Cal Armistead's Being Henry David Thoreau

628 Words2 Pages

There are difficult moments in life where turning to nature is the best option. In Cal Armistead’s novel, Being Henry David, Hank awakens in Penn Station with no memory; all he has is the book, Walden, by Henry David Thoreau. Since Hank has no recollection of his prior life he has to recover the truth about himself. But, Hank has a beast inside of him that sparks when there is a moment that pertains to his prior life. Eventually, Hank journeys to Concord, Massachusetts to uncover the truth about his past. Throughout his time in Concord, Hank continually returns to nature to make better decision about his problems. Hank starts to distance himself from his problems to receive a new perspective and make a better decision on what to do. The most …show more content…

Because of Walden’s peaceful setting, the beast calms down. There, Hank starts to regain his memory. While running in the quiet environment of Walden Pond; Hank ventures into trying to access accessing his memory, but however that provokes the beast, and Hank’s tranquil state of mind disrupted. “Leaves and pebbles and pine needles crunch in cadence under my sneakers, lulling into a comfortable trace, and in this frame of mind, I try to access memories that lie out of my reach... The beast roars awake as if I poked it with a stick and I completely lose the rhythm of running and breathing… I have to find out who I am, so I can figure out how to get her. This is not about me anymore. Even the beast can’t keep me from her or prevent me from remembering more.” During Hank’s run in through Walden, Hank decides it is a good time to try obtaining his memories, but this evokes the beast and, it strives to suspend him from the truth. Despite the beast, Hank decides to find his sister and chose to put his sister before himself. Not even the beast could prevent him from finding his sister. Also, Hank resorts to nature throughout the story to help him see a new perspective on a problem this occurs when, Hank finds out he is Danny Henderson he turns to nature to distance himself from the problem and to decide what to do. Hank is at the library, and he dashes to Walden and the beast, unleashes because of that guilt that lingers in his mind. “The beast roars to life from inside me... Arms pumping, keep moving. Running until I reach Walden Pond. Somehow I find a way to outrun the terror by forcing myself back in time, before the memory of lights swirling red and blue, before the pink ballerina broken, before the blood.” Immediately after Hank discovers his true identity, he sprints to Walden and he concludes that he needs to find where his sister is and what happened to her

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