reveal only the savage. In this chapter it seems that Thoreau
believes that spiritual rebirth occurs only when nature is overcome. Man is reborn spiritually when he
overcomes a life directed by savagery.
This rebirth cannot occur without a deliberate focus to overcome his
natural instincts throughout his life.
Thoreau is struggling with the transcendental tradition that he longs to
validate with his Walden experience and the reality that the natural world may
not truly be the key to transcendence.
What Thoreau must achieve at the end of "Higher Laws" is a
qualification for the Walden experiment in relation to the paradoxical way he
has represented the dueling parts of man and nature. This is necessary so that his theory does not destroy the
impact of the text. Thoreau does
this by telling a parable, the story of John Farmer.
The
parable of John Farmer serves to restate the central religious meaning of the
Walden experience; "that man is both natural and divine and that he must
discover the spiritual laws which are a part of nature and yet beyond it." (Pickard 1964: 90) Pickard provides a detailed and lengthy
interpretation of this parable that shows the reader of Walden how to escape the paradoxical struggle Thoreau
presents in "Higher Laws".
John Farmer is a folk hero for this text. He is an everyman, but his occupation as a farmer is very
important because his profession brings him into closeness with nature. This makes him "instinctively
responsive to nature's spiritual significance." (Pickard 1964: 90)
John Farmer sits on his doorstep, which Pickard sees as a threshold or
gateway to his house, society and nature.
The action of sitting at this threshold has prepared him for the
intimations of higher law. Before
he sat down, he washed himself of the dirt of a hard days work. This act has implications both of
baptism (making John Farmer spiritually ready) and of a shift from being a
brute man to an intellectual man.
Furthermore, the use of water is a symbol for rebirth and purity
throughout the book.
The time is set on a September evening, symbolizing
the transition of the seasons. The
transition to winter after the fall's harvest is a transition into "enclosure,
isolation, and ultimately spiritual renewal." (Pickard 1964: 90)
The cool darkness of the evening in which John Farmer is resting comes
after a hard days work (activity) in the hot sun. This is also symbolic of the change of season that is about
to occur. John Farmer is resting
while many of his neighbors are worried about the possibility of frost. This is not of concern to him. He sees beyond the danger of the frost
to its spiritual significance.
John
Farmer is partially engrossed with thinking about the day's activities when he
begins to hear the music of a flute.
The music is symbolic of man's slow emergence to divinity. For man to reach a state in which he
knows the divine, he must slowly overcome his appetites and train himself to
let "higher laws" guide his life. This is a gradual process. Entranced by the music, John Farmer realizes that the
products of his labor and mental planning are preparatory for the spiritual
work to come. "As he responds
more fully to the music, time and space are transcended, for the notes do away
with 'the street, the village, and the state in which he lived.'" (Pickard 1964: 91) He finds a new divine state of
blessedness.
Thoreau
does not give us a formula to achieve this mystical experience. Rather, we are left wondering what John
Farmer must do to maintain this transcended state. According to Pickard's interpretation, we find that he must
return to his labor and through it seek the higher laws. He must hold a strict spiritual economy
so that he may mesh his vision with his actual life. The mind must make its way back to the body so that it may
redeem it. And John Farmer must
treat his body with respect, as it is the house both of his natural instinct
but also of his instinct towards higher law. The labor of farming unites the three necessary aspects of
John Farmers life: austerity, redemption and respect. The parable closes with John Farmer's attempt "to
harmonize the physical and the spiritual." (Pickard 1964: 90 – 92)
Pickard's view of the purpose of "Higher Laws"
within the framework of Walden is excellent. The paradoxical nature of humans is a major concern for
Thoreau throughout the entire text.
It is in reading and focusing on "Higher Laws" that we may be
able to understand the consistent philosophical context for the rest of Walden. For many readers Walden appears to be a
text that lacks arguments. "Higher
Laws" provides the philosophical and religious foundation for the
text. Through the other chapters
we see an account of Thoreau's experience at Walden Pond and the application of
his theory to real life. Pickard's
interpretation of the Parable of John Farmer is contextually rich. However, the conclusion that he draws
from the parable and thus Thoreau's philosophy can be refuted. Although Pickard believes that John
Farmer has succeeded by returning to his everyday life after hearing the music
of the "higher law" one could argue that John Farmer has missed the
opportunity to experience transcendence by following the music. In returning to his ordinary life, he
has turned back to the world predetermined for him by society rather than
knowing something new. We see that
even a life that is extremely connected to the land and thus the natural world
can be stagnant for the individual.
