Solitude In Walden, By Henry David Thoreau

Henry David Thoreau’s chapter Solitude within his book Walden reexamines the meaning of being alone. This concept is often overlooked, even in today’s hectic society. He presents readers with two contrasting actions that are often placed into the same category- being alone and being lonely. The word ‘alone’ may give off a negative connotation to many individuals. Alone time forms a void, which people often replace with mundane activities in order to not feel uncomfortable. Isolation from the busy rituals of life is a necessity rather than a punishment. Like a transcendentalist, Thoreau explores what it means to truly find solitude. Being alone and being lonely are presented as two divergent states of the mind. Thoreau does not admonish society but argues that individual solitude is necessary for society.

He is encouraging individuals to obtain a state of mind where they may find solitude even in the busiest of times. He acknowledges that “to be alone was something unpleasant” (Thoreau 912) during his time in solitude. It is an unnatural feeling since it is so often avoided. The rare sense of solitude can even make one feel “slight insanity in [the] mood” (912). In order to understand solitude, he differentiates loneliness and being alone. Loneliness does not occur in detachment: “We are for the most part more lonely when we go abroad among men than when we stay in our chambers” (914). The word ‘lonely’ is not used to depict physical absence, but an absence from thoughts. Loneliness is when we loose our sense of self and conform to the