Thoreau's essays

Like many poets, David Henry Thoreau speaks from a very isolated perspective from the rest of society. His works are a true inspiration to all that read them.

The first work of his essays that I read, ‘Walking’, had a very calming effect on me. It speaks of letting societies hold on you fade away, even for just a moment. It made me recall my childhood memories of my own forest that I grew up with. But through this essay, it lengthened my forest, made it stretch out past my own imagination. That idea coupled with his use of prose creates this large wild place to go to. The very atmosphere and feeling of the wild is detailed in this essay, and is in opposition to what Thoreau feels is ‘fake’. He speaks of other poets bringing forests to them by planting them, but this to him is the same as building a house, you let nature make itself and place yourself in it.

Thoreau’s second ‘Civil Disobedience’, first highlighted the fact that Thoreau was not in favor of a strong central government. He has a very "fight the power" kind of idealism that emanates from this essay. This slightly clashed with my own views of government, especially as he voiced his opinion on some of the evils of government. From what I understand, it wasn't the people who ran government that he opposed, but the very idea of government. Only through the will of people fighting the government can balance be achieved. The biggest opponent of this balance are those who just go with what the government says, and don't have an opinion on anything. Looking at our country, there are a lot of people who just don't care about politics. They trust the government to make decisions without their opinion, saying that we should just 'leave it to congress'. From my own experience with advocating and working for interest groups, that was the opinion of at least 70% of the citizens that I would speak with. It was frustrating, that people didn't even have an opinion on things that affected every single person in our country. Which I don't blame anyone specifically for, it is a very normal thing to do in our society. This piece would later serve to inspire multiple civil disobedience leaders, such as Ghandi, MLK, the Danish resistance,  those who opposed McCarthyism, the struggle against South African apartheid, and anti-war activists.

Thoreau's final essay, 'Life without Principle'. he speaks a step further than his other essays on separating oneself from society. He values a life of principles over one being obsessed with money and other materialistic ideals.  “If I should sell both my forenoons and afternoons to society, as most appear to do, I am sure that for me there would be nothing left worth living for.”(Thoreau 1193). It seems a very fitting conclusion to these essays. At the same time, it seems to be a good introduction as well. In order to fully develop your own being and self worth, you need to take a step out of society, and realize the forces at work. You need to value the things around you that you value, and not what other people say you should value.