There is one thing I absolutely do not understand—why does our class hate Thoreau? Henry haters (as I dub them) claim that he was a selfish old hypocrite who couldn’t mind his own business and burdened us with his awful writings. I disagree.
Let’s start with one of the first topics my brought up: Thoreau was a hypocrite. Henry haters claim that Thoreau was a hypocrite because he wrote and “told” everyone to be a nonconformist and to live simply and achieve inner peace. The first thing I have to say to that is to look at page 107 in your copy of Walden. Here Thoreau says, “I should not obtrude my affairs so much… I will therefore ask those of my readers who feel no particular interest in me to pardon me.” He’s basically saying that you don’t have to agree with him and he’s okay with that. He’s not trying to force his opinion upon you. Everyone is entitled to his or her own opinions. Later, on page 267, Thoreau says, “If I knew so wise a man as could teach me purity I would seek him forthwith.” He is openly admitting that he’s not perfect.
My second point under the category of Henry David Thoreau being a hypocrite is that while he wrote about achieving purity and inner peace, he didn’t live up to that message. Does not the book Siddhartha speak to the same message? In that book a young man named Siddhartha undergoes many struggles as he attempts to achieve inner peace and purity. Sound similar? And yet Siddhartha gets rave reviews, while under the scorching eye of first hour Honors English, Thoreau’s writings wither. Did it occur to you that Thoreau was simply writing about his ideal world? Everyone has a fantasy world—who are we to say someone’s fantasies are fallacious?
Other Henry haters claim that he was selfish, that he didn’t give anything meaningful back to the community. Reach into your backpack and pull out your copy of Walden and Other Writings by Henry David Thoreau; he wrote that and gave it to the community. A community that is still reading it over 100 years later. Some people still persist in saying that he didn’t give anything meaningful; that his writings are not meaningful and all they do is torture high school students around the country. To that I reply, “Beauty is in the eye of the beholder.” Your meaningful is different from my meaningful. For those who call Thoreau selfish because he spent some time alone in the woods: who doesn’t want some me time? Thoreau didn’t just spend his time sitting in his cabin, mooching off society. He paid his share; he just didn’t want to live in the city.
One collection of essays is not enough to judge a person by.
Let’s start with one of the first topics my brought up: Thoreau was a hypocrite. Henry haters claim that Thoreau was a hypocrite because he wrote and “told” everyone to be a nonconformist and to live simply and achieve inner peace. The first thing I have to say to that is to look at page 107 in your copy of Walden. Here Thoreau says, “I should not obtrude my affairs so much… I will therefore ask those of my readers who feel no particular interest in me to pardon me.” He’s basically saying that you don’t have to agree with him and he’s okay with that. He’s not trying to force his opinion upon you. Everyone is entitled to his or her own opinions. Later, on page 267, Thoreau says, “If I knew so wise a man as could teach me purity I would seek him forthwith.” He is openly admitting that he’s not perfect.
My second point under the category of Henry David Thoreau being a hypocrite is that while he wrote about achieving purity and inner peace, he didn’t live up to that message. Does not the book Siddhartha speak to the same message? In that book a young man named Siddhartha undergoes many struggles as he attempts to achieve inner peace and purity. Sound similar? And yet Siddhartha gets rave reviews, while under the scorching eye of first hour Honors English, Thoreau’s writings wither. Did it occur to you that Thoreau was simply writing about his ideal world? Everyone has a fantasy world—who are we to say someone’s fantasies are fallacious?
Other Henry haters claim that he was selfish, that he didn’t give anything meaningful back to the community. Reach into your backpack and pull out your copy of Walden and Other Writings by Henry David Thoreau; he wrote that and gave it to the community. A community that is still reading it over 100 years later. Some people still persist in saying that he didn’t give anything meaningful; that his writings are not meaningful and all they do is torture high school students around the country. To that I reply, “Beauty is in the eye of the beholder.” Your meaningful is different from my meaningful. For those who call Thoreau selfish because he spent some time alone in the woods: who doesn’t want some me time? Thoreau didn’t just spend his time sitting in his cabin, mooching off society. He paid his share; he just didn’t want to live in the city.
One collection of essays is not enough to judge a person by.