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"Walden, or Life in the Woods", published in 1854, is a reminicsing piece of the author's, Henry David Thoreau, experience of autarch living at the shore of Walden Pond, a small lake close to his hometown Concord, Massachusetts.[1] Thoreau was a 19th century American transcendentalist and to modern literalists he is often known as a poet with great affinity for nature, a philosopher or a reformist and generally one of America’s classic writers and cultural heroes.

Walden is by far his most significant work, although it was largely ignored during his lifetime.[2] His earlier works include “A Week on the Concord and Merrimack Rivers” (1849) describing nature impressions of a trip he had undergone with his brother John and “Civil Disobedience”, or originally published in 1849 as “Resistance to Civil Government”, which is Thoreau’s political manifesto against the government of New England. Whereas the first mainly mirrors Thoreau’s love of nature and the second expresses his anger with the slavery-indulging and war-raging government, Walden unites both sides of his writing and his character in one.[1] Although published five years after these works, Walden mostly exists of essays and reworked excerpts from Thoreau’s journal of the years 1845 to 1847.[3] During these two years, two months and two days Thoreau lived a self-sustainable life off in nature. It is an illustration of the benefits of a simplified lifestyle and an appeal to his readers to take minimalism to heart. The book is a mixture of nature writing, tales of personal experience and societal criticism.

Content[edit]

If nothing else, Walden is a reminiscing tale of Henry D. Thoreau’s time living at the edge of Walden Pond which is a small lake nearby the author’s hometown Concord, Massachusetts.[3] In the year 1845 he had decided to give away his inner calling and “leave” civilization for purpose of a personal experiment. Throughout the first chapter, “Economy”, it is repeatedly emphasised that his way of autarch living at Walden Pond was merely a timebound experiment and was not to be understood as a call to everyone to do the same. In lengthy detail Thoreau describes how he had come to build his little house at the lakeshore with nothing but his hands, a borrowed axe and the help of a few selected friends; and factually outlines the minimalist lifestyle he anticipates. His choice to abandon civilization often elicited misunderstanding, concern and shock in other people, however, Thoreau remains unimpressed and continues with the preparations for his moving date, the 4th of July in 1845 which will come as his own day of independence from social norms.


This first chapter contains detailed bookkeeping of his expenses and earnings, entangled with his own opinions on the materialist lifestyle prominent in the contemporary American society.[3] In his view the majority of people lived for the sake of earning money to repay debt and to acquire luxuries, but they only end up working their entire life, not living at all.


Like a minimalist, as we understand the term nowadays, Henry D. Thoreau outlines what he considers the four material necessities of life: food, shelter, clothing and fuel.[3]Thoreau continues elaborating how he came to choose Walden Pond as his home in a realistic voice. However, the second chapter takes a more philosophical tone than the one prior. He states with pride that his house is far away from the post office and thereby far from social obligations. His home, as simple as it may be, to him is like the residence of the gods. But he emphasises that it lies in everyone’s ability to create an own divine world.


The following chapters contain detailed descriptions of his daily routines and experiences.[3] After spending most of his mornings working his bean field, he spends the afternoons reading, strolling through the woods or visiting the small town, Concord. It is important to mention that although he moved away from civilization, Thoreau never truly left it. He likes companionship as much as anyone else, he states in the chapter “Visitor”. During one of these visits Thoreau is arrested for refusing to pay poll taxes. In his eyes it is irresponsible to support a government which endorses slavery and hedges an imperialist war against Mexico. He also dedicated an entire chapter to the theme of “Solitude” where he elaborates on his greatest feelings of solitude even though civilization is never far. These are times where he feels at peace with nature and the “insignificant” society of humans is exchanged by the superior society of nature.

Three of the later chapters are dedicated to the winter times he spent at Walden Pond and as the season itself so Henry D. Thoreau’s writing as well becomes darker.[3] He reminisces of the historic past of Walden Pond, especially commemorating the Afro-American inhabitants that have since passed away and will not be remembered by any official accounts. He also tends to measuring the depth of Walden Pond with the means of dispelling the common belief it be bottomless. He finds it to be no deeper than one hundred feet and meditates on peoples’ need to belief in symbols of godly infinity.

