Thoreau And Transcendentalism Essay

Henry David Thoreau, an American born author and philosopher, was born in Concord, Massachusetts in the hot, bright summer of 1817. He survived from July 12, 1817 through May 6, 1862 and died in the late spring due to a severe case of tuberculosis that he battled since his college days, at Harvard College, off and on throughout the years he lived. Thoreau had a very normal childhood, and it was not until his later years that he actually came to know his true self and how he wanted to live. He attended college at Harvard College. There, he studied many different languages, some of which include Latin and Greek. He was a very bright man and did not do what others would have expected a well-educated guy like him to do after college. Thoreau is

He befriended a man by the name of Ralph Waldo Emerson. Emerson is an American philosopher. This is where he learned about the concept of transcendentalism. Transcendentalism is the idea that “a universe is divided into two essential parts, the soul and nature” (Witherell). Emerson also introduced Thoreau to a new place, in Concord, Massachusetts, that would soon be known to many because of Thoreau’s writing on it. The Walden Pond was on some of the land Emerson owned, and Emerson was letting Thoreau stay on this land. Thoreau would be known to spend more than two years at Walden Pond, in search of a simpler way of living. In one of Thoreau’s best known books, Walden; or, Life in the Woods, Thoreau wrote about living a life that was relevantly close to nature. Walden; or, Life in the Woods is one of Thoreau’s most successful works that he published in his lifetime. He was fascinated with nature and while he was looking after Emerson`s home, he would observe the nature and wildlife around him and record observations on them. He would travel abroad to many new, beautiful places and do the same as he was doing while at Emerson`s home, observing the nature. Thoreau is known to write about nature and his environment around him. It is the main topic in many of his brilliant pieces of literature. Ralph Waldo Emerson, Thoreau’s friend and mentor, as stated before, introduced Thoreau to the idea of transcendentalism. Transcendentalism is a belief that would, in a way, consume Thoreau`s thoughts and it would be portrayed throughout his many works that he published and wrote. “Transcendentalism regarded nature, both as symbol and actuality” (http://www.notablebiographies.com). Thoreau wrote about being a transcendentalist in Walden; or, Life in the Woods. Another belief that he had was that he wanted an end to slavery. Thoreau was an active abolitionist until the