Why did Thoreau go into the woods

“Why I Went to the Woods” was written by Henry David Thoreau as a part of the book “Walden” and was inspired by an ‘experiment’ in which he constructed a small house in the woods near his residence in Massachusetts. He stayed in the little house for two years, two days, and two months, and while living in the woods, he wrote an article about the ordeal.

Nearly half of the article is made up of Thoreau’s reflection on human nature and society. He mentions that nobody can be an unbiased commentator on these two things unless he eliminates himself from them and exists in what he calls “voluntary poverty.” Thoreau has much to talk about concerning society. In this paper, the analysis and summary of “Why I went to the Woods” shall be provided.

He writes that men labor their lives away, toiling and paying their expenses with no knowledge on what it means to be human, he continues to write that “The mass of men live lives of quiet desperation” (Thoreau, pp. 283). In this chapter, Thoreau encourages us to become independent and to have a purposeful life. The second half of the article delves on Thoreau’s day-to-day activities in the house in the woods, his experiences during trips to the town and the people he encounters.

Moreover, the meaning of “I went to the woods because I wished to live deliberately” is of great significance. Above all, Thoreau tries to explain why he opted to get away from society and move into the woods, just as the article’s title. This is evident in the first paragraph, he writes “I went to the woods because I wished to live deliberately, to front only the essential facts of life, and see if I could not learn what it had to teach, and not, when I came to die, discover that I had not lived” (Thoreau, p. 278).

We Should Live a Simplistic Life

The central idea that Thoreau tries to convey in the article is that life should be taken in the simplest of forms, evidenced by opting to live in a cabin in the woods at Walden Pond for more than two years. “What news! How much more important to know what that is, which was never old!” (Thoreau, pp. 280), this is just one of the several lines in which he attempts to convince society to adopt his simplistic lifestyle.

He writes that we should live a simple life with only the essential needs, he urges his audience “Simplicity, simplicity, simplicity! I say, let your affairs be as two or three, and not a hundred or a thousand; instead of a million count half a dozen, and keep your accounts on your thumbnail” (Thoreau, 278).

To ensure that his message reaches the intended audience in a deliberate manner, Thoreau incorporates several rhetorical tools. For example, he chooses words that bring out his confidence, in one instance he writes “And we are enabled to apprehend at all what is sublime and noble only by the perpetual instilling and drenching of the reality that surrounds us” (Thoreau, pp. 281) instead of writing “We understand unique stuff by looking at what is real”. He chooses his words carefully.

Thoreau also uses imagery and metaphor in Why I Went to the Woods to add meaning and develop his stance. He calls life the “chopping sea of civilized life” (Thoreau 278) to stress on the labors of life. This harsh comparison of civilized life to a chopping sea demonstrates Thoreau’s rejection of a flowery and worthless lifestyle. It also plainly pushes on simplification to avoid the challenges that most people come across if they opt to choose a complicated lifestyle.

As is clear from “Why I Went to the Woods” analysis, Thoreau makes use of rhetorical questions in the article. He uses several of these questions, the one that struck me most was, “Why should we live with such hurry and waste of life?” (Thoreau, pp. 279). This single line brings out the central theme of the article: that of simplicity.

It projects humans’ as blatantly stupid enough to waste away their lives. Another important use of rhetoric language is a synecdoche, he writes about an “overgrown establishment, cluttered with furniture” (Thoreau, 279). Here, the clutter of furniture symbolizes all facets of life, forced together into the tiny brain of man. Thoreau makes a convincing point here. Mostly, the mind resembles an attic.

Many people opt to fill up their attics with the old property as they are fed up with it, or purely yearn for more than they have already. However, after some time, the space in the attic is used up, and we become overpowered. Thoreau advises us to throw out the old stuff that is filling up the attic. As the summary of “Why I Went to the Woods” evidences, his escape to the woods was a way of clearing out his “attic.”

Conclusion

In Why I Went to the Woods, Thoreau conveys his views about the simplicity of life. Every word inside the article points to this theme. To begin with, he uses a scholarly tone, and this brings out his message in an intended manner. However, he balances the mood and even gives his personal outlook.

He also uses rhetorical tools such as imagery, metaphors, and rhetorical questions to stress on the importance of adopting a simple life, and the risks of failing to the same. All of these language tools add up to bringing out the central theme of the article.

