Fortwoy ear

sandt womont hsThor eaul

ivedaloneinthewoodsbyWal denPond, i
n
Concord,Massachusetts,wherehewr ot
et hebulkoft
hebook, t
houghnowhehasl ef
t
thewoodsandr et
urnedtocivi
li
zat
ion.Manypeopl ehaveaskedhi m abouthi
sdailyli
fe
i
nt hewoods,andt hi
sbooki sinpartanattempttoanswert hosereaders.Hedefends
writi
ngabouthimselfandhisuseoft hefi
rstpersonagainstthechargeofegoti
sm by
sayingt
hathei sthepersonthatheknowsbest ,aft
erall
,andt hatheaimstogive"a
simpleandsincereaccountofhisownl i
fe."

Mostmen, saysThor eau,workt

oomuch.Menwhohav einheri
tedfarmssuf ferpersonal
andf i
nanci
alr
estri
ctionsandspendt heirl
ivestoi
lingonmanyacr eswhent heycoul d
havesurviv
edonpl antingafewsquar efeet.Suchexcessivewor kpreventsthem from
plucki
ngthe"f
inerfruit
s"ofli
fe,
li
keleisureandf r
iendship.Addressi
ngt hepoor ,he
denouncestheli
festyleofworry
ingaboutone' sdebtandl iv
inginfearofnotbei ngable
tomakeenoughmoney ,
compari
ngittosl aver
yandadv ocatingfor"sel
f-emancipation.
"

Whati sthechiefpurposeofman?Thor eauasks.Mostmenl iv

eindespai rbecausethey
haveforgottenthattheyhav eachoiceinhowt oconductt hei
rli
ves.I
nstead, t
heyfol
low
theoldergenerati
ons, cal
li
ngthem wise.Butiti
snotenought omakechoi cesbasedon
recei
vedwi sdom, ev
eni fthosechoiceshavebeenpr act
icedthroughhistoryandwr i
tt
en
aboutbyt heancients.Humanl iv
esar easvari
ousasnat ure.Amanmustbeopent o
changeandmusthi msel ffi
gureoutwhatistherightwayf orhimtoli
ve.

Humanadv ancement sthr

oughoutti
mehav enotchanged" t
heessent i
allawsofman's
exist
ence."Thoreaudesignsapr i
miti
veli
feforhimsel
finordertofi
gur eoutwhatare
thebarestnecessiti
esamanneedst oli
ve,t
heelementswi t
houtwhichnoonehasbeen
abletoli
ve.Hedet erminesthesenecessi
ti
estobe: f
ood,shelt
er,cl
othing,andf
uel.His
aimistocombi net hetoughnessofpri
miti
velif
ewiththeint
ell
ectualnessofciv
il
izat
ion.

Theluxuriesandcomf ort
stowhi chmenar esoat t
achedonl yhi ndermanki nd.Being
poorinout wardrichesisoftenasi gnofbei ngrichininwardr i
ches.Thor eaucal l
shi s
wayofl i
fe"voluntarypovert
y "andsuggest sitisagoodv antagepoi ntfrom whi cht o
observehumanl i
fe.Heseekst osolvethepr oblemsofhowt ol ivenotonl ytheoretical
ly,
l
ikeapr ofessor,butpracti
callyaswell.Hisadv i
ceonhowt oli
v e,hesay s,isnotdirected
tothosewhoar estrongandhav emast er
edt heirli
ves,nortot hosewhoar ehappywi t
h
thecurrentstate,buttothosewhoar ediscontentedandov erwor ked,andal sotot hose
whoar eweal t
hybutpoori nspi ri
t.

