Thoreaus walden spiritual autobiography format

The contemplative aspects of Thoreau's writing are seen best in how Walden is autobiographical. Henrik Otterberg and Steven Hartman approach Thoreau presentation of himself from differing but complementary positions. Otterberg attempts to locate Walden in the broader tradition of American autobiographical writing and, in doing so, demonstrate how Thoreau saw his own experience and character.

Steven Hartman argues that the Thoreau of Walden was as much persona as person and that the self-presentation in. It seems that the very important role of literature is its transcendental appeal. Literature knows no boundary and it ties whole nations even if they are politically segregated. This American writer, as an ardent follower of the Transcendental Club in America and the holy scriptures of the East, was known as the hero of simplicity in the U.

Being a protester against government and society, he dwelled for more than two years alone in Walden Pond to see the mysteries of life and to find Reality and the Almighty. He believed Nature to be the best teacher and opined that every parcel of nature is a sign of God. He came to know about the holy scriptures of the East, especially those of the Indians and strongly used them in his writings, especially in Walden and the W In the field of environmental history, Henry David Thoreau has come to symbolize the arrival of a preservationist ethos in American culture.

His retreat to a secluded house in Walden woods, his book Walden, and essay "Walking," and millions of journal words about the Concord and New England landscape have all suggested International Journal of Advanced Science and Technology. Revue internationale P. Polish Review of International and European Law, Scientific Papers of Silesian University of Technology.

Organization and Management Series, Log in with Facebook Log in with Google. Remember me on this computer. Enter the email address you signed up with and we'll email you a reset link. Need an account? Click here to sign up. An autobiography presupposes a very rich and intense experience on the part of its author. Since it is an expression of the picture of the relationship between the individual self and the external world, its success and greatness depend more upon the honesty of its expression than upon the linguistic efficiency of expression.

Thoreau's Walden happens to be a model of such an autobiography, which deals not with the entirety of his life, but confines itself only to that part of his life in which he experimented with the external world to derive maximum spiritual enlightenment and satisfaction. Thus Walden, though partial in its coverage of his physical life, is intended to represent his pursuit of spiritual unity and wholeness.

It can, therefore, be described as his spiritual autobiography, which easily invites comparison with Mahatma Gandhi's The Story of My Experiments with Truth. Deeply disillusioned with the American materialism and utilitarianism, Thoreau wanted to escape to the woods and find spiritual consolation in the midst of Nature near the Walden Pond between and In this autobiography he records his gradual growth from the material plane to the spiritual plane, through innumerable meticulous details.

His departure to the woods corresponds to that of a vanaprastha, who tries to seek spiritual happiness in the midst of a forest by living in the company of non-human creatures. Thus the stay in the woods naturally helps Thoreau to have the privacy necessary to observe and meditate upon the mystery of life thereby consolidating his spiritual strength and controlling his distracting senses.

Thus loneliness, far from being a punishment, happens to be a boon to a spiritual aspirant like Thoreau. The autobiography shows the stage-by-stage growth of its author. For example, the first chapter entitled 'Economy' shows how he experimented with the ideal of self-reliance, frugality, sincerity and simplicity: "When I wrote the following pages, or rather the bulk of them, I lived alone, in the woods, a mile from my neighbor, in a house, which I had built myself, on the shore of Walden Pond, in Concord, Massachusetts, and earned my living by the labor of my hands only.

I lived there two years and two months" Thoreau Thoreau's stay in the woods helps him cultivate voluntary poverty, which is very essential for the spiritual enrichment. By poverty, Thoreau means the use of bare necessities of physical life. In his opinion the bare necessities of life are closely connected with self-reliance: "By the words, necessary of life, I mean whatever, of all that man obtains by his own exertions, has been from the first, or from long use has become, so important to human life that few, if any, whether from savageness, of poverty, or philosophy, ever attempt to do without it Ibidem: Thoreau practices his philosophy of simplicity in the woods near the Walden Pond by diligently experimenting with the bare necessities of life like shelter, clothing and food and achieving a rare kind of spiritual enlightenment.

These experiments are recorded meticulously by him in his spiritual autobiography called Walden. Thoreau recognizes the importance of shelter for all living creatures especially for man. But he warns that the shelter -- be it a home or a palace -- should not restrict his sense of spiritual freedom. Thoreau expresses the same in an epigrammatic fashion, "And when the former has got his house, he may not be the richer but the poorer for it, and it be the house that has got him" Ibidem: Continuing the same line of argument, he remarks that 'we are often imprisoned rather than housed in them" Ibidem: Houses should be neither prisons nor graves, but liberators of human spirit.

The greatness of Thoreau lies in his actualization of all his theoretical beliefs. Shelter, according to him, should provide protection from the elemental forces, wild animals and so forth. It should not be a matter of exhibition. It should protect his body so that the soul could be activated. Shelter should, thus, be a means to an end rather than an end in itself.

Thoreau did not become great only by preaching his principles, but by actually practising them thereby setting a personal example for others. He builds his own house by taking great pains: "I dug my cellar in the side of a hill sloping to the south where a woodchuck had formerly dug his burrow, down through sumach and blackberry roots, and the lowest stain of vegetation, six feet square by seven deep, to a fine sand where potatoes would not freeze in any winter…At length, in the beginning of May, with the help of some of my acquaintances… I set up the frame of my house…I began to occupy my house on the 4th of July, as soon as it was boarded and roofed…" Ibidem: Thoreau did not get a house built by laborers, but he built it all by himself, in accordance with his principles of self-reliance and sanctity of labor.

The joy of self-reliance is inexplicable indeed! That is the reason why he says, "There is some of the same fitness in man's building his own house that there is in a bird's building its own nest" Ibidem: He has thus demonstrated how one can derive maximum comfort in one's shelter with the minimum expenditure. The luxury of architecture could be easily avoided.

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Thoreaus walden spiritual autobiography format

Can you consider a comic book and a painting in museum as art? What artist paired ideals of renaissance art with sixteenth century spiritual feelings? Is kissing an Art? Is African art for art sake? Is Byzantine ART roman art? Trending Questions. Cite this article. Semiotica , 41 , Semiotica, Vol. Copied to clipboard. Share this article.

Supplementary Materials. Please login or register with De Gruyter to order this product. Thoreau demonstrated this clearly in his own experiment of living in the woods for two years. Notice how he did not even hesitate to ask someone who had tried it but yet to learn on his own. Secondly an important theme of Transcendentalists shown in Walden was emotion towards simplify and self-individuality.

You see Thoreau is able to be alone physically without feeling mentally alone, he refers it to more self-communion. This relates to transcendentalism key aspect of emotion as Thoreau is saying however bad our life may seem we should be grateful for nature around us and the gift of life. Money does not buy happiness nor is it the necessity of the soul.

Instead of living life materistically we should live it individually and with conformity. Lastly Thoreau's figurative language use of Imagery is able to create a mental image that illustrates what he is actually experiencing in the story. In this sentence Thoreau uses imagery to describe fog slowly rising from the surface of the pond.

By describing his whereabouts with such accuracy, it becomes more real and easier to connect with. When the picture he describes is so clear, his point that nature is a driving force of life also becomes clearer. Keep in mind: This is only a sample. Get a custom paper now from our expert writers. It has been shown that Thoreau's own experiment he was able to figure himself out as an individual in addition with finding his rhythm as a creative writer.

In all truth Thoreau favored simplify and nature. He doesn't think we should be so quick to modernize everything, when we still have to learn to slow down and understand ourselves. He believes the mind is all we need to figure out the great mysteries of life, we are born with the knowledge in our mind.