Own A Walden
Walden is a collection of prose written by Henry David Thoreau in 1845, described his two years natural life by the side of Walden pond. The book is considered as one of Thoreau’s representative work and made him recognized as the pioneer of the natural essay.
The book is based on Thoreau’s real life around the Walden. He lived there for about two years alone to gain a more direct sense of nature. He received a fail on his last work A Week on the Concord and Merrimac Rivers so this time he devoted himself to observing nature, avoiding the disturbance from the daily life. Interestingly, Walden is considered as a introducing book about nature in its period, which can prove Thoreau’s careful observation and excellent description. As time went by, people discovered the beauty of philosophy in the book which made it more valuable.
During the creating time, the USA was in the transition from agricultural society to industrial society. People’s awareness was shifting as well. As the wealth accumulating, many were trapped into the crazy pursuit of the wealth and happiness. Under the unrestrained pursuit of interest, people found them lose themselves in life confusingly and couldn’t enjoy life anymore. However, the Walden provided a new choice for life. Reality is important because we need to feed on ourselves, but the rich of spirit is crucial, too. We don’t need to go to Walden like Thoreau to gain a peaceful life. The better way for us is to keep a space like Walden in our own heart which can help us clear out the noise and burden in our real life and gain a moment of relaxation.
These days, another meaning of Walden is discovered that the environmental protection awareness in the book is era-crossing. Thoreau showed his love for nature in his poetic sentences. He isn’t against the development of the modern industry because he supports exchanging thoughts through modern technology. What he stressed is to simplify life then we can decline the burden and annoyance. Chasing the development of industry blindly which may sacrifice the environment is just like chasing the interest in life blindly. The latter one lost the meaning of life while the former one lost the meaning of development.
Someone says Thoreau is a transcendentalist. He believed people can know the truth by their feelings and living a child-like life is the best way to find the meaning of life. He called up people to simplify the life and chase the richness of spirit, building their own Walden. “Rather than love, than money, than fame, give me truth.” He spent his whole life following his own standard and searching for peace in his heart. For him, money and fame was not the only thing he worked for as the normal people in that period. He became a standard of living own life.
Walden is such a art work that shining the light of natural and philosophy. We all need to empty a space in our heart to relax ourselves, to play as the role of Walden.
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