Henry David Thoreau, Walden, and Transcendental Values for...

Henry David Thoreau was testing transcendental values when he took up residence at Walden Pond in 1845. During his time of simple living at the pond, he studied nature and applied those observations to humans and everyday life. He was always learning from the woods, pond, meadows and animals in the natural world around him. Nature was his classroom and everything was an opportunity to learn. In Thoreau’s book, Walden , written at the pond, he theorized that education could come through an intimacy with nature and the end of education would come with death. Even while Thoreau was young he never agreed with a traditional classroom setting. Attending Harvard corrupted his belief of the current education system. In his eyes, school,†¦show more content†¦Dewey believes that in today’s education system, â€Å"the teacher’s business is to hold the pupils up to requirements and to punish the inevitable deviations which occur,† (Democracy and Educati on). Thoreau sought to reform the educational system through outdoor observations. Working outside the classroom, taking lessons from nature is very important to Thoreau. Throughout Walden his transcendental educational values are shown. In the second chapter, Where I Lived and what I Lived For he begins an education theme. His goal for living in the wood is to learn and strive for enlightenment. He went so far as to say, â€Å"see if I could not learn what [nature] had to teach, and not, when I came to die, discover that I had not lived†(Walden). Thoreau wanted to find the truths of life and the only way that could happen is to become close to nature. He takes every opportunity to observe nature. While observing a war between two races of ants on his wood pile and an ignorant ant couple nearby, he takes note on the behavioral similarity to the human race. This alludes to the thought that Thoreau held regarding the Mexican- American War which is that that atrocities occurred while others remained unaffected. Thoreau may be expressing that there is a lo t more to these seemingly simple observations than is immediately apparent. He is demonstrating that nature, if studied and reflected upon, can teachShow MoreRelatedThoreau And Transcendentalism1518 Words   |  7 Pages Henry David Thoreau’s words that â€Å"disobedience is the true foundation of liberty† and that â€Å"the obedient must be slaves† is a political statement that never lost its topicality during the Romantic era. Thoreau served as an important contributor to the philosophical and American literary movement known as New England Transcendentalism. 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