Walden Ch 1 Flashcards
Walden is a response to
Questions his townsmen have asked about his life in walden
Thoreau wants to escape the plights of the young men who
Inherited farms enslaved and who were made machines by their obligations of the property
Wants to find out what the true
Necessities of life are through living a primitive life
He disputes wisdom of older people arguing that most have not
Truly lived their lives to the fullest
Life doing what most consider to be good is a
Waste
Public opinion means nothing compared to
Private opinion
Never too late to give up on
Prejudices
Riches and possessions
Degeneration of human spirit
Chapter 1 talks about his early
Life and business
Story about the Indian
Making consumer but product
The town wouldn’t vote him an allowance for his
Contributions to that of an Indian
Moved to walden pond to transact
Business and reflect privately without outside distraction
Talks about how possessions of people is what makes them
Poor
Criticizes people’s preoccupation with
Nice clothes
Factory system is only a way to make
Corporations rich
Shelter is a
Necessity of life
In building his house he finds inspiration from a
6 foot by 3 foot box he saw by the railroad
Wishes people would live with the simplicity of
Indians in wigwams or the early American settlers
Profession of architect is unnecessary in that
Men should build their own houses
Appearance of a mans house would show his
Spirit. Otherwise it’s a coffin
Modern improvements are an
Illusion
Farmers are less
Free than oxen
Realized how simply and easily he could
Eat
Offered experiment of eating only vegetables to those who believed
It wasn’t possible to survive that way
Worked 5 years supporting himself and found that he could
Support himself working only 6 weeks a year
Values freedom above all else and finds that being a
Day laborer was the most independent job
Everyone should pursue their own
Particular way o living
Preference for a — life
Solitary
Cooperation is superficial and only possible if a man has
Faith and doesn’t depend on the ways of his community
Thoreau can’t forsake his calling to do
Good for society
Suspicious of those who attempt to do good for him considers it
Unnatural and hypocritical
Wishes for straightforward
Praise of the gift of life
People buy things according to what other people
Have even if they are poor
Less possessions=
More food and rest
Discussed religion and
Beauty of life
Leaves homeland on
Ship
Flowers in meadows during
Changing season
Connects life with beauty of
Nature and changing of seasons
Differing ages and reaves within each
Neighborhood
Experiment focused on living a
Minimalistic life and self reliance
Luxuries only
Hinder mankind
Using nature it’s
Full potential
Philanthropy is only virtue appreciated by
Mankind to fullest degree
It’s overrated
Communication with God and saints corrupted
Peoples manners
Thoreau used slavery as an example of how people feel they must be
So extravagant and over the top
Used slavery as a reference to men who are
Trapped by their employment or possessions
Emphasizes the spiritual enslavement all people face
Modern lifestyles has ruined mans
Primitive but comfortable life
Thoreau sees building ones own house as a sign of
Self reliance
Good experience for the soul
Building ones house costs less than
Rent for a college student
Students in college are taught political economy and this
Put their fathers in debt
Thoreaus classical education is ironic because he criticized
Education and criticizes universities for teaching students about life when they would learn more by living life
Thoreau describes a savage as a
Free spirit and one that doesn’t have to worry about poverty
Thoreau considers a noble savage to be those who are able to
Live with the necessaries of life
Criticism of the industrial revolution is that it distracts people from their
Actual needs
Creations of the industrial revolution don’t have a meaningful connection to
An owner who does not create them
Thoreau talks about the sabbath as
Intense and speaks of it like he knows what it is
View of saints by people were so strong that it
Contradicted their beliefs and gave viewpoint that those who were diseased were evil
Thoreau believes that the physical circumstances of life are tied to
Spiritual life
Dawning of the day=
Spiritual enlightenment
Thoreau spends time of first chapter in order to set the
Scene for his opinions on coming chapters
The amount he spends on ch 1 signifies his reason for writing which I to
Make a change within society
Explains that book was written in
His cabin that he built on walden pond in concord mass while he lived alone in the woods