Bef
orecomingtothewoods, Thoreauspentt i
measanewspaperreport
er,
(thought
he
edi
tornev
erpubl
ishedhiswri
ting),asel
f-appoint
edweat
herman,andanamat eur
her
dsmanandgar deneroft
het own,beforeitbecamecl
eart
hathisfel
l
owt ownsmen
didnotappreci
atehiswork.Hetell
saparableaboutanIndianwhogetsangryata
l
awy erbecausethelawy
err ef
usestobuyhiswov enbasket
s,andThoreaunotesthat
,
l
iketheIndian,
hedidnotreali
zehehadtosel l
wor kt
hatotherpeopl
ewanted.Inst
ead
ofadapti
ngt othetown,
though,hechoosestogot othewoodsandwor kashewant s,
call
i
ngit"agoodplaceforbusiness.
"

Clothi
ng,Thor eauar
gues,isanembar r
assinglyexcessiveconcernf ormostpeopl e.
Theywor rymor eabouthavingnew,pri
stineclothesthantheydoabouthav i
ngacl ean
conscience.Thoreauurgesthatchoi
ceofcl othi
ngbel ednotbyat astef ornovelt
yorby
thewhi msoff ashi
on,whichpeopleadheret odof anat
ical
ly
,butbyut ili
tyandsi mpli
cit
y.
Withoutclothes,aman'ssocialr
ankwoul dber i
ght f
ull
yindi
sti
nguishabl e.Theclothi
ng
i
ndustrydoesnotser vepeople'
sbestinterestsbutonlymakescor por ationsri
ch.

Shelter
,hecont inues, beganasanext ensionoft heneedf orwar mthfulfi
ll
edbycl othing
andlaterdevelopedt omeanal soapl acef orcomf or
tandaf f
ect i
ons.Whati sthebar est
kindofshelterweneed?Thor eauasks.Humanki ndbeganbyr equir
ingonlycav esfor
shelt
er.Heseesl argeboxesbyt herail
roadi nwhichthelaborerslockupt heirtoolsat
nightandconsi derst hev i
rt
uesoflivi
ngani ndependentandpar eddownl i
feinoneof
them.Headmi rest hesi mplearchi
tectureoft heIndi
anwigwam.Hesi ngsthepr ai
sesof
economy ,orcar efull
ymanagi ngone'sr esources,andhef i
ndsi tunacceptablethat
homesar esoexpensi veandluxuri
oust hatmostpeopl ecan'tev enaffordtoownoneor
spendhalftheirl i
vesear ni
ngtheonet heylivein.

Whatar ethedi f
ferencesbet ween" theci vi
l
izedman"and" thesavage"?Thoreauasks.
Thecivil
izedmanconcei vesofi nstit
ut i
onsintowhi chtheindiv
iduali
sabsorbedforthe
goodofmanki nd.Thistrade-off
, Thor eaumai ntai
ns,isagreatsacrif
ice,
andan
unnecessar yone.Theci vi
li
zedmani smor all
yandspi ri
tuall
ydistr
acted,
whilethe
savagelivesfr eeoft hethreatofpov erty
.Asf arassheltergoes,civi
l
izat
ionhascreated
pal
acesbutnotnobl ement oli
vei nthem.Whi lethewealthysetthetasteforthemass
ofpeoplet ochaseaf ter,
theexist enceoft hepoor ,wholiveinshanti
es,hasbeen
degraded.Inr ealit
y,thepur sui
tsoft heci vi
li
zedmanar enowor thi
erthanthatofthe
savages,sot heirdwel li
ngsshoul dnotbeanydi ff
erent.

Thebestar t
,Thoreauasserts,i
smadeoutofman' sdesir
etofreehi
msel ff
rom the
constrai
ntsofci
vili
zat
ion.Paradoxical
ly,howev er
, ther
eisnoroom forarti
ncivi
lizedl
i
fe
becausepeoplear edi
stract
edbyl esserpur sui
tsandpur suef
alsebeauty.Befor
e
beautycanreall
ybeappr eci
ated,theliv
esofor dinar ymenmustbedi smantl
edand
broughttothei
rmostbasi cstate,asthef i
rstsett
lersofConcordli
ved,makinghomes
ofholesinthegroundunt i
ltheywer esecureenoughandhadenoughf oodtobuild
houses.Societ
y'
shabitofbui l
dingluxuri
ousdwel lingsisasymptom ofspiri
tual
depr
ivat
ion.

I
nMar ch1845, Thoreaurecounts,hewenttoWaldenPondandbegant ocutdownt rees
f
orhishouse, singi
ngwhilehedidhiswor kandtaki
ngpl easur
ei nthebeautyofthe
woodsandt her emaini
ngfrost.Onedayhegoest oinspecttheshant yofr
ailr
oad
workerJamesCol l
i
ns,whichhebuy sandtearsdownf ortheti
mber .Hedigshiscell
ar.
I
nMay ,wit
ht hehelpofsomeacquai nt
anceswhosechar acter
sheappl auds,herai
ses
t
hef r
ameofhi shouse.Soonhebui l
dshisfi
repl
aceandhasf i
nishedhisdwelli
ng.