The
characterization of Walden as a sacred text has a great deal of foundation in
Thoreau's study of several Native American spiritual traditions, the Hindu
tradition and the Bible (specifically the Book of Ezekiel). The project of Walden is to impact the lives of individuals, and gaining
peace and understanding within one's spiritual life is often seen as a
stepping-stone for movement towards positive change in life. Cavell writes that in Walden, Thoreau
commits himself to writing a kind of scripture. In writing scripture Thoreau must fulfill several
traditional requirements such as poetry, parable, "a smaller epic or two"
and some sort of account of creation and redemption. (Cavell 1972: 14)
However, the literary commitment to fulfilling these qualities in Walden does not qualify
the soul purpose of the text to being one of scripture. Cavell writes: "From a critical
point of view, he must be readable on various distinct levels." (Cavell 1972: 15) The level of reading Walden as scripture is
simply one of these many levels that Thoreau skillfully instills into the
text.
Much of the literature about Thoreau presents the
idea that he is calling to his readers to revolt against the conformity of
society. To discuss Walden as a book that is
a critique on society, a variety of aspects must be considered. From the two previous sections we see
elements of this fundamental premise in the message of the Walden
experience. Wolf's interpretation
of Walden includes the necessity of shift in social norms in
the way humans perceive themselves as elevated above the natural world rather
than as a part of the ecosystem.
From this perspective, Wolf believes that Thoreau teaches readers to be
responsible to the ecosystem because it is the greater whole of which their
lives are all apart. Wolf sees
Thoreau as revolting against the understanding of life that has been
constructed by society to maintain a culture that separates man from
nature. Pickard's analysis of "High
Laws" as a spiritual guide to the religious experience of Walden also relies on the rejection of socially defined
notions of spirituality and traditional religion. It is very evident that Thoreau does not agree with social
constructions of thought. His
critiques of parts of society are charged with the necessity that individuals
must learn to think for themselves.
Many scholars have developed various perspectives on Walden as a critique
of society. Society is a term that
I am using to describe American social norms and traditions. The various suggested analysises range
from understanding the text as a charge for readers to reject society as a
whole to understanding the text as Thoreau's attempt to change social
norms.
Michael
R. Fischer gives an analysis of Thoreau's philosophy in Walden that gives foundation to the claim that Thoreau is
calling for a rejection of society and for the implementation of
individualism. Fischer begins his
essay with Audre Lorde's famous question: "How can we build our house
without borrowing the master's tools?" (Fischer 1992: 96)
Lorde writes to a society in which people are trying to overcome
oppression that is built into language, economy and education. She is concerned that we can never
truly overcome social oppression within a system that is the foundation of such
oppression. Similarly, her
question is relevant to the greater quest of Thoreau's philosophy. The concern for Thoreau is focused on how
it is possible for individuals to emerge from a society that places human lives
into its structure before any human even has a chance to explore their
self. Fischer is believes that
Thoreau is trying to wake up his reader from the trance of socially defined
norms. He draws evidence from Walden for this claim because Thoreau's assertion that "we
are sound asleep nearly half the time" requires him having knowledge that
he is truly awake. (Fischer 1992:
97) Thoreau believes that we are "sound
asleep" half of the time because we let society's norms guide us through
life rather than making our own set of norms. Thoreau's confidence that he knows what it really means to
be awake is to know a series of truths presented in Walden: "…to
know truth from falsehood, necessity from accident, simplicity from unwarranted
complexity, purity from contamination, fact from fiction, nature from artifice,
freedom from slavery and reality from appearance." (Fischer 1992: 97- 98) This is a critique of society because
generally society is sound asleep and unaware of these truths that Thoreau can
know as an individual. Fischer
believes that even though Thoreau is aware that his ideas represent his own
point of view, he speaks with a universal voice so that his opinions are
offered to his readers as if they are for everyone. He does this not to offer a substitute for society's
opinions. Rather, because these
opinions are not society's but an individual's, they have greater merit than
the social ideals. This is a
critique on society because the value is placed on Thoreau's thought as an
individual rather than on society's collective ideas. Thoreau sees standards and norms that are set forth by
social convention as oppressive to the development of a culture of individuals.
