Walden & Civil Disobedience

Questions About Walden & Civil Disobedience

by Henry David Thoreau

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Answered Questions (3)

is this fiction or nonfiction?
David Lentz "Walden" and "Civil Disobedience" both are nonfiction. Thoreau actually lived for two years in a one-room, micro-cabin, built by his own hands with to…more"Walden" and "Civil Disobedience" both are nonfiction. Thoreau actually lived for two years in a one-room, micro-cabin, built by his own hands with tools borrowed from Concord neighbors, beside Walden Pond in Concord, Massachusetts in 1847 and wrote about it in "Walden." He sought "self-reliance" and survived as a vegetarian by a bean field in his garden and lived on resources that he found in the woods. He wants to get beyond or "transcend" everyday life in Concord and awaken to the beauty and harmony of life by living every moment in Nature. “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 writes in Walden in "Where I Lived, and What I Lived For." His deliberate action to immerse himself in nature would repeat itself throughout his brief life as he canoed the Concord and Merrimack Rivers, walked the beaches of Cape Cod and traveled in the wilds of Maine. "Civil Disobedience" is his essay which called for improving rather than abolishing government: "I ask for, not at once no government, but at once a better government." Tolstoy, Gandhi and Martin Luther King, Jr. were vastly influenced by this essay, which couldn't be more relevant than right now: American Democracy seems to have lost its roots in its humanity, and is deeply and systemically in danger of becoming an oligarchy.(less)
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What did you learn from the book about life?
Benjamin Richards I'm learning that folk have been craving a simpler lifestyle for a long time. Can you imagine Thoreau in the 21st century? Although his narrative is h…moreI'm learning that folk have been craving a simpler lifestyle for a long time. Can you imagine Thoreau in the 21st century? Although his narrative is hard to digest, the evocation in his text is beautiful. Life can be more sedentary without suffering motivation. In fact if we aspired to live more in accordance with his ideals the world would change dramatically.(less)
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Anyone else find themselves stopping frequently to research diction and historical information used throughout the novel? 
Inky_tish Oh yes, a fascinating insight into the world ~200 years ago, but difficult to properly parse and appreciate all the context without a bit of periphera…moreOh yes, a fascinating insight into the world ~200 years ago, but difficult to properly parse and appreciate all the context without a bit of peripheral research... unless you're a history buff on that period! Still... astonishing how relevant the sentiments still are...(less)
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Unanswered Questions (3)

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