Following the influx of the puritanical style of writing in America during the 17th Century by the Founding Fathers, it could be said that what we now know as the collective `American writing' was once created almost as an effort to distance its own style from that of other European styles.
Perhaps not being incredibly popular outside their own circle of influence, writers such as Ralph Waldo Emerson and other Transcendentalists began, in the 19th Century, to weave a new form of writing using philosophy as the `vehicle of thought' . While this allowed them to explore new and untouched areas in the mind, it also greatly influenced many later writers from Henry Thoreau to the more `popular' and recent Mark Twain.
Let us begin with Henry Thoreau's Walden. While Thoreau was educated in Harvard University, he lived, through a time of vast change in America. During a rise in cultural expansion and globalisation, America became more unified through the addition of new states such as Florida in 1845 and later Texas. This change also brought about a huge increase in population with numbers rising from 17 million to 133 million in 1930.
However, it seems that this explosion of life in America inspired Thoreau, as well as many of his contemporaries to, not praise the state and revel in the sense of security and comfort that the ever-prosperous America offered as many `popular' writers at the time did, but instead challenge its beliefs.
As inspiration for Walden, Thoreau lived `in the woods...in a house I had built myself, on the shore of Walden Pond' for, we are told, 15 years, thus distancing himself from popular culture and humanity in general. During his time there he began questioning many things, especially Benj...
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...me, seen as `popular' in anyway outside the literary circle. The public simply wanted to read a good story and not have to think about their own positions in society for fear of humiliation perhaps. However, as time passes, these writers' work becomes increasingly relevant to the society in which we live. This was highlighted during the Vietnam War long after Henry Thoreau's death. Walden was held in extremely high regard by those who, like Thoreau during the war against Mexico, skipped conscription.
Bibliography
Selected by Hughes, Ted. Emily Dickinson. Ed Ted Hughes. (Faber and Faber, 2001)
The Norton Anthology of American Literature, sixth edition. Ed Nina Baym (Norton 2003)
Thoreau, Henry David. Walden or Life in the Woods, pg 1807 - 1982. (1846-50)
Melville, Herman. Bartleby the Scrivener, pg 2330 - 2355. (1853)
In this passage from the famous text Walden, the author Henry David Thoreau, a naturalist and transcendentalist, gives an account of his experience while living in isolation at Walden pond for two years of his life. While in isolation, he sought to enjoy life away from the hustle and bustle of society and live more simplistically without concern of the small things in life.
Ralph Waldo Emerson's Self Reliance, Henry David Thoreau's Where I Lived and What I Lived For, Nathaniel Hawthorne's Dr. Heidegger's Experiment and Herman Melville's Moby Dick are all considered to be models of timeless writing. Each author was skilled but each wrote with their own tone. There are both parallels and disagreements between these writer's tones. Ralph Waldo Emerson wrote to inspire and to change the thought process of the everyday man, in hopes that society would improve.
His desire to escape from what he entered imbibed in him an acute sense of the dangers posed by the dispassionate being that nature is. Meanwhile, Thoreau voluntarily went to Walden Pond to determine whether he is capable of earning his “living by the labor of [his] hand only” (“Economy”, par. 1). He was trying to prove his ideas on self-reliance to be correct and applicable in the real world. Thus, he had an incentive to focus on the positive aspects of being alone with the surrounding
During his experiment in the woods, Thoreau discovers that to become successful, “one [must advance] confidently in the direction of his dreams.” (Thoreau 3) During this time, America was seen as the ‘land of opportunity’ and Thoreau’s ideals conform to the belief everyone has a chance to succeed and live the life they wish to choose. All people had the chance to aspire for bigger and greater things and living in America would give them the opportunity to prosper. Furthermore, believing in individualism, Thoreau deemed it acceptable “if a man [did] not keep in pace with his companions, perhaps it [was] because he [heard] a different drummer.” (3) America gave people the freedom to follow the economic, religious and political ways of life they wished to follow. People finally had control of their life and did not have to conform to the practices they had to follow in their homeland. Although the American dream gave people the chance to succeed, in reality this was not the case for
Benjamin Franklin and Henry David Thoreau have been thought of as two powerful philosophers in history. Both men were alive centuries ago, but their unique ways of life and ideas still exist in some of history’s most admirable figures. Each man had a judgment that went beyond the era they existed in, but is still obvious in today’s culture. Even though both men are credited for their wise principles, their beliefs do not always coincide with one another. However, one thing they do have in common is that they both revolutionized America through their thoughts, actions, and distinctive opinions on how to improve the world around them.
