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During the five year period in which Thoreau’s social experiment went on at Walden Pond, he learned a lot of valuable things that were beneficial to him and helped him open his eyes.After living at Walden Pond for those five years, he certainly learned a lot from his experiment and got results that helped him realize things such as how important simplicity is, how a person only needs four basic things to live, how solitude can actually be beneficial, and many more. But the most important thing Thoreau brought away from his experiment was that “if one advances confidently in the direction of his dreams…the license of a higher order of beings” (358-9). If a person follows their dreams, they’ll live a more successful life in which they imagined.

While I didn’t really enjoy reading Walden, it certainly opened my eyes and I learned a lot from it. Being it the first ever philosophy book I’ve ever read, it was interesting to see how Thoreau lived his life and his perspective and advice to living what he believed the proper way. I learned from Thoreau that Nature is beautiful and society isn’t as essential as people make it out to be today. While reading Walden, I realized that I spend too much time on my phone, not opening my eyes and not appreciating life like I should. Recently I applied this philosophy in my life by cutting down my time on my phone, deleting all of my social media apps, and deciding not to use it when I’m around other people unless it’s an absolute emergency. Thoreau taught me a lot in Walden, but I believe the most important thing he taught me while reading is to open my eyes and appreciate life instead of sticking my head in my phone whenever I get the chance.

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Explaining his thoughts on delicious foods and how it’s a distraction from higher intellectual pursuits, Thoreau, in “Higher Laws”, believes that a diet with simple food is much better. Thoreau does have some logic behind what he’s stating, as “it is not worth the while to live by rich cookery” (277) and a person should have a “simple and clean” (277) diet. If a person ate only the healthy and basic foods, they would have a higher intellectual pursuit, according to Thoreau. It’s critical for a person to take care of their body because it’s the only one that they’ve got and what that person eats now could be vital to how their health is later on.  While what a person eats is very important, a person should be able to savor and enjoy the food that they’re eating. This does not mean indulging in rich and large meals all of the time, but rather providing the self with healthy and necessary nutrients while also enjoying the food.

Ane makes a good point when stating that if a person chooses to eat excessively and unhealthily, it’s their own choice. She also discusses the benefit of animals and how they provide proteins and nutrients that are important to the body.

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In Thoreau’s “Brute Neighbors”, Thoreau describes a battle going on between ants of different colors — black and red. This battle and the ant’s style of living could be the potential result if humans were to experience living as Thoreau did.  The ants are no different from men and the battles they experience and that’s what the ants truly represent: “I was myself excited somewhat even as if they had been men. The more you think of it, the less the difference” (288). Thoreau even connects the ant’s battle to ones from the past “and certainly there is not the fight recorded in Concord history, at least, if in the history of America, that will bear a moment’s comparison with this, whether for the numbers engaged in it, or for the patriotism and heroism displayed” (288). This connection to history supports the idea that the ants are not much different from man, who struggle against each other for no better reason than to confirm and secure their dominance over the opponent. Thoreau, when describing a red ant, connected him to the historical figure “Achilles, who had nourished his wrath apart, and had now come to avenge or rescue his Patroclus” (288). The significance of Thoreau connecting the ants and their battle to history is so readers are able to grasp that Thoreau believed human wars and ant battles were equally unreasonable.

I like what Emma pointed out with the black ants having an unfair advantage over the red ants. She connected this back to human wars and how in many wars there’s one side that usually has an advantage, whether it be more advanced technology or a larger amount of people fighting. I think it further supported the idea that the ants represented man.

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A major symbol that makes Walden Pond so significant in Thoreau’s “The Ponds” is its purity. The water of Walden Pond is “of such crystalline purity that the body of the bather appears of an alabaster whiteness, still more unnatural, which, as the limbs are magnified and distorted withal, produces a monstrous effect, making fit studies for a Michael Angelo” (248). The color white and water are both associated with purity in literature. Thoreau also mentions religious aspects that add to Walden Pond’s significance and symbolism: “Perhaps on that spring morning when Adam and Eve were driven out of Eden Walden Pond was already in existence” (250). Walden Pond symbolizes purity with its water that’s “so transparent that the bottom can easily be discerned at the depth of twenty-five or thirty feet” (248). This purity can make Walden Pond significant because it provides an escape for Thoreau where he can enjoy the beauty of nature without society.

