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Walden Summary

In his first chapter, "Economy," Thoreau introduces his purpose in writing the book, saying heintends to answer questions people have asked about his reasons for living alone in a cabin in thewoods near Walden Pond for two years !e eplains that most people live their lives as ifsleeping, blindly following the ways of their parents, and become trapped into these lives by

owning property and slaving in #obs to maintain their way of life In contrast, he sought todiscover the true necessities of life and built a cabin, for the cost of $%& '% ( near Walden Pond,where he lived for two years, beginning in the summer of '&)* +aking a profit of $&' ( byselling the beans he grew and working occasionally at odd #obs, he found he was able to supporthimself with very little work and much time for contemplation of himself and natureThoreau, in the second chapter, "Where I -ived, and What I -ived .or," talks about how he onceconsidered buying the !ollowell farm for himself but the purchase fell through Instead, hecreated a new eistence for himself at Walden, where he found #oy and fulfillment in nature, trulyawakening in his mornings there, while most of society remains perpetually asleep, living meanlives when the possibility of a much better life is possible The key to achieving such a life, hesays, is simplicity In the third chapter, "/eading," Thoreau describes how he derives

enlightenment from reading !omer and other great writers, men who spoke of the truth andspeak of life in terms too noble for most to understand +ost of society, however, is not contentto strive after such truths and instead wastes their time reading popular fiction and newspapers,when they should instead be dedicated to improving the intellectual culture, making the villageof 0oncord become a university!owever, as Thoreau relates in the fourth chapter, "1ounds," he spent his time during his firstsummer at Walden hoeing beans, rather than reading, or sitting all morning watching andlistening to the birds That reverie is broken by the whistle and rumble of the passing train, whichreminds Thoreau of the destruction of nature and country life by progress and industriali2ationIn the evening, the hoots of the owls make him melancholy, reminding him of human cries ofsorrow In the fifth chapter, "1olitude," Thoreau feels so much a part of nature that he scoffs at

the suggestion of one of his townsmen that he might be lonely at Walden Instead, he relates hisdistaste at village life, where people see too much of each other, so that human interactionbecomes trivial In the sith chapter, "3isitors," Thoreau is pleased that those who would botherhim with trivial matters don4t visit him at Walden Instead, his visitors are 0anadian woodcutter,whose straightforward thinking and love of life please Thoreau 5ther visitors include half6witsfrom the almshouse, who Thoreau thinks are more intellectual than most overseers, and men ofbusiness, who no longer really en#oy nature The happiest people to visit the pond are childrenand young womenIn chapter seven, "The 7ean6field," Thoreau describes how he hoed and tended two acres ofbeans, some of which he sold, for a profit of $&' ( Though passing farmers critici2ed him fornot using a plow or fertili2er, having to work so long and hard made him grow close to the soil,truly en#oying his work rather than seeing it as a means of profit, like most farmers The eighthchapter, "The 3illage," recounts Thoreau4s discomfort in visiting town every few days, wherepeople4s stares and thirst for gossip are invasive and where the attractions of pubs, stores, andshops are a temptation !e is always relieved to return home to his cabin but worries that societywill seek one out wherever he goes 5ne day, he went to the village to go to the cobbler and wasarrested for not paying taes to a government which supports slavery !e spent a night in #ail8The eperience would prompt Thoreau4s essay "0ivil 9isobedience":-iving in the woods, Thoreau devotes his time to eperiencing nature, as he describes in chapter

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nine, "The Ponds" sometimes fishing with an elderly man who is hard6of6hearing and sometimesfloating about in his boat playing his flute !e gives detailed descriptions of surrounding bodiesof water .lint4s Pond, White Pond, ;oose Pond, and .air6!aven 7ay but finds Walden, with itspure clear water, to be the epitome of nature4s offerings In chapter ten, "7aker .arm," Thoreaudescribes a visit to go fishing at 7aker .arm When caught in a rain shower, he takes refuge in

the hut of Irish "bogger" s theweather grows colder in 5ctober and =ovember, he builds a chimney and plasters the inside ofhis walls When the pond free2es, he studies the bottom of the lake and the formation of icebubbles within the ice itself In the fourteenth chapter, ".ormer Inhabitants? and Winter 3isitors,"nature is all but silent and snow prevents Thoreau from venturing out much !e instead reflectson the former inhabitants of the woods, including former slaves, 0ato Ingraham, @ilpha, and7rister and .enda .reeman, and an Irishman !ugh Auoil5nly a few remnants of their houseschimney stones and covered wells remain 1ometimes Thoreau ventures out for walks, onceseeing a seemingly6inactive owl who suddenly flies away, and returns home to find visitors,including a farmer, a poet, and a peddlar6philosopherIn chapter fifteen, "Winter >nimals," Thoreau describes looking at the transformed landscapefrom the centers of lakes and seeing it in a new light and hearing animals, including owls andfoes chased by hounds 5ne day, he sees a rabbit which looks miserable to him until it leapsaway, clearly a strong and worthy part of nature In chapter siteen, "The Pond in Winter," heawakens one morning after a night of questioning to reali2e that nature is serene and asks noquestions !e cuts holes in the ice of Walden, measuring the depth of the pond, which somepeople have called bottomless In

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Civil Disobedience

9uring his stay at Walden Pond 8later to become the sub#ect of his published #ournal Walden, or-ife in the Woods:, Thoreau spent one night in #ail for refusing to pay a poll ta meant to support

