David Thoreau’s Fascination with the Simple Life in “Visitors”

Henry David Thoreau focuses a great deal of his chapter “Visitors” on a French Canadian woodchopper and post-maker. Thoreau admires the man’s simple worldview and practical reaction to lofty philosophical ponders. The lumberjack is simple-minded, and Thoreau cannot decide whether he is more like a child or a wise man. He eventually comes to the conclusion that by nature keeping him as a child, the man retains his genuineness and avoids the over-sophistication of society. Society often clouds the humanity’s natural calling to enjoy nature without exploitation and contributes to the selfish and misguided obsession with social and financial advancement. Thoreau goes into extreme detail to describe the man and his relationship with him. While this may appear excessive, it allows Thoreau’s audience to understand him better and how he sets an example that Thoreau believes society should follow.