In Walden we see Thoreau's
emphasis on the complexity of us speaking to each other when he discusses that
his home provides too small of quarters to have conversation. He would rather talk to his neighbors
from across the lake, believing that distance is necessary for us to talk to
each other. Fischer believes that
the greater philosophical consequence of Thoreau's ideas on the necessity of
distance is that "we can only come together if we are apart, if we exist
as individuals." (Fischer
1992: 100) This is a critique on
human mannerisms to communicate with each other. Society dictates that we
gather together to communicate, often lead by a leader who takes us through
discussions on religion and politics.
We come together in small quarters to form norms and standards. By suggesting that we speak to each
other from across the lake, Thoreau is suggesting that we make room for our own
ideas before we begin to communicate with each other. This is something that is lost when we gather in small
quarters and become common members of social groups that hold norms and
values. Thoreau is not asking only
for the readers to think for themselves but he is asking the reader to take
himself out of the traditional relationship between man and his peers (society)
to see a new way of relating to each other.
Reginald L. Cook examines Walden in relationship
to the ancient rites of man. In
this interpretation of the text he brings up several points at which Thoreau is
in conflict with society. Cook
believes that through the text we see series of ancient rites that bring
Thoreau to another level of existence that has been lost in modern
society. Thoreau's interest in
bringing the ancient rites of man into practice through rituals is a critique
on the way that modernity has directed existence in such a manner that
individuals do not remember or practice individual rituals outside of
society. Cook does not claim that
there is a set series of rituals that are necessary for man to practice, but
rather that in his time at Walden Pond Thoreau practices rituals that are
individual and that would not be allowed within traditional social
structure. Cooks interpretation of
Walden from the perspective of myth is like Cavell's understanding of the text
as scripture. Thoreau achieves the
level of the text as myth by fulfilling several qualifications for this
literary style. Cook writes: "A
more searching look discloses ritual forms of purgation and sacrifice, formulas
of prayer, a quest, or an ordeal, but whatever form, their re-enactment
enlightens the mysteries of ritual consciously or unconsciously preformed." (Cook 1968: 94) Cook believes that what makes Walden identifiable with
the tradition of mythology is way that Thoreau chose his quest. Thoreau chose to go to Walden Pond at a
time in his life when he was searching for a new perspective on reality. Thoreau did not go to Walden Pond to
escape society but rather to confront society. He writes:
Thoreau found by living the life he imagined, he
could free himself from social conformity and activate a state of mind where
new, universal, and more liberal laws were established around and within him,
which is to say he discovered that he could unite harmoniously with the
conscious and unconscious forces of life.
By living a life of 'voluntary poverty,' he solved his economic problems
by enjoying 'a wide halo of ease and leisure,' he was free to tap the deeper
instinctual forces. (Cook 1968:
95-96)
In this passage, Cook deals with the confrontation
of society in the economic and personal realm. Thoreau actively chose to confront society by showing how he
could live life through an individual set of rituals and various other
activities that existed outside of society's norms. This act is confrontational because Thoreau did it publicly,
only a mile from any neighbor, so that all of Concord could know where he was
and what he was doing. By turning
away from society and moving to Walden Pond Thoreau actively confronts the
society that he believes is directing its members away from lives as
individuals.
Both Fischer and Cook provide interesting
perspectives on Thoreau's various critiques of society. It is clear that Thoreau does not value
the social norms and traditions that American society holds. Fischer's interest in Thoreau's writing
that deals with taking to one's neighbors across the lake rather than a house
or room is thought provoking. From
Fischer's theory we see Thoreau's desire to change the way we communicate with
each other. While this is a
critique on society, I believe that it is not an advocation of life of
isolation. In Thoreau's various
discussions about the interaction of animals and nature there is a persistent
value placed on their harmony as an ecosystem. Similarly, I believe that Thoreau places value on
community. Fischer puts forth the
idea that only when we are separate can we come together. Social interaction and community
between human beings is a necessary part of their existence and nature. Thoreau places value on this part of
the human world. Walter Harding,
the long time president of the Thoreau Society, comments on the interpretations
of Walden as a call to
society to change so that people return to an ordinary, simple life. He writes: "It was only through a
profound misunderstanding of the book Walden that the idea that such an abandonment of
civilization was Thoreau's aim ever got into circulation." (Harding 1988: 87) Thoreau never intended to charge his
readers to turn away from community or civilization, his interest was in asking
them to turn to themselves and find their individuality. Thoreau writes: "Instead of
noblemen, let us have noble villages of men. If it is necessary, omit one bridge over the river, go
around a little there, and throw one arch at least over the darker gulf of
ignorance which surrounds us."
