Ch 5 Walden Notes

Ch 5 Walden Notes

1. Thoreau’s solitude says that it is not something to make him feel upset or lonely. He instead loves and appreciates nature. He feels like he has nature all to himself. He even knows when people visit the part in the woods where he stays based on little signs they might leave.

   • He takes spiritual pleasure in being alone. He said that he never felt lonesome or oppressed by a sense of solitude (Thoreau 213).

2. “For the most part we allow only outlying and transient circumstances to make our occasions. They are, in fact, the cause of our distraction” (Thoreau 215).

   • He says that nature takes him away from all distractions. In a nutshell, he is saying that life should be spent in nature, away from everything that keeps us distracted.
   • Nature gives him a type of spiritual nourishment

3. He says that he is never alone because nature keeps him company. Since he is part of nature, like any dandelion, for example, he can never be alone. He also says that he is technically not far from anyone because Earth is only a planet/dot in the universe, so how far can humans really be from each other

4. His most enjoyable time, he says, is alone in his house thinking. He says that loneliness is a mindset, and it cannot be cured by physically being close to someone.

   • He states, “We are for the most part lonely when we go ahead among men than when we stay in our chambers. A man thinking or working is always alone, let him be where he will. Solitude is not measured by the miles of space that intervene between a man and his fellows” (Thoreau 216).
   • This teaches students not to be attached to desires like popularity and sticking to what is trendy, because all of this is a way to brainwash and distract people from life itself. This is why Thoreau says that society prevents loneliness. Solitudity connects people to all things.

5. Thoreau denounces society for how it prevents a person from solitude. He says that the successful do not find joy from their companions, but from their work itself because it gives them purpose.