Walden Call To Action Analysis

A Call to Action: A Look at Thoreau’s Walden Many critics or casual readers of Henry David Thoreau are quick to characterize him as a self-important recluse, whose infatuation with nature and the outdoors was more of an outlet for his antisocial behavior rather than a genuine belief that nature is truly important to one’s self. While there is an aspect of this point of view, Thoreau’s reasoning behind his love affair with nature goes deeper than that. In the second and third chapters of Walden, Henry David Thoreau discusses two important aspects of his journey to gain an objective understanding of society and himself through introspection and immersing himself in nature around his hometown. The first aspect being his reasoning for living near Walden Pond and the benefits that residing within nature offers. The second aspect is the importance of reading and intellectual enlightenment. The important insight these chapters give critics and readers alike is it cements Thoreau’s true reasoning for his immersion in nature. It was Thoreau’s demonstration of and a call to action to a better way of living
Thoreau wrote, “With a little more deliberation in the choice of their pursuits, all men would perhaps become essentially students and observers, for certainly their nature and destiny are interesting to all alike,” (1022). Thoreau is making the case that if society placed more of an emphasis on returning to nature, it leads to a higher level of self-enlightenment and intellectual discourse within society. Of particular importance for readers is to note the deliberate use of “all men” within that passage. Thoreau’s wording indicates he truly means all people within society, and his move to nature is not for ascetic reasons, rather it is a demonstration of what society could be for all of