Walden PDF Book By Henry David
Today’s era is the era of busyness and materialism. Our life has become very busy, and we have not understood nature, valleys, birds, trees, and time. This book by Henry David Thoreau urges the reader to capture the moments of nature along with time in the materialistic world.
Walden itself is the biography of Thoreau, who spends his two years, two months, and two days in nature. He was fed up with the industrial revolution and boring city life and moved towards nature.
Background of Walden
Walden was published in 1854 and covers the experience of the writer himself for twenty-six months and two days. From a historical point of view, the mid-nineteenth century period was full of Industrial Revolution. The progress of railway stations and economic progress affected society.
During the American Industrial Revolution, people started migrating from rural to urban areas. The labor class was facing exploitation, and materialism was a contagion in society.
Despite all these conditions, Thoreau’s simple lifestyle decision was an uprising movement against the Industrial Revolution. Thoreau himself rejected traditional jobs. He never got married and prefers to live a simple life. In 1845, he opted for residence on the bank of Walden Pond. His purpose was to understand the fundamentals of life and depend on himself.
Summary of Walden
Walden presents the experience of Henry David Thoreau, who spent two years, two months, and two days. The plot opens when Thoreau leads his life on the bank of Walden Pond. He says that he has decided to leave his social life. He wanted to come out of the worldly complexities and desire to understand the fundamental realities. He experiences how forest life is easy for him.
In the second chapter of the book, he explains his Kitiaj construction experience. He cuts trees and wood to make a home. A single room 10×15 is built with a total cost of 28$. Here, he criticizes society that builds so many expensive and complex houses. These expensive houses make them slaves.
The next part of the book covers his daily routine. He gets up early in the morning and takes a bath in the lake. He works in fields and has grown vegetables as well. He hunts and fishes and deeply focuses on humans to kill at least animals. He fulfilled his requirements by working 6 hours. He mostly spends his time reading and observing nature.
On the bank of the lake, he experiments with four types of weather. He poetically explains the season. The special part of the lake melting is awesome. The piece of ice touches each other, and their sound presents seasonal changes.
Next, he expresses his loneliness experience, and his Kitiaj has never ever been empty. It was full of railway laborers, farmers, and sometimes philosophy friends. Even during all of these, he never feels happiness, but he is alone, and he is always happy.
Thoreau believes that people have lost their actual freedom just because of running behind respect and fame. He sees nature from a different perspective. He writes and expresses his experience about animals, trees, plants, and birds. He has observed the depth of the lake, the different colors of water, and the effects of weather.
From a financial point of view, he expresses all his expenses and income. All shows that humans can live good and healthy lives with limited sources of income. As per his experience, he spent a total of 61 dollars in one year.
At the end of the book, he explains his experience and proves that he has led his life with peace in fewer resources. One famous quote of his is learning a simple life does not require wealth”. He advises people to clean their lives of unnecessary things and make an effort to fulfill their dreams.
Key themes in Walden
The philosophy of simplicity:
For Thoreau, life should be led in simplicity. He focuses on how humans should not keep more than they need. He proves all this by applying it to himself, that humans can live with limited sources of income. From Thoreau’s perspective, humans have become slaves in modern society.
People spend their lives mostly buying luxury materials, which can not make them happy. Humans can save energy and time by applying simplicity in their lives. Humans should spend time in nature as well as in limited resources.
Importance of self-independence:
Thoreau gives a message of self-independence. He built a home with his own hands, grew vegetables and food, and never depended on others. He believes that every human should be able to fulfill their basic life needs.
Thoreau says dependency on society can make humans weak. Having a weakness, he loses all his energy and passion for life. If a person does not depend on others, they can change and play a positive role in society.
Relationship with nature:
The concept of nature plays a central role in the book. Thoreau sees nature from the perspective of a teacher. Nature teaches humans the lesson of life. Thoreau writes about nature, the lake, trees, birds, and the changing of seasons.
He believes that modern city life separates humans from nature. That’s why humans have forgotten their real relationship with nature. In nature, every morning comes with a deep message. Nature teaches humans patience and humility.
Importance of time:
For Thoreau, time is a precious gift for human beings. He criticizes and is sorry that people spend most of their time making money. He explains that our moments are very precious, that we have spent in comparison to the things we have achieved in our lives.
He advises humans to spend their time wisely. Humans should keep their distance from those who do not have real importance in life. He also criticizes human society where humans lose individuality.
Famous quotes and analysis
“I went to the woods because I wished to live deliberately…”
This is the famous quote from the Walden book. He expresses loneliness and love towards nature. He wanted to understand the meaning of life, staying away from social complications and unnecessary complexities.
(Simplicity, simplicity, simplicity!)
Thoreau repeatedly says this sentence in the book, and it is the center point of the plot. He says humans have fulfilled life with unnecessary material things. He repeats three times the simplicity and urges the reader. In today’s era, life is full of materialism and technology.
“The world is but a canvas to our imagination.”
This line is the reflection of Thoreau’s self-experiment. He has proven that humans can create their own world.
“Rather than love, than money, than fame, give me truth.”
Truth has very importance for Thoreau. Truth is better than love, fame, and wealth. This quote shows his wisdom and thought. For him, worldly success is temporary, but the human inside truth gives him freedom.