As the spring comes his mood and writing seem to bloom with delight and change.[3] Thoreau chooses this uplifting chapter as the end of his reminiscence of his time at Walden Pond. He left his little house at the lakeside and moved back to Concord on the 6th of September in 1847. The conclusion of the book formulates, now clearer than before, the appeal to his readers to strip away the unnecessary luxuries in their lives. However, at the same time he acknowledges that “John or Jonathan”, the average labour man, will not understand his writing.


Historic context & key concepts[edit]

One of Walden's key concept is self-determinism which can be dated back to the American dream. It is the ethos that every acknowledged citizen has right to pursue one's own happiness which was prevalent amongst the colonists and the ideology governing the lives of the newly independent Americans. Ideas of national and democratic self-determination first arouse during the revolutions of the New Wold against the British predominance. The climax of these revolts was the victory of the American revolutionary war resulting in the Declaration of Independence in 1776.[5] The now sovereign Americans identified themselves as autonomous citizens with a new won chance of taking life into their own hands. With the soon emerging industrialisation the individual gained in importance and thereby self-determinism was on the rise. It is rooted in the belief that one's actions are dependent on one's previous actions and one's personality alone, which ultimately results in the individuals ability to control their own life and happiness.[6] In reference to the American dream this means that everyone can and should be, by the law, allowed to determine their own life. However, this right only referred to acknowledged citizens, white Americans, therefore excluding blacks and Indians. In Walden, however, Thoreau understands self-determination as a fundamental property of any human being. [7] Firstly, self-determinism can already be seen in author's choice to conduct the experiment of life in the woods. In the first chapter he repeatedly states that is was an inner calling urging him towards the choice.[3] His abandonment of social boundaries indicates his determination of his own life free of social conventions. Secondly, in his conversation with the Irish farmer John Fields his despise for people who ignore their capability to exhibit self-control becomes clear.[8] However in the end even if he disagrees with Fields' choice of lifestyle Thoreau acknowledges that "[e]very man is the builder of a temple."[9] In the chapter "Higher Laws" he states that the consequences of one's choices will become visible on one's face and in one's features. This directly corresponds to the possibly negative aspects of determining one's own life.

A philosophic concept closely related to self-determinism and central to Walden self-reliance. Unlike the general perception of the 19th century Americans, Thoreau does not understand self-reliance as simply paying one's bills without making debts.[7] In contrast it is the spiritual pleasure of fully claiming ownership of the world one inhabits[3]. We can here clearly see the influence of his close friend and father figure Ralph Waldo Emerson. Emerson was one of America's leading transcendentalists and his idea of self-reliance, similar to that of Thoreau, included a person's active role in experiencing reality.[10] This ideal of self-reliance is closely linked to the philosophical and literacy movement of transcendentalism which has influences from German writings of Kant and others.[11] The American movement is centralized around Emerson with Thoreau being one of the most influential transcendentalists. They criticised the society for a relentless compliance with outdated social norms and strove for finding "an original relation to the universe"[12]. Thoreau, like his friend and farther-figure Emerson, sought this relation in nature and often in solitude.[11] Although solitude plays a major role in Thoreau's master piece, so does friendship. Solitude allows for self-communion and introspection which are necessary occupations if one wishes to unite with nature. Company, the author explains, often does not interrupt this self-communion but enriches it.[3] It is only natural that friendship might be a relevant concept for Thoreau considering the tight make up of literacy and philosophical communities in America of the mid 19th century. Life was often organized in small communities of likeminded people.[13] These communities were highly heterogen and sometimes religious in content, however, the circle surrounding Emerson, thereby also including Thoreau, was of transcendentalist nature. Walden is in itself a testimony of transcendentalism and Thoreau's entire experiment an attempt at finding his pure relation to the universe by exploring nature and simplicity. The small town of Concord is often referred to as the Weimar of the New World because it was home not just to Thoreau and Emerson but also Nathaniel Hawthorne, Louisa May Alcott and other important 19th century literalists.[14] As Weimar was for Germany so Concord can be viewed as the centre of the American romanticism.[15] The romantic era was mainly concerned with the idealization of the individual and the glorification of nature and emotions and the literacy movement had its origins in Germany but soon expanded to other European countries and America. Nevertheless the movement in Europe and in America had different focal points. Whereas the European romanticism often was divorced from reality as can be seen for example in E. T. A. Hoffmann's "The Golden Pot", the American romanticists had a strong tendency towards realism. Walden with its long detailed descriptions of past happenings or prosaic explanations of Thoreau's economical endeavours is no exception in this; for example in Moby-Dick Melville often includes entire paragraphs eluding scientific discussions and in Hawthorne's "Scarlet Letter" and entire first chapter is dedicated to elaborating how the author came to gather all data necessary for his novel.

