[Sarah McFarland]

In the chapter of Walden call “The Village”, Thoreau states that “…we are constantly, though unconsciously, steering like pilots by certain well-known beacons and headlands, and if we go beyond our usual course we still carry in our minds the bearing of some neighboring cape; and not till we are completely lost, or turned round…do we appreciate the vastness and strangeness of nature”. I think that McCandless would really like this quote.  I think McCandless would appreciate this quote because Thoreau is saying that men live safely, and we go through life doing what we know is right, and normal. Thoreau says that if we go outside of what is “normal” and what we are used to we can truly appreciate nature. We have to completely get lost from what we know as normal life. McCandless does get lost and appreciate the vastness of nature. In a way he does exactly what this quote is telling him to do. He sheds the “cape” that Thoreau talks about and gets completely lost and turned around. Because of this he can appreciate nature. McCandless can identify with this quote because he is basically living this quote.

[Sarah McFarland]

One literary element that is found in the book is conflict. Conflict is the problem between two groups/things. The conflict in the book can be described as man vs. society. The man in this case is Thoreau. Thoreau has a conflict with society because society is so materialistic and he is against that. Thoreau doesn’t like the government and he doesn’t like the advancing technology, like the railroad. The society doesn’t agree with his transcendentalism views and he doesn’t agree with societies’ views.

[Sarah McFarland]

If Thoreau was alive today he would find our society to be quite distasteful. Thoreau was very much against being materialistic. We live in a society where possessions define who you are. You are constantly judged depending on what phone you have, clothes you wear, car you drive, or house that you live in. We also live in a society where we are always waiting for the next “thing” to happen. Thoreau stressed that one has to live in the moment and enjoy life as it comes to us. In paragraph 16 Thoreau writes, “I did not wish to live what was not life, living is so dear; nor did I wish to practise resignation unless it was quite necessary. I wanted to live deep and suck out all the morrow of  life…”. In our society we are always waiting for the weekend, the summer, a day off from work, or for something to begin or start. We usually don’t live in the moment and live deep like Thoreau is telling us to do in this quote. Thoreau would displeased with the materialistic lifestyle and the desire for the next “thing” that our society encompasses.

[Sarah McFarland]

I feel completely at peace and content when I am at the beach. I can lay in the warm sand and listen to the waves crashing. I can smell the salt water and the ocean air. The beach is very peaceful and I can completely relax and enjoy it.

[Sarah McFarland]

<p style=”text-align: left;”>I think that using this technology will be beneficial because it can make reading this old text more interesting. The technology will make it more understandable and easier to learn. The only problem would be the website might be difficult to learn how to use. Another problem is I don’t really like reading things on the computer. I prefer to have a hard copy that I can read from.</p>
 

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