In the chapter The Village from the book Walden, Henry David Thoreau states that society loves to hear and spread gossip all around the town. Thoreau goes on to claim that because the citizens in the town are so focused on getting the next scandal, they have missed out on getting in touch with who they are and nature. He also subtly suggests that people should follow in the same footsteps as himself by removing themselves from society so that they can only focus on themselves and nature. I qualify this claim that gossip distracts society from finding their true selves because not all gossip is distracting or bad but I do agree with Thoreau on the fact that people get engulfed in gossip and become distracted from more important things in life. …show more content…
He does this by asserting that the village takes in gossip in “homeopathic does.” I agree with Thoreau on this claim because I have witnessed my peers just constantly spreading gossip or trying to hear the latest gossip. It 's almost as if my peers can’t get enough gossip in their life, “homeopathic doses” is a way to describe how addicted our society really is to all of the gossip that gets spread around and how it consumes the people in the society so much that people forget about getting to know who they are. Thoreau also states that even the men in the village are “as curious… as if they had been praire dogs.” When Thoreau uses this example to support his claim he implies that gossip is usually something women spread around but in society even the men are gossiping. This example states that all of the gossiping is getting out of hand to the point where even men are joining in on the gossip. In both of these examples that Thoreau uses he talks about the society that Walden lived in and also what I live in now. So I agree with him on the claim that gossip can be distracting and can take the focus away from getting know who you really …show more content…
He contradicts himself when he states at the beginning of the chapter that he goes into town to hear some of the gossip but then he goes on to claim that people shouldn’t listen or spread gossip. Thoreau states that “[he] hardly ever failed, when [he] rambled through the village.” This statement was made to try and build Thoreau 's credibility, basically saying that he is doing a better job in life than everyone else in society. But at the very beginning of the chapter Thoreau states that “every day or two [he] strolled into the village to hear some of the gossip.” When Thoreau contradicts himself it lows his credibility instead of building it like he wanted to. He also proves my point on how someone can’t live their whole lives without hearing gossip and that not all gossip is bad. The reason Thoreau goes into town in the first place is to hear some of the news because he lives in the forest. He doesn’t have a clue on what 's going on from the outside of his home in the woods, like what 's going on the war, the weather, or even who was being elected for president. Thoreau had no choice but to take a step back into society and hear some of the gossip that he claims isn’t good for us. This is why I qualify his claim because a person can’t just step away from society completely and not ever hear some of the gossip thats going
Thoreau talks about the politics, power and civil disobedience in his works. He believed that when many thought alike, the power was stronger within that minority. I think that Thoreau's intention was to point out that those people who dare to go against what seems to be unjust and go against the majority, and stand erect, are the people who transform society as a whole.
Stacy notes that this passage is related to "a person getting a sense of their self in relation to Nature." The Web material describes Thoreau’s practice of linking landscape and identity.
An American Author, Transcendentalist and tax resister, Henry David Thoreau was born in Concord Massachusetts, and lived there most of his life. He was opposed to many of the things that went on in our society and debated many issues in his life. Two of these major issues are , the Mexican American War and the implement of Slavery in our society. This was the reason for many of his writings include “Slavery in Massachusetts” and “Civil Disobedience” where he wrote about his principles and views against the U.S government and their involvement in the Mexican American War and the evil of Slavery. Thoreau opposed to these because they promote unjust government practices which he was strongly against.
...eeds to be challenged and according to the writer, the only way of achieving this is through the potential of the discontent. The complaints go against order and have the possibility of organizing and changing traditions. If he targeted the conformed, the efforts will result unsuccessful because changing the mind is harder that structuring an argument. The conformed have no potential to challenge order and changing their mind proves harder than organizing the minority. Thoreau’s philosophy of achieving change through the potential of the minority thus translates to his choice of audience.