Following the American revolution of the 18th century American lifestyle was dominated by slavery and the ethical, moral and political discussions around it.[5] In 1806 New Jersey, as the last northern state abolished slavery leading to the ideological discrepancy between the slavery-opposed Yankee and slavery-supporting Confederate states which determined the Civil War in 1861. Therefore, the years Thoreau spent at Walden (1845-47) were marked by civil segregation. Liberal influences of his home-state Massachusetts and his education at Harvard University are partly responsible for the development of his forward thinking. [16][1] Massachusetts, as one of the north-eastern states, was known to be one of the most progressive states with a rapidly growing industry. [17] Large numbers of factories produced goods like textiles, tools, paper and clothing. The shift from an agricultural to a more industrial landscape resulted also in vast socio-economical changes. Because slaved were considered relatively abundant for the work in factories their use was limited even before the abolishment of slavery in the state. Furthermore the vast migration of Irish and other immigrants shattered the cultural homogeneity in the population. [17] The high population density and the religious and cultural diversity created values of acceptance and equality. These moral concepts are fundamental to Henry D. Thoreau's thinking and thereby also to his writing. [18] Throughout the book he introduces characters of different origins and social classes in the same tone of voice as he mentions welcoming all kinds of friends and strangers at Walden all alike. [7] He describes enjoying especially the company of passing vagabonds and simple people of the like. [3] This can be seen especially in the chapter "Visitors" where he dedicates many pages to the description of the French-Canadian Alex Therien who is a woodsman of lower intelligence, however, Thoreau continuously emphasises the admirable qualities he sees in his character. Irrelevant of Therien's intellectual abilities he is compared to Walden Pond with an unforeseen depth. The kindness in writing he shows most characters introduced in Walden directly symbolises a sense of equality. The anti-slavery attitude typical for his time and place is expressed at different points in the book.[7] Almost passingly he brings up occasionally aiding fugitive slaves and he remembers notably the Afro-American people because he deems it necessary to pay them the appropriate respect which the white American largely denied them.[4] His cultural consciousness can also be seen in the way he describes the artefacts of different ancient and recent societies he finds in the fields surrounding his hut. These reminders of different cultures are buried in the soil, just like the cultures they are entangled in one another and together nourish the harvest.

Organization and style[edit]

The seasons[edit]

Walden was created from assembled entries of Thoreau’s personal journal which he reviewed and remastered various times over the course of almost a decade. It resulted in a part-chronological, part-thematic organization of the book. He explicitly follows the season of the year while describing his experiences, however never truly sticking to exact time measurements.[7] It is not surprising that he chooses summer as the beginning and spring as the end of his work. In summer, full of energy and relentlessness he had started his project of self-reliant living and especially the first two chapters speak of resourcefulness and contentment as he elaborates how exactly he had come to building and living in the little house at Walden Pond.[8] Again, the similes of his little hut with the Greek Olympus show that having created his own living space fulfils him with great philosophical achievement which also encourages the reader to similar actions, while the realistic descriptions of his bookkeeping show the possibility and benefits of such endeavours[18]. Moving on in the book, it is accounted for all of the encounters and changes Thoreau experiences, leading to a more philosophical and meditative narrative, where his ideals of solitude, self-reliance and friendship become clearer. As the seasons change, also the authors tone of voice changes, becoming more critical[7]. It is first introduced in his encounter with the impoverished Irishman, John Fields, and his family in the “Baker Farm” chapter.[3] In Fields we see Thoreau’s simplified and idealised image of humans. He tries to lecture the unreceptive farmer his style of living and in his writing focusses on the discrepancies between the two instead of acknowledging that their lives are indeed not too different. In the following chapter, “Higher Laws”, he continues in a highly moralistic voice, lecturing that every man is the builder of his own destiny, strongly defending self-determinism.


The consequences of one’s choices will be visible on a man’s face and in his features, he says. The winter months and thereby the winter chapters are coined by the reoccurring theme of death and religiosity as can be seen explicitly in his meditations on the need to belief in infinity.[7] Thoreau consciously decided on Spring as his last chapter in Walden probably because it puts the reader back in an optimistic mood, showing the beauty of nature and independence only to plea them to choose a simpler life in the concluding section of the book.

