THOREAU
In his many works, Thoreau showed his relationship with himself, his society, and the natural world several different ways. Some of these ways are present in Civil Disobedience, Walden, and A Slight Sound at Evening, by E.B. White. In the book Walden, Thoreau looked on nature as much more than he source of leisure or beautiful scenery: it was the phenomenal medium through which divinity and truth were communicated to man. Thoreau thought that society was overthrown by detail and should be based on simplicity. He went to the woods to live deliberately, to front the essential facts of life and see if he could not learn what nature had to teach. In doing this, he formed relationships and found what he thought to be the most important principles of life. Thoreau has a self-reliant relationship with himself, a confrontational relationship with society, and a harmonious relationship with nature.
The relationship Henry David Thoreau has a self-reliant relationship with himself. An example that supports this description is when he says that “for more than five years, I maintained myself thus solely by the labor of my hands. ” Thoreau expresses how he doesn’t need unnecessary luxuries to live his life. The work of his own hands provides him with more than enough. He also demonstrates his self-reliance when he says that “I could fare hard and yet succeed well, I did not wish to spend my time in earning rich carpets or other fine furniture. ” Thoreau makes clear that he lives successfully, but he would rather receive the rewards of his work in a non-material way. He also goes on to say “that man is richest whose pleasures are the cheapest,” which shows that he finds satisfaction in things that are not necessarily substantial. Henry David Thoreau shows how he is very self-reliant which is apparent in his relationship with himself.
Confrontational describes Henry David Thoreau’s relationship with society. This can be proven when he states that...