Perhapsi fall
menbui l
ttheirownhouses, Thoreausuggest s,thepoet i
cf acult
ywoul dbe
developeduni versal
l
y,justasallbirdssingwhiletheybuildtheirnests.Instead,only
carpent er
sbuildhouses.Her ai
l
sagai nstthedivi
sionoflabor,whichcr eatesa
communi tyofmenandt herebytrapst hem i
nit.Hewi shesforallment oexper i
ence
"t
hepl easureofconst r
uction"andadv ocatesforanar chit
ecturethatignor esthe
appear anceoft hebuil
ding;it
sbeaut ythenwillbetrueandhumbl eandnotsuper fi
cial
.

Thoreaukeepsmet i
culousrecordsofallhisexpensesinbuil
dinghi shouseand
i
ncludesachar tofthem.Hef indsthatintotalhehaspaidlesst hanmanypeoplepayin
annualrent
,incl
udingCambr i
dgeCol l
egestudents,whowast esomuchmoneyont heir
educati
onwhent heycouldavoidthatexpenseandl ear
nmor ei ftheywerenotj
ustto
studyli
feunderapr ofessorbut"earnest
lyli
veit"andacqui
reknowl edgebyt
hei
rown
hands

Li
kethecol l
egesystem andothermoder nadv ancements,r
ail
roadsandtravel
i
ngin
general
,Thoreaubeli
eves,ar
ear i
dicul
ouswast eofmoneyandanot hersy mpt
om ofan
unhealt
hywayofl i
feinwhichaper sonspendsmostofhi sli
feearni
ngmoneysot hat
hecanenj oyonlyasmallpar
tofit.Inaddit
ion, peopl
eseem toplacemor eval
ueonthe
speedofget t
ingfr
om oneplacetoanot herthant heydoontheimportanceofwhatthey
doineitherpl
ace.

I
nor dertodef r
ayhisexpenses,Thoreauplantsabean- fi
eldofcoupleofacresand
makesamodestgai n.Thenexty earhedoesev enbett
er.Compar i
nghimselftothe
farmersofConcor d,Thor
eaubel i
eveshehasdonebet terthanthem fi
nanci
all
y,andall
whilemaintaini
nghisindependence.Outofgr eed,far
mer susethelaborofanimals,but
i
tisagr eatfoll
y,hesays,becausewher easthef ar
merwant stheanimalstoworkf or
him,heendsupwor kingfortheanimals.

Menshouldnotbej udgedbythei
rarchitectureormater
ialwealt
h,Thor
eaubeli
eves,
but
bytheri
chnessoftheirabst
ractt
hought: notbythetemplesoftheEastbutbythe
Bhagvat
-Geeta.Nati
onsobsessovermaki ngmonumentst oprol
ongthei
rrenownand
sat
isf
ytheirvani
ty,
butThoreaufi
ndst hem v ul
gar.
Conti
nuingwit hhisrecor
d-keeping,Thoreaumakeschar tsofallhi
spurchasesfor
householdgoodsandf ood,detail
i
ngallthatheat eandasser ti
ngthatamancaneat
ver
ysi mplyandr etai
nhishealth.Headdsupal lhisexpenses,addsupallhisearni
ngs,
andfindsthebal ancetobeamodestdef i
cit
,againstwhichhehasgai nedahouse, a
newwayofl ife,andthecont entmentthatcomesal ongwiththem.