Work Cited

Thoreau, Henry David. Why I Went to the Woods. In Walden; or, Life in the Woods. Devon: Dover Publications, Inc, 1995.

Need a custom Essay sample written from scratch by
professional specifically for you?

801 certified writers online

I went to the woods because I wished to live deliberately, to front only the essential facts of life, and see if I could not learn what it had to teach, and not, when I came to die, discover that I had not lived.

These words provide the answer to the question posed by the title of Thoreau’s chapter “Where I Lived, and What I Lived For.” The first part of this title is a practical concern about a place of residence, while the second part is a deeply philosophical concern about the meaning of life. Thoreau combines the practical and the philosophical in his Walden project, and thus the phrase “the essential facts of life” can refer both to material necessities like food and shelter and also to the core of human existence. The double aspect of Walden, its treatment of hard facts as well as philosophical questions, is also evident in his mention of living at the end. Taken factually and literally, it is of course impossible for Thoreau to die understanding that “I had not lived.” But taken philosophically, life means not just biological functioning but also inner fulfillment. The experimentalism of Thoreau’s endeavor is expressed in his frank acknowledgement that he is testing out an idea, rather than proving a foregone conclusion. Finally, the obscure mystical side of Thoreau—which makes him often appear more of a visionary than a philosopher—is evident in his famous phrase “to live deliberately.” On a literal level, he wishes to choose his path of life independently and thoughtfully, subject to his own deliberation and no one else’s. But on a higher level, the phrase is mystical and haunting, since of course nobody ever chooses to live or deliberately seeks to exist. As elsewhere in the work, Thoreau here forces us to contemplate the transcendent meaning of human life even while we think he is simply referring to a cabin in the woods.

 (?)

Quotes are added by the Goodreads community and are not verified by Goodreads. (Learn more)

Closer to Nature Henry David Thoreau implies that simplicity and nature are valuable to a person’s happiness in “Why I Went to the Woods”. An overall theme used in his work was the connection to one’s spiritual self. Thoreau believed that by being secluded in nature and away from society would allow one to connect with their inner self. Wordsworth and Thoreau imply the same idea that the simple pleasures in life are easily overlooked or ignored. Seeing the true beauty of nature allows oneself to rejuvenate their mentality and desires. When one allows, they can become closer to their spiritual selves. One of William Wordsworth’s popular pieces, “Tintern Abbey”, discusses the beauty and tranquility of nature. Wordsworth believed that when people…show more content…
The main element of “Why I Went to the Woods” is nature and to live without distractions. In order for Thoreau to be able to do this, he went into the woods to be one with nature to make sure he was not missing what was really important. Thoreau presents his point by stating, “I wanted to live deep and suck out the marrow of life, to live so sturdily” (Thoreau 579). Thoreau wanted to live deep within nature, to take in all nature has to offer, and to get a deeper understanding of his own life. We all have an opportunity to have the same tranquility as Thoreau. Nature is one of the greatest gifts that is given to us freely. We could all have a deeper fulfillment by consuming the same peacefulness in our own mind and souls that Thoreau had. The society we live in today is complex and very dependent, opposite of the life that Thoreau had wanted to live. You do not need to have material items to have a fulfilled life, but a fulfilled spirit. We as a society have become greedy and selfish…show more content…
Wordsworth visualized scenes while he was away, a way for him to feel a spiritual connection until he was able to return. Wordsworth states, “As a landscape to a blind man’s eye: But opt, in lonely rooms, and mid the din Of towns and cities, I have owed to them” (Wordsworth 25-27). Wordsworth gives a sense of conformity and loneliness while being in the towns and cities. That he had his memories of when he was younger to keep him hopeful to return to nature and all the memories he had grasped the memories of. As the society today focuses merely on what they can profit from cities, Wordsworth understood the true meaning of memories. Memories today are mostly captured through social media, and in return being taken for granted. Wordsworth had nostalgic bliss as he replayed his memories, and knowing that in the future he could look back on that day and have the same feeling again. Social media today is destroying our memories and what we can relive in our minds as memories. We can know that when things are posted within social media it will get likes and be shared. However, there are not many people in society today that will remember the true essence of what nature has given to