Rhetorical Analysis Of Walden

Often, humans are inclined to assign themselves the highest honors, place themselves before all life, and amuse themselves with their assumed superiority. In all this pride, humanity overlooks its neighbors and fellow earthlings. The earth which provides humans with understanding, resources, and love time and time again is seen as something to be conquered. Yet, people forget their place in this world. Humans are not above the natural order of things, but merely standing alongside their earthly neighbors. Therefore, the Earth is not so much of something inexplicable and on a level below people, but all the same as humans. People can find company and understanding in nature; they are linked to the earth like a paper chain. This is the prime message of Thoreau’s paragraph in his book, “Walden.”

Thoreau utilizes personification abundantly in his paragraph to emphasize its likeness to humans. To the clouds, he assigns the otherwise human act of crying. Clouds …show more content…
As he asks “Am I not partly leaves and vegetable mould myself?” readers are left to wonder about their composition. Surely, the birth and existence of humans does not come from nowhere; it does not materialize out of thin air. With some reflection, it becomes evident that humans are fully composed of all the same minerals, water, and atoms as the rest of the Earth and universe. As the law of conservation and energy states, energy is not created nor destroyed. On Earth, humans are a mere part of the endless cycle of energy. The water from asteroids and comets, from lakes and mountain crests, is the very same water people and animals alike drink today. This places humans in the same category as all things that have ever existed on Earth. Through this final note, it is instilled in readers that Thoreau, readers, and people altogether are very capable of understanding the earth as they are of earth

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Walden Rhetorical Analysis