I, with a majority of others, have paid much more attention to the physical existence than to our moral cultivation. We seem wealthy but are void in mind. On the part of Thoreau, his way of living is to achieve mental complexity through physical simplicity. He believes that “a man is rich in proportion to the number of things which he can afford to let alone.” In his two-yeaer-experience in Walden Pond, he shuns and even scorns material things. By doing so, he saves a lot of time to think and observe. In his writing, we can easily sense his intention to e

A major theme is regeneration. The whole book is consciously structured by the seasonal cycle, both beginning and ending in the spring, the time when the world renews itself. The narrative of Walden may seem haphazard, but the reasonal cycle is not a coincidence. The author condenses two years of living into one entire year in the book to show the unimportance of calendar time and call for attention of the significance of the symbolic time. The story begins in the spring, the new arrival of a year, as Thoreau begins construction on his cabin. The day he moves in is on Independence Day, July, 4. Obviously he intentionally chooses the date to make his symbolic declaration of dependence from society. Summer is a season of activity. Thoreau keeps busy in the construction work and in the bean fields. These are the examples of his self-sufficiency philosophy. But by cultivating beans, Thoreau’s purpose, as I feel, is more spiritual than economic—to reap his soul harvest. Winter is a time of reflection when Thoreau likes to commune with himself indoors. It is in winter that he sets himself the task of measuring the pond, a symbol of detecting his own spiritual depth in solitude. Then spring comes back with the melting of ice and awakening of animals. The cycle of season is thus a cycle of life and spiritual regeneration.

We must learn to reawaken and keep ourselves awake, not by mechanical aids, but by an infinite expectation of the dawn, which dose not forsake us in our soundest sleep. I know of no more encouraging fact than the unquestionable quality of man to elevate his life by conscious endeavor. It is something to be able to paint a particular picture, or to carve a statue, and so to make a few objects beautiful; but it is far more glorious to carve and paint the very atmosphere and medium through which we look, which morally we can do. To affect the quality of the day, that is the highest o

Some topics in this essay:
Pond Consequently, Walden Pond, Day July, Symbolism Walden, human society, walden pond, nature human society, thoreau suggests, nature human, pond thoreau,