The Nature of Nature 2020

On page 142 of my copy of the book, it is 1845 nearing the end of March and Thoreau is starting the process of building his small house, he first asks to borrow an axe. The owner of this axe states that the axe was “the apple of his eye.” Thoreau then simply projects that, “It is difficult to begin without borrowing” Thoreau then goes down to the woods by the dark icy pond, these woods are filled with youthful tall arrowy white pines and hickories. Here he cuts down the trees and collected timber for the construction of his home.

While reading this I thought of how he was not only borrowing the axe from the man, but also from nature.  Chopping down wood for his home he essentially killed many trees for the purpose of shelter I felt as if the concept of borrowing from nature was present.

 

Thoreau often uses metaphor to express a situation or to invoke an image of nature. These stylistic choices not only give his writing vibrance and life, but they also inevitably give the reader multiple ways to dissect his ideas, offering them various lenses through which to observe a single scene. It offers both a literal and more interpretive point of view, imploring that the reader see ordinary things in a new light. 

This mode of description stood out to me as Thoreau was discussing clothes. On page 21 (at least in my edition), he describes clothes using language associated with botany, comparing a human to a plant. He refers to our “thin and fanciful clothes” as our epidermis (the “skin” of a plant), our “thicker garments, constantly worn” as our cortex (tissue beneath the epidermis), and our shirts as our “true bark.” In this way, Thoreau manages to do the opposite of anthropomorphizing, he rather attributes plant traits to humans. 

The clothes he refers to as our epidermis I gathered were our jackets, and the way he describes them here suggests that he sees them as more decorative than functional. Taking the plant perspective however, one could interpret the functional similarities between a jacket and an epidermis: they both act to keep things in (water for plants, heat for humans) and keep things out (bacteria and fungi in plants, water and weather for humans). In this way, he once again creates a layered scene, rife for multiple interpretations.

This passage highlights not only Thoreau’s command of language, but also his extensive knowledge of the natural world. However much I question his work because of his seemingly  condescending attitude toward society, it’s moments like these that show Thoreau’s skill and commitment to a nature-centered way of life. It shows that even when describing a solely human attribute, his mind always takes him back to nature.

“To anticipate, not the sunrise and the dawn merely, but, if possible, Nature herself! How many mornings, summer and winter, before yet any neighbor was stirring about his business, have I been about mine! No doubt, many of my townsmen have met me returning from this enterprise, farmers starting for Boston in the twilight, or woodchoppers going to their work. It is true, I never assisted the sun materially in his rising, but, doubt not, it was of the last importance only to be present at it.” -p.117, 118

Thoreau here speaks of his affection towards his simple life away from the overbearingness and vices of society. To rise with the sun is a frequent narrative used by those who feel at one with nature because they are independent from dull routines and alarm clocks. Instead, Thoreau awakes alongside other animals and creatures, in tune with non-human nature. By attuning to nature’s rhythms, he sees himself as sensing nature itself. His focus on nature, tending to his dear crops, and going about his calm business, rather than wasting time worrying about the face-paced life of Concord. That does not mean Thoreau did not come across various struggles in his lifestyle, but they were inevitable results from simple-living, not societal excesses that could be avoided. In the end, how Thoreau lived made him satisfied and feel he was living his life to the fullest.

Different from our view of nature as something to be preserved and untouched, Thoreau believes nature is something we should use in our effort to live simply.  He uses the bean field as a simpler means to produce one’s own food without feeding into a mass-producing society.  He also claims to “love [his] rows,” saying, “They attached me to the earth, and so I got great strength like Anteaus” (Walden 219).  He uses his bean field as a conduit through which to connect to the ground beneath his feet and establish a transcendent connection to his simple self.  Still, Thoreau acknowledges the potentially exploitative behavior, asking, “But what right had I to oust johnswort and the rest, and break up their ancient herb garden?” (Walden 220).  The content of this question indicates Thoreau’s awareness of his disruptive presence, something we have discussed at length in class.  By phrasing it as a rhetorical question, Thoreau invites his reader(s) to contemplate that question for themselves, while also, perhaps, reflecting his own lack of an answer.  Regardless, this stylistic choice enhances the quality of Thoreau’s journal, as it maintains his authenticity of thought while he is living and working by Walden Pond.