Abstractions and generalizations[edit]

Thoreau shifts between simplifications of conversation and generalizations of specific experiences, like the one elaborated on in the chapter “Brute Neighbours”.[8] In an abstract form Thoreau renders a conversation he had with his friend William Ellery Channing, where he describes himself as the hermit and his friend the poet.[3] Whereas in the beginning it feels like the passage is somewhat free of context, one later becomes to realise that it is a symbol and example likewise. It is an example of the conversations Thoreau liked to hold while with friends and in a symbolic way he contrasts himself from solely being a poet and thinker. Thoreau sees himself as a practical man who knows to appreciate nature’s beauty without losing foot on reality, unlike his friend Channing, the poet, who at the end of the passage fails to provide food[8]. This excerpt is just one example of how the author manages to incorporate self-reflection into the daily tales of his life at Walden Pond. These generalizations and abstractions make it difficult for the reader to distinguish between recollections of experience, tales of extended fantasies and pieces of pure nature writing. Therefore, it would be negligent to call Walden only a recollection of memories and experiences of Thoreau’s time at Walden Pond. More precisely it could be seen as a philosophical portrayal of Walden’s nature, the American society in the 19th century and mostly a dedication to Henry David Thoreau’s character himself.

The narrative[edit]

As can be expected, Walden is written from Thoreau’s first-person perspective.[8] Already in the first paragraphs of “Economy” he apologises for the amount of egocentric testimonies, but elaborates he is constraint by his experiences to only speak for himself, because there is no other person he knows quite so well. He was often criticized for being too postulating, however he clearly states he does not wish to write a do-it-yourself manual nor does he want to dictate others how to live their lives.[19] Thoreau writes that many a time he was asked about his endeavours at Walden Pond and therefore decided to share his experiences of the simplified lifestyle.[3] Therefore, Walden can be clearly seen as an assemble of Thoreau’s personal experiences as well as his beliefs and thoughts. Only in the concluding section of the book he directly addresses the readers and asks them to reconsider their lifestyle.

Reactions and historic influence[edit]

During Henry D. Thoreau's lifetime Walden was largely ignored and sold only 2,000 copies after its publication in 1954. [20][21] Whether this neglect is rooted in Thoreau's progressive views or simply in marketing issues cannot be said. Early criticism often included that he was too demanding of what he expected from his readers and from the American society. [19] However, this criticism can be assumed to be linked to the misconception that Walden is written as an appeal to his readers to pack their things and move into the woods. [19] Furthermore, critics often proclaimed that the author failed because he could not live up to his own advise as he moved back into the town of Concord after 26 months at Walden instead of remaining there his entire life, but again this criticism can be accounted for by thoroughly reading the first chapter of Walden. Thoreau explicitly states that life at Walden is only meant as an experiment which he needs and wants to conduct to explore life in its simplest and at the same time fullest form and to self-commute.[3] Largely the criticism on Walden was more a criticism of Thoreau's person than on the literalist's work itself.[22] He was often called an egoist, hypocrite or sophist and criticists call Walden the work of a man who imposed morals on others without following them himself. In that sense they accused him of expecting people to live a fully autarch life, whereas he himself lived on borrowed land in a house built with a borrowed axe. Thoreau was a self-proclaimed loner, he cared more about the numinous in life, about being one with nature and pursueing philosophical ideals than he cared about standing up to potential critics.[23] Therefore, Henry David Thoreau never gave any attention to his haters and also never tried to push Walden or his other works up the success ladder. Rare during his lifetime but increasing especially during the 20th century were admirer and positive critics.[22] Walden was and still is said to give a deep poetic meaning to time and place. Other literalists marvelled at the elegance of Thoreau's writing style and his ability to bring words to life by using vivid imagery and metaphors.[3][22][23] Later during the human rights movements of the 20th century the political aspects of Walden moved into the focus of critics.[5] Earlier in the analysis on of historic context and key concept it was shown that Thoreau had a very modern view on the equality of humans which can be especially seen in the demonstrations of the innate human ability to self-determinate one's life as well as in the way he writes about the repressed Afro-American community. Furthermore, he was a great advocate against slavery and especially in his work Civil Disobedience his moral standards become quite clear. Accordingly, Civil Disobedience as well as Walden became quite popular amongst liberals mainly in the US but also in other parts of the world in the mid 20th century. On a similar note many communists appreciated Walden as a piece demonstrating the communal communism. His strong value of freedom from possession is quite different from the Marxist ideal of communism. Instead of embracing to share within one's community he emphasises awareness of a simpler life with less luxurious goods. In 1948, approximately one hundred years after Thoreau had written Walden, B. F. Skinner, a famous American behaviourist published Walden Two. Inspired by Thoreau's work Skinner applied the principle of autharc living to communities and to the functioning of states. In contrast to the original Skinner's Walden is a utopian novel and has obvious and direct political implications.

