Henry David Thoreau, Walden

-

Henry David Thoreau 
(1817 - 1862) 

  • Henry David Thoreau was an American author, poet, philosopher, abolitionist, naturalist, tax resister,development critic, surveyor and historian and a leading Transcendentalist.
  •  Thoreau is best known for his book Walden, a reflection upon simple living in natural surroundings and his essay Resistance to Civil Government. (Also known as Civil Disobedience).
  •  Thoreau's philosophy of Civil Disobedience later influenced the political thoughts and actions of such notable figures as Leo Tolstoy, Mahatma Gandhi, and Martin Luther King Jr.
  •  Thoreau had taken up a version of P. B. Shelley's principle in the political poem The Mask of Anarchy(1819). 
  • In 1854, he would publish as Walden or Life in the Woods recounting the 2 years, 2 months and 2 days that he had spent at Walden Pond.
  •  He was influenced by Indian Spiritual thought.
  •  Robert Frost wrote of Thoreau, “In one book...he surpasses everything we have had in America”.
  • Mahatma Gandhi was influenced by Thoreau essay 'Resistance to Civil Govt”. 
Important Works of Thoreau 
  1.  The Service (1840)
  2. A Walk to Wachuselt (1842)
  3.  Paradise (to be) Regained (1843 essay)
  4. Sir Walter Raleigh (1844)
  5.  Herald of Reformers (1844)
  6. Reform and Reformers (1846-48)
  7.  Resistance to Civil Government or
  8. Civil Disobedience or The Duty of Civil Disobedience (1849).
  9.  Walden (1854) or Life in the Woods.
- Memoir
  1. A Plea for Captain John Brown (1854)
  2.  Excursion (1863): Anthology of essay entitled " Biographical Sketches ".
  3. Life Without Principle. 
 
Walden
  •  Walden or Life in the Woods by transcendentalist Thoreau is a reflection upon simple living in natural surroundings. 
  •  The book compresses the time into a single calendar year and uses passage of four seasons to symbolize human development.
  •  It is a part memoir and part spiritual quest , It opens with the announcement that Thoreau spent two years at Walden Pond living a simple life without a support of any kind. This land was purchased by Thoreau's mentor R. W. Emerson.
  •  'Economy' is the first chapter of this work.
  •  John Updike compared Walden with Bible.
  • Skinner wrote Walden – 2.
  •  When Henry David Thoreau was being criticized for his publications then George Eliot came with her review in support of Thoreau.
Important Quote- "The mass of men lead lives of quiet desperation".

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Coolie Summary

-
Image
Coolie Coolie , by Mulk Raj Anand, was first published in 1936 and helped to establish Anand as one of the foremost Anglophone Indian writers of his day. Like much of his other work, this novel is concerned with the consequences of British Rule in India and with the rigid caste system that structured Indian society. “Coolie” is a term for an unskilled laborer, though it can also be used as a pejorative. Anand’s novel tells the story of Munoo, a young boy from the Kangra Hills in Bilaspur. He is an orphan who lives with his aunt Gujri and uncle Daya Ram ; however, early in the novel they reveal they can no longer support Munoo and insist that he get a job. This is the beginning of a journey that will take Munoo to Bombay and beyond, but it also marks the end of his childhood. With his Uncle, Munoo travels to a nearby town where he finds a job as a servant to a bank clerk, Babu Nathoo Ram. Munoo is mistreated by his master’s wife ( Bibi  Uttam Kaur) but he admires his m...
Read more

A Hot Noon in Malabar by Kamala Das

-
Image
A Hot Noon in Malabar by Kamala Das  This is a noon for beggars with whining  Voices, a noon for men who come from hills  With parrots in a cage and fortune-cards,  All stained with time, for brown Kurava girls With old eyes, who read palms in light singsong Voices, for bangle-sellers who spread On the cool black floor those red and green and blue Bangles, all covered with the dust of roads, For all of them, whose feet, devouring rough Miles, grow cracks on the heels, so that when they Clambered up our porch, the noise was grating, Strange . . . This is a noon for strangers who part The window-drapes and peer in, their hot eyes Brimming with the sun, not seeing a thing in Shadowy rooms and turn away and look So yearningly at the brick-ledged well. This Is a noon for strangers with mistrust in Their eyes, dark, silent ones who rarely speak At all, so that when they speak, their voices  Run wild, like jungle-voices. Yes, this is A noon for wild men, wild thoughts,...
Read more