When a writer starts his work, most often than not, they think of ways they can catch their reader’s attention, but more importantly, how to awake emotions within them. They want to stand out from the rest and to do so, they must swim against the social trend that marks a specific society. That will make them significant; the way they write, how they make a reader feel, the specific way they write, and the devotion they have for their work. Washington Irving, Nathaniel Hawthorne, and Edgard Allan Poe influenced significantly the American literary canon with their styles, themes, and forms, making them three important writers in America.
Atkinson, Brooks. Walden and other writings of Henry David Thoreau. New York, NY: Random House, Inc., 1950.
...rded as one of America's major literary thinkers. As a naturalist Thoreau's ideas of"interconnectedness" and a need for preservation would spring up later in the country's efforts to 'Conserve' and respect the remaining wilderness. And perhaps Thoreau's greatest achievement was convincing a nation that Freedom is within us all and no man or government has the power to deny us our destiny.
Thoreau, Henry D. Walden, or Life in the Woods. The Norton Anthology of American Literature. New York: W.W. Norton, 2012. N. pag. Print.
The opening paragraph is an incredibly vivid account of nights spent by “the stony shore” of Walden Pond. His description of the animals around the pond, the cool temperature, and the gentle sounds of lapping waves and rustling leaves all serve to remove the idea that nature is a wild and unkempt world of its own, and instead makes it seem much more serene and graceful. Any who thought of Thoreau as an insane outdoorsmen may have even found themselves repulsed by the monotony and constant bustle of city life and longing for the serenity felt by Thoreau. This
Darwinism and Marxism both showed themselves and clashed with current American ideals. These things caused writers to take notice of the changing
Henry David Thoreau was an American author, philosopher and historian. The roots of the political views of Thoreau derive from Transcendentalism - a philosophy that became influential in the late 18th century and 19th century. Transcendentalism rejects the idea that knowledge can be fully derived from experience and observation of the physical world. American transcendentalism reached its peak in New England in the 1840s, under the leadership of Ralph Waldo Emerson. Emerson argued that, while the physical world is important, providing us with necessary goods and frequent beauty, people should live their lives based on truths grasped through reason, not just physical perception. Emerson served
Henry David Thoreau (1817-1862) was an American philosopher, author, poet, abolitionist, and naturalist. He was famous for his essay, “Civil Disobedience”, and his book, Walden. He believed in individual conscience and nonviolent acts of political resistance to protest unfair laws. Moreover, he valued the importance of observing nature, being individual, and living in a simple life by his own values. His writings later influenced the thoughts of Mahatma Gandhi and Martin Luther King, Jr. In “Civil Disobedience” and Walden, he advocated individual nonviolent resistance to the unjust state and reflected his simple living in the nature.
It is an undisputable fact that the contribution of such prominent philosophers, writers, political and social activists as Benjamin Franklin and Henry David Thoreau in developing American statehood is tremendous. The literary works of both men can serve as a manifesto of national and personal liberation, a call for building a better society, where each citizen can live and work freely. Indeed, both Henry Thoreau and Benjamin Franklin emphasize the independence and freedom of an individual, but they do so in significantly different ways. These differences can be linked to their different worldview, life positions, philosophies, or interests. Nevertheless, this fact cannot detract from the obvious uniqueness and importance of Thoreau’s and Franklin’s literary heritage.
Between the years of 1865 and 1914, American literature was mainly comprised of three writing styles: realism, regionalism, and naturalism. Realism aims to portray life realistically. Though realism...