  1. ^ a b c Britannica, T. E. o. E. (2018). Henry David Thoreau. Retrieved from https://www.britannica.com/biography/Henry-David-Thoreau
  2. ^ "Walden—A Summary". Encyclopedia Britannica. Retrieved 2018-07-02.
  3. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p Thoreau, H. D., & Nobbe, W. (1905). Walden; oder, Leben in den Wäldern. Mit Portr. [Aus dem Englischen übers. von W. Nobbe]. Jena usw.
  4. ^ a b c d e Thoreau, H. D., & Cramer, J. S. (2011). The quotable Thoreau Retrieved from Ebook Library http://public.eblib.com/choice/publicfullrecord.aspx?p=664638
  5. ^ a b c Brogan, Hugh (1987). Longman History of the United States of America. Chatham, Kent, GB: Book Club Associates & Longman Group Limited. pp. 288–323.
  6. ^ "self-determination | Definition of self-determination in US English by Oxford Dictionaries". Oxford Dictionaries | English. Retrieved 2018-07-01.
  7. ^ a b c d e f g Henry David Thoreau's Walden. Barron's Book Notes. 1984. ISBN 978-0764191305.
  8. ^ a b c d e Thoreau, H. D., & Cramer, J. S. (2004). Walden : a fully annotated edition Retrieved from Ebook Library http://public.eblib.com/choice/publicfullrecord.aspx?p=3419982
  9. ^ a b Thoreau, H. D., & Cramer, J. S. (2011). The quotable Thoreau Retrieved from Ebook Library http://public.eblib.com/choice/publicfullrecord.aspx?p=664638
  10. ^ "Ralph Waldo Emerson | American author". Encyclopedia Britannica. Retrieved 2018-07-01.
  11. ^ a b Goodman, Russell (2017), Zalta, Edward N. (ed.), "Transcendentalism", The Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy (Summer 2017 ed.), Metaphysics Research Lab, Stanford University, retrieved 2018-07-01
  12. ^ Kronman, Jeanne; Emerson, Ralph Waldo (1946). "Three Unpublished Lectures of Ralph Waldo Emerson". The New England Quarterly. 19 (1): 98. doi:10.2307/361210. ISSN 0028-4866.
  13. ^ Samuel A. Schreiner Jr.: The Concord Quartett/Alcott, Emerson, Hawthorne, Thoreau, and the Friendship that freed the american mind, Jon Wiley & Sons Inc., Hoboken, New Jersey, 2006
  14. ^ "Concord, MA - About Concord". 2010-06-03. Retrieved 2018-07-02.
  15. ^ Labriola, Patrick. Von Jena nach Concord: der Geist der Romantik in Deutschland und Amerika. na, 1996.
  16. ^ "Historical Facts | Harvard University". Harvard University. Retrieved 2018-07-01.
  17. ^ a b "Massachusetts | Geography & History". Encyclopedia Britannica. Retrieved 2018-07-01.
  18. ^ a b "Henry David Thoreau – The Walden Woods Project". The Walden Woods Project. Retrieved 2018-07-01.
  19. ^ a b c Glick, Wendell, ed. The recognition of Henry David Thoreau: selected criticism since 1848. University of Michigan Press, 1969.
  20. ^ Thoreau, H. D., & Cramer, J. S. (2004). Walden : a fully annotated edition Retrieved from Ebook Library http://public.eblib.com/choice/publicfullrecord.aspx?p=3419982
  21. ^ "Walden—A Summary". Encyclopedia Britannica. Retrieved 2018-07-02.
  22. ^ a b c "Everybody Hates Henry David Thoreau | The New Republic". 2015-10-26. Retrieved 2018-07-23.
  23. ^ a b "Henry David Thoreau, Hypocrite". The New Yorker. Retrieved 2018-07-23.
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