Henry David Thoreau wrote Walden in which he identifies different aspects of society that are troubling him. Thoreau believes that because Concordians lead a life of “quiet desperation”, they are living a life with no hope and not living to their fullest potential. For example, all they do is work and know nothing other than that. According to the text, “The mass of men lead lives of quiet desperation…From the desperate city you go into the desperate country, and have to console yourself…But it is a characteristic of wisdom not to do desperate things” (Thoreau 17). Thoreau is stating that people go from the city to the country to try and get away from their lives for a little while but they do not realize is the country is the same way. Farmers
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People should distance themselves from the government as well. He believes the government is biased and actually spent a night in jail for not paying his taxes and could be the reason he is so critical of fellow Americans for actually following what the government says. He is also critical because he says too much respect for the law makes people do crazy things and if the government backed off, this would not happen. He is critical of people with the law as well as how to live …show more content…
He believes that lives are too complicated and wanted to understand the little things in life. He wanted to gain wisdom and knowledge about life, finding a new way of life. He thought that if he lived in the woods, in Walden Pond for two years that he would understand the true meaning to life. In order to find the true meaning to life one has to take themselves away from the factors in life that prevent them to do so. He believes that everything on does have a purpose to their life and is not a waste of time. He wanted to make himself a better person and thus decided to live for two years in the woods. He wanted only the bare, basic things to survive for which he learned the basics of gaining knowledge. He did not cloud his judgment with unwanted and unneeded items. Thoreau stated in the text, “Society is commonly too cheap…we live think and stumble over one another, and I think that we thus lose some respect for one another” (320). Valuables are getting in the way and making people stumble over each other to get the the goal of a happy life. Thoreau says that people feel a void in their lives and try to change that with money and valuables and they think that will make them happy but when they do not, they want more and that is not how people are supposed to live their lives. The complete opposite is supposed to happen. People need to realize that material things are not the
People should distance themselves from the government as well. He believes the government is biased and actually spent a night in jail for not paying his taxes and could be the reason he is so critical of fellow Americans for actually following what the government says. He is also critical because he says too much respect for the law makes people do crazy things and if the government backed off, this would not happen. He is critical of people with the law as well as how to live …show more content…
He believes that lives are too complicated and wanted to understand the little things in life. He wanted to gain wisdom and knowledge about life, finding a new way of life. He thought that if he lived in the woods, in Walden Pond for two years that he would understand the true meaning to life. In order to find the true meaning to life one has to take themselves away from the factors in life that prevent them to do so. He believes that everything on does have a purpose to their life and is not a waste of time. He wanted to make himself a better person and thus decided to live for two years in the woods. He wanted only the bare, basic things to survive for which he learned the basics of gaining knowledge. He did not cloud his judgment with unwanted and unneeded items. Thoreau stated in the text, “Society is commonly too cheap…we live think and stumble over one another, and I think that we thus lose some respect for one another” (320). Valuables are getting in the way and making people stumble over each other to get the the goal of a happy life. Thoreau says that people feel a void in their lives and try to change that with money and valuables and they think that will make them happy but when they do not, they want more and that is not how people are supposed to live their lives. The complete opposite is supposed to happen. People need to realize that material things are not the