(Thoreau 1958: 82) To throw
an arch over the "darker gulf of ignorance which surrounds us" is to
move from an easy passage over the lighted river to challenge to unknown. Society, led by noblemen of various
sorts, has built easy bridges for us to pass throw life. Thoreau wants us to break away from the
easy passages that society has structured for us. Only then can we know the world that is outside of the
reality that social structure has led us to believe as absolute truths.
Cook's
perspective on Walden is more problematic. The foundation for his alliance of Thoreau's quest with
traditional mythology is that Thoreau chose to confront society and go to
Walden Pond. I disagree. Thoreau went to Walden Pond at a point
in his life when he realized he needed to search within himself. Thoreau writes:
I went into the woods because I wished to live
deliberately, to front only the essential facts of life, and to see if I could
not learn what it had to teach, and not, when I came to die, discover that I
had not lived. I did not wish to
live what was not life, living is so dear; nor did I wish to practice
resignation, unless it was quite necessary. (Thoreau 1958: 67)
Hear we clearly see the purpose of Thoreau's move
into the woods was not to confront society with another way of living life
outside of its norms, but rather to learn about the life that society had
removed from modern existence.
Cook is correct in the assumption that Thoreau chose his quest but
mistaken in his purpose. Thoreau
was not forced to leave Concord and his friends. He chose to try to live another way of life. He chose to confront his ignorance
about the natural world and a life of solitude. He made these decisions to expand his personal understanding
of himself and his place in the world.
This was not meant to revolutionize the way other people within the
norms of American society lived.
A
clear understanding of Thoreau's critique of society is found at the beginning
of Walden in the chapter entitled "Economy." "Economy" is a very detailed
chapter in which Thoreau examines many of the staples of his contemporary
American society such as factory production, clothes, and religion. The tone of this chapter begins with
his critique our roles within the workforce that are bond to our lives by what
we perceive as necessity. Thoreau
writes:
I see young men, my townsmen, whose misfortune it
is to have inherited farms, houses, barns cattle and farming tools; for these
are more easily acquired than got rid of.
Better if they had been born in open pasture and suckled by a wolf, that
they might have seen with clearer eyes what field they were called to labor in.
(Thoreau 1958: 4)
The young men of Concord are living lives that were
determined for them by their birth into a structure that has been upheld for
generations and generations of humankind.
Thoreau's interest in these young men is not only a sorrow that they
have a clouded vision of the structure that binds them; he also sees the great
struggle that these young men have to leave their structure even if their
vision becomes clear. We see these
young men in John Farmer; a man bound to his life even after hearing the music
of transcendence. The struggle to
walk away from the structure of one's "seeming fate" is linked to our
understanding of "necessity."
(Thoreau 1958: 5) In
adulthood, if we are challenged with the face of the possibility of a life free
of society's structure we foolishly reject it because of a fear of lacking what
we consider necessities. How can
you walk away from the farm or the office when a mortgage is owed, tuitions
must be paid and a family depends on you to maintain their standard of living? Who will buy you daughter's shoes for
her Easter dress this spring? How
will you have flour to make bread?
These plaguing questions keep fear and foolishness leashed to man who
faces an opportunity to walk outside the lines of the structure that has bound
him since birth. Thoreau writes: "Most
of the luxuries, and many so-called comforts of life, are not only dispensable,
but positive hindrances to the elevation of mankind." (Thoreau 1958:
11) His perception of humankind,
free of hindrance and structure, is humankind constructed of individuals who
love wisdom and let it, not material, guide their lives. Thoreau believes that a life guided by
wisdom is a simple one, marked by independence and trust. These characteristics of Thoreau's
critique of society are not the focus of Fischer or Cooks interpretations of
the Walden.
In looking to "Economy" to truly see Thoreau's basic problems
with society, an alliance can be made from his critique to his overall
challenge to the individual in Walden.
