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Walden: Chapter 5 Notes (Plot of the chapter (Thoreau spends a lot of time…
Walden: Chapter 5 Notes
Plot of the chapter
Thoreau spends a lot of time observing nature, especially the animals he sees, that he describes them in an interesting way; he even admires the wild animals as he says things like "the wildest animals roam the fields/woods without fear"
Not only does Thoreau admire the wild animals because they are part of nature, be he seems to see them as companions in his "solitude"
Thoreau sees his house in the woods as his own little world, that his "horizon" is bounded by woods and all to himself, "abandoned to him by men" and his own "sun, moon, and stars"
Thoreau makes himself seem special since he has his own little place and he makes it seem like men abandoned his "horizon" simply for his privacy; it is obvious that Thoreau sees himself as someone that is worthy/special and deserves this "privacy" from other individuals
Thoreau remembers the one time that he felt lonely in his solitude, but realized the friendliness of the rain and how the pine needles "swelled with sympathy and befriended him"
By him claiming that he never felt lonely once he noticed the "friendliness" of nature in things such as the rain and pine needles, Thoreau is saying that an individual can not feel lonely or unhappy if they are able to notice this likeable trait in nature, and individuals can see nature as a companion as well
Thoreau talks about how he has occasional visits in the long winter evenings by an old settler who has been reported to have dug Walden Pond or the elderly herb gardener, who are not real people
Both imaginary companions represent nature, the old settler represents the Walden Pond whole the elderly herb gardener represents the woods; Thoreau is making a statement by "interacting" with these "ghosts", he is claiming that the companionship of nature is way better than the companionship of other individuals even if they are physically there
Society
Thoreau is grateful of the solitude that he lived in since he was away from society, although people sometimes came from the village to fish, Thoreau describes this by saying the villagers "baited their hooks with darkness"
Thoreau obviously still sees the actions of individuals from society as evil, even if it is an act of survival such as fishing, he makes that clear when he describes their fishing as if it was an act of evil
Thoreau even takes it a step further by saying "they often left with light baskets", making it seem like the villagers are being punished by disturbing the serenity of nature with their evil act of fishing, Thoreau makes it seem like the villagers do not deserve to fish in the pond
Thoreau talks about how a man on the Walden road once asked him how he willingly gave up the luxuries of life, Thoreau told him that he enjoyed life more without these luxuries
Thoreau criticizes how these villagers claim that they can not live life without the luxuries that society has deemed necessary for an individual to have a happy life, Thoreau believes that individuals should only have the necessities needed for survival and that luxuries are a waste of time for individuals to spend time acquiring them and they cause them to use up time that should be used for more important things
Thoreau believes that he is "favored by the gods" unlike other men because he has been blessed by living in nature while other live in society
Thoreau makes it seem like an individual has to be special in order to not only live among nature and away from society, but to be able to notice all the good within nature and the purity of it
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Solitude
When Thoreau is by himself surrounded by nature, he feels connected with nature feeling, "liberty in Nature"
Evidence that Thoreau feels "at one" with nature is when he compares himself with the lake, this proves that Thoreau really feels a connection with nature if he is able to "understand" what the lake goes through when it comes in contact with society
Thoreau says that he is like the lake since his serenity is "rippled but not ruffled" when he has occasional visitors
Though Thoreau says that his serenity is interrupted by these "visitors" he says that his serenity is "rippled but not ruffled" meaning that he seems to enjoy when he occasionally has visitors
This must mean that Thoreau occasionally felt lonely since he was not completely mad at the fact that he had visitors, however, he now enjoyed the solitude that he lived in since he was surrounded by nature and saw solitude as "the best companion"