Henry Thoreau's Critique of Contemporary Society in Walden

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Henry Thoreau’s Critique of Contemporary Society in Walden
Environmental pollution, global warming, and the exhaustion of natural resources are some of the most pressing challenges facing the world today. Ironically, these problems are caused by the things that every nation is obsessed about; civilization, industrialization and economic growth. Mankind’s march toward civilization from the Stone Age to the Iron Age was marked by increasing abilities to control and exploit the environment. This development, however, made human beings to be more destructive to the environment, as evidenced by the environmental impact of the industrial revolution. The ability to make and use machinery, and the shift from dependence on primary modes of production to secondary and tertiary forms, made man the biggest threat to nature. The emergency of the Transcendentalist and Romanticist movements was a response to the way modernity and civilization were destroying the goodness of man and nature through education and industrialization. Similarly, the romanticists believed that modernity and civilization, such as organized governments and religion, corrupted the purity and innocence of the individual. Moreover, they argued that individuals are their best when they are self-reliant and in harmony with nature.
In Walden, Henry Thoreau advances this view of nature and civilization. Thoreau argues in favor of individualism rather than conformity to social norms, environmental conservation and living in harmony with nature instead of mechanized production and industrialization, as well as embracing the ideals of democracy as opposed to monarchy. He advances these views through his solitude life nearby a pond, his civil disobedience against organized government, and reluctance to enjoy the luxuries of a civilized life. In Walden, he challenges his readers to re-examine their relationship with society, authority, and nature. He challenges the individual to rebel against social norms, organized government and life that is defined by society, and pursue the kind of life that is true to their own ideals and beliefs. With reference to Walden, this essay discusses the Romantic values and principles upon which Henry Thoreau bases his critique of contemporary society.
Thoreau argues that human civilization creates a conflict between man and nature by promoting the destruction of the environment. His brief and solitary sojourn at the Walden Pond portrays experimentation with man’s life before civilization, where man lived at the heart of primitive nature and was in harmony with nature. His vegetarian lifestyle portrays the desire to live the primitive life common before the innovation of hunting techniques and industrial production.
Thoreau presents man’s need to escape the drudgery and monotony of daily life in the civilized world, and seek recreation in nature. He explains that he chose Walden Woods in ...