Henry david thoreau’s walden essay

Henry David Thoreau’s WaldenConsidering that Henry David Thoreau’s non fiction book, Walden was first published in 1854, it is somewhat surprising to discover that the 154-year gap is really not that extensive to expect change in our society. Change here is referred to the world and people’s priorities and state of living. When Thoreau moved into his cabin in Walden Pond in 1845, technology was already progressing in the form of locomotives or trains. The date was ironically July 4, 1845 when he decided to isolate himself from the world of noisy and alcoholic celebrations and indulge instead to solitude in the cabin as his way of claiming freedom and independence (Conn 175). It is with no doubt that his time is quite comparable with our present time. Especially today when technology and machineries are rampant that it can already be considered as the center of our working lives.

Sometimes it is reasonable to assume that it is also the one responsible for making some people’s live work. It is saddening to know that Thoreau has a huge point when he wrote Walden. This place where living is full of conformity that most of the time it is misunderstood as freedom. There is no absolute freedom on earth. With the rise of popular culture and technology, conformity is becoming rampant in motivating people’s decisions. Most people seem to be queuing in some sort of similar patterns and fashions that it seems as if only few people can decide for themselves.

Almost every rich people in the country have the same thing or item in their houses. Teenagers are almost looking like one another. It is reasonable to conclude that media deserve the blame. They are one of the most influential constructors of conformity not only in the country but worldwide. They dictate what is important and beautiful so consequently, audiences tend to follow what is acceptable in the society.

If Thoreau is still alive today, he would have been disappointed on how things turn out after his book was absorbed by the world, if it is even absorbed at all. If only it is that easy to veer away from the material temptations of the world. If only it can be solved by simply lodging in a cabin far away from civilization. Unfortunately, the world’s problem is not as simple as that and it is depressing to know yet you can not do anything about it.                 Works CitedConn, Peter.

Literature in America: An Illustrated History. New York: Cambridge University Press, 1989