Essay about Thoreau Reflection

Submitted By RaquelSuarez
Words: 1122
Pages: 5
Open Document
Reflect and Realize
Sitting, watching, and thinking. Who am I in relation to the world? Often times I find myself caught up in the eyes of others. Constantly doing this for one person, that for another. Quite frankly I think I have allowed myself to be shaped by the views of society and by the expectations of what others want me to be. Daughter, student, friend, but what else is there to this girl? What other purpose do I have here? Do I make a significant impact? Sadly, I want to believe it is true that I have done great in the world and that if I died today I would be greatly remembered…but it is not so. For I live life in a constant routine which seems endless and unchanging. I wake up every morning and I put on a uniform, a uniform that I did not choose, but one which was chosen for me that I was told to wear. When I do choose what I want, is it honestly what I want, or is it impacted by the opinions of others? I love to think, to be analytical and ask the question “Why?” That is why I must propose the most important question on which I have reflected, what is the meaning of life? More simply stated, why am I and every other human being put on this earth in the first place?
Why did God put us here on this earth? There must be a concrete reason. There must be something greater than the reason that I go about my day to day routine. Life is about more than my Lululemon or my Starbucks; it is about more than my Apple products or my new car. Unfortunately as I reminisce upon the things I find important, it becomes apparent that they are all materialistic. I could go on and on about all the possessions I have in life and about my want for more. Then, I start to realize that to find myself; to answer the question of what life truly means I should consider what importance possessing all this stuff I have in life truly does for the betterment of my existence. Maybe connecting to my own life what Thoreau said, “I wished to live deliberately, to front only the essential facts of life, and see if I could not learn what it had to teach, and not, when I came to die, discover that I had not lived" (Thoreau 65). Like previously stated, I have let society impact the person I am, constantly worrying about what others think of the person I have become. I allowed society to tell me that possessing more was essential to making it big in life. Pondering, I started to sort out my own thoughts of essentials in life. I am alone, nobody around to tell me who to be or what to think, and being so, I let my mind begin to wander.
I might have everything in the world I could ask for, but does it fulfill my happiness? What does it mean to truly possess something? We as a society and most definitely I as an individual have the tendency to allow the desire to want something be the overriding emotion. When we desire to have something, we fight to own it until we can call it our own. But then what? Now we own it, and that desire that is now fulfilled loses its satisfaction. We now set out to find something else to desire to make ours, and quickly it becomes how we live our life. Always wanting bigger, better, and more, we forget the true beauty of what we possess as it just becomes another object in just another collection. As I allow the cool breeze, and the absolute beauty of the nature around me soak in, it registers in my mind that the human desire to possess everything we see is quite absurd. For in a quick glance I have owned the beauty of nature in my own eyes for a fleeting moment. I have figuratively owned this moment, but I did not need to possess it, or make it my own. It was an owning without possessing. Maybe this is what is more important in our hectic lives, a simple freedom of not needing
Show More

Related Documents: Essay about Thoreau Reflection

Rhetorical Analysis Of Walden

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…

Words 702 - Pages 3

Nature and Thoreau Essay

Viewing Thoreau through the eyes of Wordsworth There are times when reading an essay that it is confusing to understand what the author is trying to purvey. Later, gaining more knowledge of the subject through other authors, it is easier to see what previous authors that have been read where trying to say. Looking at Henry David Thoreau’s “Solitude” after reading William Wordsworth’s “The World is Too Much with Us” brought clarity to many aspects of Thoreau’s essay. Wordsworth’s poem brought clarity…

Words 1044 - Pages 5

How Does Henry David Thoreau Use Literary Elements In Walden

his abode in the woods, which means he still needs them for something: their ideas. In addition, what’s interesting, is the piece is written in first person, and it’s as if it was a part of his personal diary that is read nearly 200 years later. Thoreau utilizes a plethora of literary devices to express his feelings about humans and their ideas through his transcendental viewpoint. Specifically, he creates an atmosphere to share ideas…

Words 386 - Pages 2

Walden Themes

"Walden" “Walden” is a story in which the protagonist goes on living a simple lifestyle in the nature away from the rest of the world. Henry David Thoreau explores several themes or issues which show the importance of this novel and what it means. This novel mainly deals with one of the four themes that we discussed in class which is Innovation vs Nostalgia which I will discuss later on in the essay through some of the ideas discussed in the novel. Firstly, I’ll discuss a man being part of the wilderness…

Words 3306 - Pages 14

Henry David Thoreau's Use Of Transcendentalism

of years, transcendentalism remains relevant today. The pieces Walden (1854) by Henry David Thoreau and Wild (2012) by Cheryl Strayed both cover many ideas surrounding transcendentalism. Both authors share similar ideas about the ideology and use it to portray many important themes. Excerpts from Thoreau and Strayed present insight on how a life of simplicity allows a person to focus on personal reflection and growth. Walden explores the power of simplicity in people’s lives and the impact it can…

Words 933 - Pages 4

Chris Mccandless In Into The Wild

home and suburbia to live in the bushes is definitely the ideal situation. The book, Into The Wild by Jon Krakauer brings up the concept of transcendentalism, an American movement from the eighteenth century through the big transcendentalists Henry Thoreau, John Muir, and Ralph Emerson. They focused on the ideas of humanities reality and place in the universe, God and nature. The main character, Chris McCandless goes into the wild to live off the land. He decides to extract himself from his family,…

Words 990 - Pages 4

Transcendentalism Comparison

the instructional value of nature, the potential of the human soul, and the fulfillment of the soul through exposure to truth, beauty, and goodness. These principles are eloquently illustrated in the works of Ralph Waldo Emerson and Henry David Thoreau. Transcendentalism asserts that God is not an external, distant being, but an intrinsic part of every individual. Emerson articulates this in chapter one of "Nature," where he states, "In the woods, we return to reason and faith. There I feel that…

Words 565 - Pages 3

The Night Thoreau Spent In Jail Reflect Essay

Mariano Moore November 20, 2014 Theater 2 2nd Period 'The Night Thoreau Spent In Jail' Reflection Questions 1. In my opinion, it seemed as though the theater artists were trying to perceive simplicity in the way the stage was set so that was the complexity of the play could be fathomable. The play 'The Night Thoreau Spent In Jail' is really a complicated piece as it is because it has so many different time jumps in Thoreau's life and such a complex type of character development…

Words 1325 - Pages 6

Summary David Thoreau Rhetorical Analysis

enry David Thoreau wrote "......I wished to live deliberately, and not, when I came to die, discover that I had not lived. I did not wish to live what was not life, living is so dear; nor did I wish to practice resignation..." Even in 1854, Thoreau noted that most men are slaves to their work and enslaved to those for whom they work and states that ""The mass of men lead lives of quiet desperation. What is called resignation is confirmed desperation...." Are you living a life of quiet desperation…

Words 807 - Pages 4

William Cullen Bryant's 'To A Waterfowl'

1. The Romantic world view is not necessarily have to do with a boy and girl. There is no characteristics to affection of love. Romanticism is more based on ideas, nature, beauty, and fantasy. Such as “To a Waterfowl,” by William Cullen Bryant, “Thou’rt gone, the abyss of heaven hath swallowed up thy form; yet, on my heart,” (Bryant) Addressing a romantic idea having nothing related to a boy or a girl or intercourse. Actually, the Romantic period happens in the eighteen hundreds and foreshadows…

Words 1710 - Pages 7