Chapter 1: Economy

Chapter 1: Economy

1. Men/Society

   • Farmers to chain to their farm like prisoners are chained in jails
   • Men are more concerned with their materialistic life on Earth that they forget all about the spirtuality of the afterlife.
   • People tend to want to own things. This need requires excessive labor to purchase them and when people devote their time into those labors, the result is the loss of inner freedom

2. Transcendentalism

   • Constantly compares human to nature
   • Society is trapped in a routine
     • caused by the fear of new experiences and uncertainties
   • Age does not equal wisdom
     • narrator believes that human experiences can become outdated from generation to generation

3. Necessities of life (Food, Shelter, Clothing, and Fuel)

   • Compares humans to animals with the necessity of keeping the body warm through Food ("the Fuel which keeps up the fire within us") and Fuel ("serves only to prepare that Food or to increase the warmth of our bodies") in conjunction with Shelter and Clothing
   • Argues that an excess of food, shelter, clothing, and fuel has been prioritized in society, but is useless.
     • Clothes
       • Believes that people use clothes to determine their social worth/power
         • Clothing should only be used for heat and to cover nakedness
         • Adds that people care more about their clothes than their conscience
         • Shames the manufacturing of clothing in factories, believes people should make their own
     • Shelter
       • Discusses that common practice of debt
       • You don't own a house, the house owns you
       • says there is no need for a grand shelter
       • uses natures as well as the Native American lifestyle to exaggerate what a man in society pays for shelter is far too much

4. Walden Pond

   • Noted that he did not move into the woods for cheap housing, but because it is a good place to handle private business enterprises
   • Thoreau's house is on the shore of Walden Pond, in Concord, Massachusetts, where he lived for two years, two months, and two days before he return back to society
     • Moved in on July 4th
     • Finances
       • House costed a total of $28.12 1/2
         • since he established his audience to be "poor students" earlier in the novel, he compares the cost of his housing to the cost of college housing
           • believes that college is useless b/c they don't teach real-life skills
         • says it is much more worth it to pay a one-time fee to build the house instead of paying annual rent
       • he took up subsidiary farming to make a living and sustain himself
         • makes a profit of $8.71 1/2 which he believes is better than any farmer in Concord did that year.
       • He had several trades and earned $13.34
         • spent $8.74 on food in 8 months: trying to save as much money as possible
       • concludes he would have to work 6 weeks in a year to live the way he wants, and he would have the rest of the year to enjoy
       • after all the deductions were made he was left with $25.21 3/4; while many in concord still owed money for their luxuries
       • Clothing for eight months cost $8.40 3/4
     • he barely has any furniture because they aren't necessary. His only furniture is either made by himself or cost him nothing

5. Thoreau Background

   • Abolitionist, this novel takes place during the time slavery was being debated
   • Prior to isolation, Thoreau worked several jobs including a journal reporter (ever though his work was always declined for publication), a self-appointed inspector of snow/rain storms, and a herdsman.
   • Industrial Revolution

6. Concerns

   • how did he survive in the wilderness
   • what is his health in the winter
   • Does he receive help from others