His attitude toward society really through me off. I didn’t like how he described the way the town worked. How men would eat nuts and gossip, things like that. It gave me the vibe that one, he felt superior to them. It made it seem he was judging the town for indulging in popular human pastimes, that he would never be bothered with. Two he treated the description like another description of something he would find in the woods. It was very detached from his own “kind”. He observed them as if they were animals, it gave me serial killer vibes. This passage wasn’t my favorite, it left me feeling quite bizarre. I wonder how he would have described the college.

“Many a traveler came out of his way to see me and
the inside of my house, and, as an excuse for calling,
asked for a glass of water.” In chapter six, on the passage that begins with that sentence, Walden writes about how some half witted men came to him and his disinterest in engaging. This is the main message of Visitors, Walden’s seeking of solitude with his occasional curiosity in interesting people.

On page 243, Thoreau describes the lake as “the landscape’s most beautiful and expressive feature. It is the earth’s eye; looking into which the beholder measures the depth of his own nature. The fluviatile trees next to the shore are the slender eyelashes which fringe it, and the wooded hills and cliffs around are its overhanging brows.”

When I first read this, I was sure that he was likening nature to a human face. Looking back at it, there is not necessarily any language that would indicate that this is necessarily a human face; rather, it could be describing the face of another animal. It made me wonder whether this anthropomorphic perspective was completely my own, or whether Henry David Thoreau was, in fact, intentionally trying to compare this natural setting to a human face. Perhaps he assumed that readers would automatically connect this description to that which they are familiar with: a human face.

In this chapter, I was able to get a better understanding Thoreau’s attitude toward society. He begins by stating that he likes company like any other man.  He talks about the visitors who pass by his home in the woods, mostly focusing on a 28-year-old Canadian woodchopper and post maker, whom he doesn’t name. He describes him as a simple-minded, quiet, natural and solitary happy man. Thoreau mentions that the man was so immersed  in his “animal life”,  he was unsure whether he was “wise as Shakespeare or as simply ignorant as a child”. Thoreau seems to respect the man’s simplistic life, but still sees him as inferior, due to his lack of education. Even though the man was in touch with nature, it still wasn’t enough to compare to Thoreau’s intellectual mind, according to him.

Thoreau talks very highly of the pond and nature surrounding in which leads me to believe that he enjoys spending time by it. On page 235 I find it particularly interesting when he says “The scenery of Walden is on a humble scale, and, though very beautiful, does not approach to grandeur, nor can it much concern one who has not frequented it or lived by its shore…”. To me Thoreau is saying that he sees the beauty of Walden pond but to someone who has never been there or spent any sort of signifigant time there, they will not see its beauty. I think this aligns with Thoreau’s attitude towards nature and society. I say this because he seems to love being out in nature by himself but does not believe that society can see his love for nature and just thinks he is strange for being out in nature by himself. Iwould tend to agree with Thoreau here because for some people they can see the beauty in nature while other can’t and would just think that it’s just a tree or in this case it’s just a pond of water.

In Visitors, Thoreau challenges the idea that physical state of solitude cannot coexist with companionship. Expressing a desire for social contact, Thoreau shares that he has designated “three chairs in [his] house; one for solitude, two for friendship, three for society” (Thoreau, 208). Thoreau suggests that he wants to have company despite his longing to be in solitude which required removing himself from society. Alternatively, guests seem drawn to fulfill the role of companionship that Thoreau craves. He even adds that “when visitors came in larger and unexpected numbers there was but the third chair for them all, but they generally economized the room by standing up” (Thoreau, 208). Thoreau strategically claims that a state of solitude and companionship can indeed peacefully coexist by placing these chairs within the walls of his small cabin. However, he argues that there is a particular ratio of voice volume to distance in which they can work together. He states that “loquacious” speakers should be in close proximity to each other while those who “speak reservedly and thoughtfully” should stand at a distance where “all animal heat and moisture may have a chance to evaporate” (Thoreau, 209).

Thoreau’s philosophy for solitude and companionship is “you want room for your thoughts to get into sailing trim and run a course or two before they make their port” (Thoreau, 209). In other words, thoughts demand a state of solitude just like humans before a conversation could arise; Thoreau states that thoughts need a “steady course before it reaches the ear of the hearer” and humans needing time for silence before they receive a message.