Each of the interpretations of Walden that I have
discussed holds merit in understanding Thoreau's philosophy. Readers must be able to see Thoreau in
relation to the transcendental tradition and as an author outside of prescribed
doctrines such as romanticism or transcendentalism. Context, including education, economic situation, and time
in history is necessary to include when examining any great thinker. In my interpretation of Thoreau, I see
the merit of understanding Walden as an ecological, spiritual and social
critique text. From this point I must
make my argument that in Walden, Thoreau is calling for his readers to lose the
definitions of society and enact a paradigm shift in their lives towards
individuality so that they may truly know themselves. Such a life requires deliberate action and consciousness of
one's place within the world. This
life is in contrast with a life that has been structured for you to fit into
social norms by your economic status, family or traditional vocation. When you live in a structured life of
society, you are part of the whole, not a unique entity. Through this self-knowledge and
self-exploration, we may learn to see ourselves as unique entities in the
world. My understanding of Thoreau
may seem to be allied with the structure of arguments that see Walden as a
critique on society. Thoreau, both
in his life and his philosophy, returns after his time in the woods to society
to live. This is not a rejection
of society, but a return. Cavell
writes, "That was the point of the experiment, not to learn that the life
at Walden was marvelous, but to learn to leave it." (Cavell 1972: 44) Thoreau's two years and two months at
Walden Pond was a deliberate time from which he could gain knowledge about life
in the wild, including knowledge about himself as a part of that ecosystem of
lives that he saw in nature. This
time was necessary for him because he had to learn about himself in order to be
able to return to his friends and life with an awareness of self that he could
not gain from living within society.
Thoreau's return to Concord and to a life that was within the
constraints of a social system that he so distained is an act not of giving up,
but of moving forward into another phase.
Thoreau writes:
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. It is remarkable how
easily and insensibly we fall into a particular route, and make a beaten track
for ourselves. (Thoreau 1958: 238)
Thoreau's critique of lives that are allied with
the beaten track for individual's lives is strengthened by a constant reference
to being awake as opposed to being asleep throughout Walden. Thoreau sees his life and movement at
Walden Pond as being an awakening experience. In living his life deliberately and simply there he is awake
whereas the people who are living their lives "insensibly" are
asleep. Being awake is a metaphor
used throughout Walden to describe the life that Thoreau has chosen in
relation to the lives of those who remain inside their structured place in
society. In becoming awake, one
leaves the comforts of a set path and is challenged to hear the music of a
different drummer and follow it.
In leaving Walden Pond, he is maintaining a direction in his life that
requires the stimulation and thought that keeps him awake. This movement in life is what separates
Thoreau from John Farmer; John Farmer could not separate himself from the
beaten path and follow the music that awakened him.
Cavell has studied the way Thoreau used the term "nature." Thoreau makes reference both to nature
in the sense of the natural world as it is separated from humans and nature in
the sense of human nature. Cavell
presents an analysis of the dual use of the term nature that illuminates
Thoreau's brilliant constructions of philosophy. Thoreau shows the reader that we must overcome our human
nature. To do this we must look to
the natural world to see what beauty is possible in existence in the world that
we do not achieve simply by living by our human nature. Human nature guides us to conform to
the pack. Conformity is a simple
route that does not require a regular thought process and refined natural
instincts to live. Thoreau's
experience at Walden Pond shows us what beauty and understanding of the self
and world lies outside of a life of conformity. We alone are responsible for disciplining our lives to
follow the music that John Farmer hears.
To do this we must deliberately live with self-knowledge of our human
nature so that it does not overcome one's individual self. Living deliberately requires a
continuous conscious activity within the self against its nature to conform to
the easy route of life, a route defined by social norms and standards rather
than the individual.
Walden's philosophy for
the individual reader is radical.
Thoreau believes that humans who have accomplished transcendence of
their human nature will then live deliberately to maintain their new way of
life. This deliberate life
requires that they maintain a constant work to stay awake, guarding against all
human tendencies to conform to the life already molded for them by
society. James Edwards writes on Walden believing that
Thoreau intends to challenge his readers to live their lives deliberately. Such a deliberate life leads to living
with an awareness of the facts of life and the action of confronting the facts
of the present. "For him
(Thoreau), what blocks our 'improvement' is our ever-repeated failure to live
– as he says – deliberately, our failure self-consciously to front
the actual facts of our condition with them…" (Edwards 2003: 3) Living deliberately has the effect of
living ethically. Thoreau's view
of those who are asleep, that is living a life of conformity, in their lives is
that they miss the events and facts that they could be affecting. Thoreau's critique is of those human
beings who let life and the world happen without activity and individuality as
a deliberate focus and assertion throughout their lives. Human beings that live the life of
conformity take no personal interest or responsibility in life. They are not active in making ethical
decisions that affect their neighbors in society or their neighbor the natural
world. He sees the laziness of
human nature that prevents the majority from being interested and deliberate in
directing both their actions and the impact of the human world on both the
natural world and humankind. By
living deliberately, Thoreau has taken personal responsibility to be ethical in
all of his actions and relationships with the entire ecosystem that makes up
our world. For example, in "Higher
Laws" we see that Thoreau is aware of himself, his instincts towards
savagery, and he deliberately chooses not to tear into a woodchuck even though
his body is craving its meat.
