Henry David Thoreau... Walden

Henry David Thoreau's Walden is about he (he puts himself in third person and calls himself Walden) decided to go into the forest and stays there for ah wile and reflects on what he sees in the forest (Walden). I also used the literally criticism by Michael Cisco called "Henry David Thoreau: Bachelor of Thought and Nature" It is a criticism that talks about how Thoreau uses nature in his writings and the importance on nature to Henry David Thoreau. Cisco says that Thoreau thought that there was things in nature that resembled God. "Thoreau often saw in his natural surroundings a set of signs that seemed to be symbols of God; in the spontaneous order and balance of nature, he saw in microcosm a sign of a greater universal order and balance." (Cisco). This is interesting because because it helps me to realize that he saw much more than just nature when he looked at it. It makes me realize that he sees a form of God and all of the things God has created and loved. Cisco also talks about a lot of other writers that were in the time period. He mentioned Tomas Hobbes. He influenced America to think that nature was nasty, brutish, and short." This thought held itself for about half a century (Cisco). This is sad, nature is a beautiful thing and it should be enjoyed by people, not downgraded. Cisco also gives another example, but it is the opposite because he thinks it is a good thing. Jean-Jacques Rousseau is who Cisco was talking about. He had the opposite view than Hobbes. He said, "society corrupts and demoralizes mankind. Nature is innocent and orderly by comparison."(Cisco). This agrees with Henry David Thoreau because he liked nature and he thought it was important. That is why in his story, he goes into nature to try to forget everything that is going on in society. Rousseau hit on the head when he mention that society it the bad thing, not nature. Nature is God made and society is man made. This make society much more flawed than nature for that reason. When Walden goes to live by the pond for a year, he does not take a clock or any thing that deals with technology with him. He can tell the time by the seasons. Cisco quotes from more in the book Walden, "As every season seems best to us in its turn, so the coming in of spring is like the creation of Cosmos out of Chaos and the realization of the Golden Age." Cisco). Here is when Henry David Thoreau also known as Walden in this story realizes that everything is always changing and it will always change. We should sit back and enjoy the changes and allow them to happen for the better. Micheal Cisco wrote a very good literally criticism on Henry David Thoreau and his book "Walden". He gave many examples from other writers and novels to gain information on where Thoreau got some of his ideas for the romanticist period. He also covered greatly on Henry David Thoreau's ideas about nature and how it influenced him.

Cisco, Michael. "Henry David Thoreau: Bachelor of Thought and Nature." In Bloom, Harold, ed. Henry David Thoreau, Bloom's BioCritiques. Philadelphia: Chelsea House Publishing, 2003. Bloom's Literary Reference Online. Facts On File, Inc. http://www.fofweb.com/activelink2.asp?ItemID=WE54&SID=1&iPin=BCHDT03&SingleRecord=True (accessed November 15, 2010).

Thoreau, Henry David. "Walden." Glencoe Literature. By Jeffery D. Wilhelm. and Douglas Fisher. Vol.American English. New York: Glencoe McGraw Hill, 2009. 89. Print.