Have you ever woke up in the morning and asked yourself, “Why am I living this life?” Throughout the book of Walden, Henry David Thoreau questions the lifestyles that people choose; he makes his readers wonder if they have chosen the kind of lifestyle that give them the greatest amount of happiness. Thoreau stated, “Most men, even in this comparatively free country, through mere ignorance and mistake, are so occupied with the factitious cares and superfluously coarse labors of life that its finer fruits cannot be plucked by them().” This quote is important because most of society these days are so caught up in work and trying to make ends meet that they lose the values in life. Thoreau was forced to change his life when he found himself unhappy after a purchase for a farm fell through. On Thoreau’s journey he moves to Walden and builds a house and life from nothing but hard work, symbolizes many different objects.
Additionally, Emerson and Thoreau both warn the reader of the dangers when individuality is marginalized. Emerson views society as a “conspiracy against the manhood of every one of...
The purpose of this short story was to inform uneducated citizens of his opinion on the state and give a bit of reason behind it, its also meant to criticize the government and social policies like slavery. Thoreau induces emotion among readers and forces them to think logically about his way of life and what he’s suggesting. Overall Thoreau wrote the paper to justify his stand and explain his way of thinking.
Henry Thoreau uses specific rhetorical strategies in Walden to emanate his attitude towards life. With the use of many strategies Thoreau shows that life should be centered around Nature. People live their lives not ever taking a second glance of what Nature does and has done for humanity and Thoreau is trying to prove his point. Humanity owes Nature everything for without it humans would be nothing.
Throughout Thoreau's “Walden”, he lays out many suggestions that some may take as significant or just senseless. Thoreau brings forth many concepts such as necessity, news, and labor which would benefit modern society. Yet, his views on isolation and moderation are unattainable in a technology-driven society. Even though the ideas that could benefit society may not be totally agreeable, the main reasoning for them are valid. Those ideas of isolation and moderation are clearly not possible in a world where people crave to be social and live to obtain any and everything they want.
Thoreau sees mankind’s self-alienation as the fundamental problem in society. In the opening chapter of the book, “Economy,” Thoreau explains that mankind has a few fundamental needs: food, shelter, fuel, and clothing. Earliest man used these as tools for his own survival. But as these needs became institutionalized, man became a slave to them. Thoreau sees society as a corrupting power, forcing “the mass of men [to] lead lives of quiet desperation.”
Thoreau’s experiment was to prove living a simple life was possible and preferable. However, the serenity he sought was taint...
To conclude, Thoreau believed that people should be ruled by conscience and that people should fight against injustice through non-violence according to “Civil Disobedience.” Besides, he believed that we should simplify our lives and take some time to learn our essence in the nature. Moreover, he deemed that tradition and money were unimportant as he demonstrated in his book, Walden. I suggested that people should learn from Thoreau to live deliberately and spend more time to go to the nature instead of watching television, playing computer games, and among other things, such that we could discover who we were and be endeavored to build foundations on our dreams.
Thoreau himself cared little for group activities, religious or political, and even avoided organized reform movements (Gougeon 195). The abolitionist movement did however bring Thoreau out and into the public forum (Salt 140). As he became further involved with his Journal and his examination of nature he began to develop into an environmentalist and natural historian (Buell 172). This is evident by his views represented in Walden regarding the progress that was taking place in Concord at the time (Witherell and Dubrulle).
According to the statement, “Public opinion is a weak tyrant compared with our own private opinion. What a man thinks of himself, that it is which determines, or rather indicates, his fate,” Thoreau believes that the basis for the success of any person is his/her own individual opinion of himself/herself. Thoreau is the perfect example of his own opinion, based on his time spent living a simple life at Walden Pond. The public had varied opinions of Thoreau’s lifestyle, and Thoreau even addresses some critics in his essay. However, Thoreau himself was very content with his lifestyle, and he believed that his simple lifestyle was far superior compared to the seemingly luxurious lifestyle of men, who actually are in debt and bound to a la...
Many people who happen to fall into the cultural norms find Thoreau's statement to be intimidating. The way they view the world is extremely sheltered they do not choose this, it is jus t the way they are. They have always viewed the world through a screen that filters what they see. This screen is different for each individual depending on his or her cultural background and/or home environment. These factors along with many others create the screen by which they see the world.