Thoreau is deliberate in regulating himself in the greater world. This
is the development of a personal ethic through deliberate living. Edwards' understanding of Thoreau's
charge to live a deliberate life as a charge to develop and maintain a personal
ethic that is lacking in society is a clear statement that can be identified
throughout Thoreau's work not only in Walden, but also in Civil
Disobedience and various poems. This personal ethic does not have to be tested in the wild,
but can be enacted by any human within the traditional social world as long as
they are awake and deliberate in all of their actions.
Understanding
Walden as a text that asks its readers to make a paradigm
shift within their lives, to live deliberately as individuals, to reject the
comfort and security that society has offered them in its predetermined
structure is preferable to single-layer interpretations of the text. Walden as an ecological text, as a sacred
text or as a critique of society looks only to single-layers of Thoreau's
deeper meaning. My interpretation
of Thoreau seeks to establish a foundation from which each layer may be
connected and understood as a series of interrelated concepts. The natural relates to the spiritual
and learning to see these aspects of life requires rejecting society. However, we find that there is much
more required of the self, of the individual in order to live a life that can
achieve knowledge of the higher laws.
In "Conclusion" Thoreau writes:
I learned this, at least, by my experiment: that if one advances confidently in the
direction of his dreams, and endeavors to live the life which he has imagined,
he will meet with success in uncommon hours... In proportion, as he simplifies his life, the laws of the universe
will appear less complex, and solitude will not be solitude, nor poverty
poverty, nor weakness weakness. 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. (Thoreau 1958:
240)
The readers of Walden are not being
asked to demolish all that they know.
Simply, Thoreau asks them to build their own foundations. Foundations for belief systems,
religion, vocation and much more requires a deliberate search within one's self,
ranging from the soul to one's relation to the world, in order to be the
builder of your own life. You
castle will be strong if you make the effort to secure it. Similarly, the single-layers of Walden that have been
uncovered in this project require a foundation. I believe that that foundation is Thoreau's belief in a life
of deliberate individualism.
Reading the philosophy of Walden requires a
deliberate attention to the text and all of its various parts. The act of reading this text carefully
and truly looking to Thoreau's call that we live as individuals, awake to our
action and the effect of society on the world, is the application of the
greater message Thoreau has for life.
While making associations and interpretations of Walden as an ecological
text, sacred text or social critique can be validated by the text, such
readings avoid the deliberate necessity of examining every aspect of Thoreau's
experiment. Making record of his
movement to and from Walden Pond in this text serves as an example of the
application of an individual's capacity to transcend a life determined by
either society or his/her human nature to become awake and know him/her true
self.
BIBLIOGRAPHY
Cavell, Stanley. 1972. The Senses of Walden. New York: The Viking Press.
Edwards, James C. unpublished manuscript. 2003
Fischer, Michael R. 1992. Walden and the politics of Contemporary Literary Theory. In
New Essays on Walden, Robert F. Sayre ed. Pp 95 – 113. Cambridge: Cambridge University
Press.
Harding, Walter. 1988. Five Ways of Looking at Walden. In Critical Essays on Henry
David
Thoreau’s Walden. Pp. 85 – 95. Boston: G. K. Hall.
McGregor, Robert Kuhn. 1997. A Wider View of the Universe: Henry Thoreau’s Study of Nature. Chicago, Illinois: The University of Illinois Press.
McIntosh, James. 1974. Thoreau as a Romantic Naturalist: His Shifting Stance
Towards Nature. Ithaca:
Cornell University Press.
Pickard, John B. 1968. The Religion of “Higher
Laws.” In Twentieth
Century Interpretations
of Walden, Maynard Mack ed. Pp 85 – 92. Englewood Cliffs,New Jersey:
Prentice – Hall Inc.
Thoreau, Henry David. 1958. Walden, and on the
Duty of Civil Disobedience. New
York, New York: Harper & Roe, Publishers, Inc.
Wolf, William J.1974. Thoreau: Mystic, Prophet,
Ecologist. Philadelphia, Pennsylvania:
United Church Press.