Thoreau - A Unique Thinker

 

Henry David Thoreau has a special place among American writers. He is loved by book lovers as a philosopher, nature lover and an innovative thinker who has experimented with life. Taking a break from civilized life, Thoreau came up with the idea of what it would be like to be alone in a forest, with the fewest necessities, in the bosom of nature. He has also written a book on the subject. Its name is "Walden."

On July 4, 1845, he entered a small cabin in the forest and lived there alone until September 6, 1847. That is, approximately lived for 2 years and 2 months in a self-made wooden cabin next to a pond called Walden, day and night, mixing with the plants, animals and insects there. He did this experiment to see if man could live as normally as possible without the need of anyone.

Thoreau was influenced by his friend and fellow writer Ralph Waldo Emerson. Emerson is actually the owner of the site of Thoreau's small hut or cabin. He built the house with his own hands. It cost $28 at the time. The amount of wood, plaster, nails, window etc. bought for it, he wrote in detail.
He recorded his day-to-day life. He wrote in detail about various plants, animals, insects, birds and their movements. He finds many small creatures that he didn't know existed. He plants a garden of beans. He worked there for some time. He reads and writes in the middle of the night. There are some sounds in this valley, where a few miles away there is a railway track.

The Irish laborers who came to lay the railway line and the farmers who passed through that route to their villages would occasionally meet Thoreau and ask him why he was alone in the valley. Walden in front of his cabin recorded how the pond looks in any season, when the snow accumulates there. In  three-pages of that book, he describes the lives and struggles of black ants and red ants. The problem with Thoreau is that he goes too far into everything. From Greek and Roman stories to the research of agricultural scientists, he wrote extensively without saying so. He talks about poets and philosophers from all continents of Asia, Africa and Europe.

He also mentioned about Bhagavad-gi ̄ ta ̄ and Vedas in the work. The contents of this Walden book are divided into 17 types for the convenience of the students. Because of the old-fashioned style and the combination of many spiritual and secular themes, this book will not be rushed if we want to read it like a diary. In this book, he has given a very fine picture of the sounds he heard while in the cabin, the beauty of solitude, the people who came to him, the garden of beans he grew, the neighbors who used to hurt others, the nature that changes in different seasons, the birds, especially the Walden pond.
The essays, poems, and other books Thoreau wrote during his lifetime total up to 20 volumes. He gave many speeches against slavery. 

He asserted that citizens have the freedom to oppose the government. His name is synonymous with the term civil disobedience. Leo Tolstoy, Gandhiji and Dr. Martin Luther King was inspired by Henry David Thoreau.

The book contains 280 pages of history. He mentioned many things like an encyclopedia. The book sold over 2000 copies. Over time, it became known as a prominent in American classical literature, gaining fame through numerous reviews. Got a lot of prints. Particularly when Robert Frost wrote about it, everyone's attention was drawn to Walden. 

A Film was also created based on the book in 1968. 
To be a philosopher is not merely to have subtle thoughts, nor even to found a school, but to love wisdom as to live according to its dictates, a life of simplicity, independence, magnanimity and trust. Henry David Thoreau was born and died in Concord, Massachusetts, twenty miles from Boston.

        Written for #WRITEAPAGEADAY                                                                                                                                                                                                      WORDS : 668