>merica4s war with +eico !e composed a letter from #ail that he would later integrate into0ivil 9isobedience, published in '&)B under the title /esistance to 0ivil ;overnment 8It isinteresting to note that the term "civil disobedience" does not appear in the actual essay:Thoreau4s incarceration brought him firsthand knowledge of the coercive and oppressive tacticsused by government to compel its citi2ens into support of immoral and un#ust policies 7ut it alsohighlighted the importance of individual moral conscience The eperience became the point ofdeparture for Thoreau4s much broader reflection on the duty of civil disobedienceIn addition to the war with +eico, slavery is a chief concern in Thoreau4s essay !e etends thelogic of his argument about civil disobedience to include any cause that might violate anindividual4s sense of moral conscience >t the time of publication, the country was deeplydivided along regional 8and racial: lines over the question of slavery The =ew England >nti6

1lavery 1ociety had been founded in '&C%, and by the '&)Ds, 7oston and the town of 0oncordwhere Thoreau lived for most of his life were considered bastions of abolitionist sentiment 0ivil9isobedience was first delivered on case in point is the +eican war 8'&)6'&)&, which etended slavery into new G1 territories:, orchestrated by a small Hlite ofindividuals who have manipulated government to their advantage against popular will;overnment inherently lends itself to oppressive and corrupt uses since it enables a few men toimpose their moral will on the ma#ority and to profit economically from their own position ofauthority Thoreau views government as a fundamental hindrance to the creative enterprise of thepeople it purports to represent !e cites as a prime eample the regulation of trade andcommerce, and its negative effect on the forces of the free market> man has an obligation to act according to the dictates of his conscience, even if the latter goesagainst ma#ority opinion, the presiding leadership, or the laws of society In cases where thegovernment supports un#ust or immoral laws, Thoreau4s notion of service to one4s countryparadoically takes the form of resistance against it /esistance is the highest form of patriotism

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because it demonstrates a desire not to subvert government but to build a better one in the longterm >long these lines, Thoreau does not advocate a wholesale re#ection of government, butresistance to those specific features deemed to be un#ust or immoralIn the >merican tradition, men have a recogni2ed and cherished right of revolution, from whichThoreau derives the concept of civil disobedience > man disgraces himself by associating with a

government that treats even some of its citi2ens un#ustly, even if he is not the direct victim of itsin#ustice Thoreau takes issue with William Paley, an English theologian and philosopher, whoargues that any movement of resistance to government must balance the enormity of thegrievance to be redressed and the "probability and epense" of redressing it It may not beconvenient to resist, and the personal costs may be greater than the in#ustice to be remedied?however, Thoreau firmly asserts the primacy of individual conscience over collectivepragmatismThoreau turns to the issue of effecting change through democratic means The position of thema#ority, however legitimate in the contet of a democracy, is not tantamount to a moralposition Thoreau believes that the real obstacle to reform lies with those who disapprove of themeasures of government while tacitly lending it their practical allegiance >t the very least, if an

un#ust government is not to be directly resisted, a man of true conviction should cease to lend ithis indirect support in the form of taes Thoreau acknowledges that it is realistically impossibleto deprive the government of ta dollars for the specific policies that one wishes to oppose 1till,complete payment of his taes would be tantamount to epressing complete allegiance to the1tate Thoreau calls on his fellow citi2ens to withdraw their support from the government of+assachusetts and risk being thrown in prison for their resistance .orced to keep all men inprison or abolish slavery, the 1tate would quickly ehaust its resources and choose the lattercourse of action .or Thoreau, out of these acts of conscience flow "a man4s real manhood andimmortality"+oney is a generally corrupting force because it binds men to the institutions and thegovernment responsible for un#ust practices and policies, such as the enslavement of black>mericans and the pursuit of war with +eico Thoreau sees a paradoically inverse relationshipbetween money and freedom The poor man has the greatest liberty to resist because he dependsthe least on the government for his own welfare and protection>fter refusing to pay the poll ta for si years, Thoreau is thrown into #ail for one night While inprison, Thoreau reali2es that the only advantage of the 1tate is "superior physical strength"5therwise, it is completely devoid of moral or intellectual authority, and even with its bruteforce, cannot compel him to think a certain wayWhy submit other people to one4s own moral standard Thoreau meditates at length on thisquestion While seeing his neighbors as essentially well6intentioned and in some respectsundeserving of any moral contempt for their apparent indifference to the 1tate4s in#ustice,Thoreau nonetheless concludes that he has a human relation to his neighbors, and through them,millions of other men !e does not epect his neighbors to conform to his own beliefs, nor doeshe endeavor to change the nature of men 5n the other hand, he refuses to tolerate the status quo9espite his stance of civil disobedience on the questions of slavery and the +eican war,Thoreau claims to have great respect and admiration for the ideals of >merican government andits institutions Thoreau goes so far as to state that his first instinct has always been conformity1tatesmen, legislators, politicians66in short, any part of the machinery of state bureaucracy66areunable to scrutini2e the government that lends them their authority Thoreau values theircontributions to society, their pragmatism and their diplomacy, but feels that only someone

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outside of government can speak the Truth about itThe purest sources of truth are, in Thoreau4s view, the 0onstitution and the 7ible =otsurprisingly, Thoreau holds in low esteem the entire political class, which he considers incapableof devising the most basic forms of legislation In his last paragraph, Thoreau comes full circle todiscussing the authority and reach of government, which derives from the "sanction and consent

of the governed" 9emocracy is not the last step in the evolution of government, as there is stillgreater room for the 1tate to recogni2e the freedom and rights of the individual Thoreauconcludes on an utopic note, saying such a 1tate is one he has imagined "but not yet anywhereseen"