Dignity In Henry David Thoreau's Analysis
For Thoreau, it seems that being the person that he wants to be is his dignity. Also, he says that he wants “to front only the essential facts of the nature”, and does not “wish to live what was not life” because “life is so dear” (135). He describes this hope through the novel, and his dignity seems to be a principle for his life. Therefore, we need further investigate the questions: what the person he wants to be, and what life is.
Walden begins with the mention of the I, the first person. Readers know who wrote the book and who narrator is; however, he mentioned it because he want each reader recognizes one’s self. Thoreau states that “We commonly do not remember that it is, after all, the first person that is speaking” (45). People worry
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Then, we need to understand the definition of the word awake. Thoreau states that no matter what time it is, “morning is when I am awake and there is dawn in me” (134); and “only one in a million is awake enough for effective intellectual exertion, only one in a hundred millions to a poetic or divine life” (134). Therefore, awake means a condition of spiritual awareness. Spiritual awareness changes human’s life into poetic or divine life. Also, Thoreau argues that people lead lives quiet desperation because their vison “does not penetrate the surface of the things” (140). Thus, if people have this vision, they will not worry about other’s opinion any more. After emancipation from other’s opinion, people are ready to find their selves, their dignity. For Thoreau, it seems that self-discovery means self-realization.
In the chapter: solitude, he is in the woods alone. Thus, he is solitude but not sad; or otherwise, he becomes healthier and happier. Thoreau insists that “a man thinking or working is always alone” (180). Thoreau lives in the woods alone but it is proper for thinking. It helps him to discover himself. In the chapter higher laws, Thoreau states that everybody finds “the seeds of a better life” (260) in his inside. After he finds himself, he shapes himself. According to
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