Art Of Living By Thoreau Walden Essay — страница 3

bless oneself with nature. By losing oneself to nature and shedding detail, one?s lenses of perception of life becomes purified and faced with truth. He also hints at an issue much deeper than just whether what one says is true or not. Thoreau deals with not only truth or falsity, but with the dichotomy between real value and superficial pedantry. The art of living is working the land with one?s hands, to ?labor enough to subdue and cultivate a few cubic feet of flesh? (2). The imagery of land is paralleled to flesh, thus producing an image of harmony and a natural state. Thoreau mirrors the natural human to nature herself. By aligning oneself to nature, one can elevate his soul by ?coming face to face with fact? (64) and overcoming the end to a mortal career with evident truth.

When Thoreau states that ?the surface of the earth is soft and impressible by the feet of men; and so with the paths which the mind travels,? he reveals a simile between the soft and ?impressible? surface of the earth and the same ability which the mind has to be soft and receptacle to any new idea. Any new information that it learns is perfect. Although Thoreau does not directly describe the surface of the earth being Kim 7 in any particular woods, in the line after the semicolon he refers to the ?paths which the mind travels.? He refers this statement to the brain and in the larger sense the soul with the earlier image of the ?soft and impressible surface.? Likewise, in order for one to practice the art of living one must have dreams and ultimate goals that are high and lofty

as he endeavors to such great heights. Thoreau continues to bombard the reader with an onslaught of statements that encourage us to continue our study of the self as if every day is new day. The art of living comes only to those who are alive and cognizant enough to receive what change, purity and truth nature offers. The truth stands prevalent and shining as it purges one?s soul to become pure and cleansed like nature. Thus Thoreau seduces the reader into the possibility of change within oneself and a catharsis from one?s dependency on the unnecessary aspects of life and the limits. The art of living involves living an active, simple and natural truth, with nature, while absorbing the pragmatic elements of vital pureness by continuously adhering to one?s simple, wise, and

invigorating rituals of transcendence.