Aftermanyexper i
mentsinmakingbr ead,Thoreaufi
ndsthatthebestwayistousejust
meal andwat er
,notevensalt
.Origi
nall
yheusedl eaveni
ngbutthendiscov
eredby
accidentthathecoulddowithoutit,
andhenot esthatMarcusPorciusCat
o'sanci
ent
recipeforbreaddoesnotincl
udei t
.Her el
ishesmakinghisownfoodandencourages
hisreaderstodoso

Forfurnitur
eandhousehol dgoods,Thoreauchoosest ohaveonlyt
hebasi cs,
including
atable, adesk, t
hr eechair
s,twoknivesandforks,thr
eeplates,
onecup, andonespoon.
Hebel ievesthati tisashamet ohavelotsofbelongings.Onceheattendedanauct i
on
ofaman' seffects, andhesay si
twouldhavebeenbet t
ertohavehad"abonf i
re,or
puri
fyingdest ructionofthem,"asintheIndi
anpr acti
ceofcasti
ngoffoldpossessi ons
annuallyandbur ningthem toget
herinapubli
cr i
tualandfeast.

Thoreauf i
ndst hathecanmeetal lhisexpensesbywor ki
ngsi xweeksoutoft heyear,
l
eav i
ngt herestofhistimef orst udy.Het r
iedteachingandt rade,evencontemplated
picki
nghuckl eberri
es,butfoundt hatdaylaborwast hebestwor kbecauseitl
efthim
fr
eest .Mostofal lhevalueshisf reedom anddoesn' tdesiremor emoneybecauseoft he
sacrif
iceintimei twouldent ai
l.Laborshoul dnotbel ovedf oritsownsake, Thoreau
argues.Suppor ti
ngonesel fdoesnothav etobeahar dshi
p, andal lofli
fecanbea
pleasure.Atthesamet i
me, itdoesnotsuf f
icemer el
ytof ollowhi sexample;the
i
ndi v
idualmustf indhi
sownwayi nthewor ld,
andi tisbestt ogoal one.

Somet ownsmenhav eaccusedThor eauofbeingselfi

sh.I
tistr
ue,philanthropyand
chari
tydonotagreewi thhi
sconst it
uti
on,hesays,andhe, l
i
keallmen, hav ean
obli
gati
ontofol
lowhi sown" genius"andnotbeper suadedtodothewor kt hatbel
ongs
toothermen.Aman, however,shouldnotsetoutconsciouslyt
odogood, asingivi
nga
poormanmoney ;whatgoodhedoeshemustdowi thoutknowingit
,letti
ngt hegood
unconsci
ousl
yov erf
lowi nt
otheirconv er
sat
ion.

Truegoodnessi snotmer ekindnessorbenevolence,asmostpeopl ethink,butspir

it
ual
strength,whichbelongsli
kewi setomenoflearningandi ntel
li
gencethroughouthistor
y
andt otheI ndi
answho, beingsuperi
ortophysical pai
n,suggestednewt echniquesto
theirtort
urersastheywer ebeingburnedatthest ake.

Phi
l
ant
hropy
,Thor
eaubel
i
eves,
ist
hesel
fi
sht
hing.I
nst
eadofspr
eadi
ngcour
ageand
personal
fulf
il
lment
,itspreadsdespai
r.Aman' sdesi
ret
obephilant
hropicst
emsfrom
hi
sownf earsandpains,andhelpi
ngot hersisawaytocur
ehimselfofthem.Thor
eau
wishesphil
anthr
opi
stsrelieff
rom t
hei
rdi st
ressandt
hecapaci
tytoescapethatki
ndof
l
ife.

Organizedr el
i
gioni saboutconsol i
ngman'sf ears,notnouri
shinghishope, Thoreau
beli
eves, andhast husfail
edev eninsimplepr ai
seofGod.Tocur eanyi l
landrestor
e
mankindt oastateofspiri
tual gl
ory,menmustbeassi mpleasnat ur
e.Hequot esthe
Guli
stanofPer sianpoetShei kSadi,whowr it
est hatonlythecypresstreeiscall
edfree,
becausei tbearsnof rui
tandt heref
ore,unl
ikeothert r
ees,whichhav ebloomingseasons
andwi theredseasons, i
tisalwaysf l
ouri
shi
ng.

Thoreauclosesthechapterwit
hapoem cal l
ed"ThePretensi
onsofPov er
ty"byEngli
sh
poetThomasCar ew,whichcrit
icizest
hepoorwhohav ebecomel azyandcompl acent
wit
hmedi ocrit
yandhavef or
gottentostr
ivefort
hegreatvir
tues:
braver
y ,
prudence,
magnanimi t
y,andheroi
sm.