I really liked the connection Taylor Moss made with the pond and people today and how they’re judged. I didn’t think of it like that way at first but I believe it was a really valid point. Both the pond and people are judged on their looks, but if a person looked more in depth they would see that there’s much more to see.

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In Thoreau’s “The Bean Field”, he discusses work that a person chooses to do compared to work that a person is forced to do. The work Thoreau does in his bean field is different from the work he talks about in “Economy” because he’s doing it for his own personal good and to gain the experience “with planting, and hoeing, and harvesting, and threshing, and picking over, and selling” (235).  Though Thoreau gained profit from his bean field, he didn’t necessarily farm for the money. Thoreau didn’t want to “plant beans and corn with so much industry another summer, but such seeds, if the seed is not lost, as sincerity, truth, simplicity, faith, innocence, and the like, and see if they will not grow in this soil” (237). Thoreau wasn’t aiming to create an economic profit out of selling his crops, but rather to gain and develop self discipline. This differs from when a person is forced to do work because they’re most likely doing it in hope to get some sort of profit out of it.

Max makes a good point when he talks about society and their feelings towards farming. Thoreau is unique for wanting to farm for pleasure when the standard desire for wanting to farm during that time period was because there would be an economic gain involved.

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Thoreau tells of his desire to own the Hollowell Farm in “Where I Lived and What I Lived For”. This farm in some people’s eyes was unattractive, not worth buying, and had many unappealing factors; however, this was the opposite for Thoreau who “was in haste to buy it” (176). Hollowell Farm’s attractive factors in the eyes of Thoreau consisted of “complete retirement, being about two miles from the village, half a mile from the nearest neighbor, and separated from the highway by a broad field” (175-176). Finding beauty in everything, it wasn’t hard for Thoreau to appreciate Hollowell Farm and spark up the desire to want to own it. Thoreau’s simplicity is much different from today’s common materialistic view point — where wanting the biggest and most expensive house is seen. Thoreau didn’t much care that this farm wasn’t the biggest or prettiest, but rather that it provided the basic necessities Thoreau mentioned in “Economy”. It had good access to food and water and gave Thoreau shelter. Thoreau’s preferences for these qualities says a lot of the difference between his priorities and most people because it shows Thoreau didn’t want to buy the farm to impress anyone and be materialistic, but rather to suit his own basic needs.

After reading Ane’s response, I think she pointed out some valid points. She said that even though there were some bad aspects to the farm, such as the “gray color” and “dilapidated fences” (176), Thoreau still found the beauty in them. She also made a good point when saying that Thoreau valued the idea, space, and opportunity of Hollowell Farm more than how it looked.

 

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While reading “Solitude”, Thoreau makes it clear that he believes solitude is very important for people in general. Being that his neighbors live about a mile away, Thoreau is in a situation where “it is as much Asia or Africa as New England. I have, as it were, my own sun and moon and stars, and a little world all to myself” (212). With the vast amount of solitude Thoreau does experience, he doesn’t seem to mind and believes that this cut off from society is actually better. With this, he’s surrounded by nature which Thoreau finds even more satisfying than human interaction, “In the midst of a gentle rain while these thoughts prevailed . . . an infinite and unaccountable friendliness all at once like an atmosphere sustaining me, as made the fancied advantages of human neighborhood insignificant, and I have never thought of them since” (213). Thoreau concludes solitude is important because it provides people time and silence to think. He argues this by talking about society, “can we not do without the society of our gossips a little while under these circumstances, — have our own thoughts to cheer us?” (215). Thoreau’s theory about solitude being very important is understandable, as every person should be able to reflect on themselves, figure out who they are, and find happiness without being social.

I think Max brings up a good point when he talks about how people are rather closer to each other physically than socially. I didn’t really think about that aspect much when reading “Solitude” and it made me think of how people may just talk to another person because they’re physically close to them and are afraid of being companionless compared to if they actually have a connection and enjoy talking to that particular person.

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