An analysis of the essay "Economy"
Question: 1) Do you think Henry David Thoreau’s
essay “Economy” in Walden is a
manifesto of simple living? How realistic is he in his approach to life when he
criticizes the Americans?
Answer to the Quest. No: 01
In
the essay “Economy”, Henry David Thoreau has shown the charm and joy of simple
living in the woods away from the nuisance of city life in a magnanimous way.
The influence of his philosophy is ubiquitous. That’s why, his philosophy is
not confined to a certain period of time and has immensely influenced the later
generations. At Home in the Woods: Living
the life of Thoreau Today written by Bradford and Vena Angier is a
quintessential example of Thoreau’s philosophy. This couple was also fed up
with their bound existence. So, they created their own Walden on the bank of
the Peace River in British Columbia. It is written in the book,
“A
lot of us working harder than we want;
At things we don’t like to do. Why?
In order to afford the sort of existence,
We don’t care to live.”
Industrial Revolution began to spread from England to the United States
of America in the 19th century. During this time, there was a
prodigious change in agriculture, transportation, communication, manufacturing,
and technology of the United States. In this period, the average income of
people and population began to exhibit unprecedented growth due to the profit
from cotton industries, machinery tools, coal mines etc. The more people
experienced economic prosperity, the more they wrapped themselves up within the
orb of materialistic gaining instead of paying attention to the importance of
living a simple life.
Thoreau has written this essay on the basis of his real life experience to
emphasize on simplicity in every aspect of life. Generally, the term “economy” refers to the
state of a country in terms of the production and consumption of goods and
services and the supply of money. It is believed that the more people produce
and consume, the more they prosper. But Thoreau has drawn an absolutely
non-conformist definition of economy in his essay. In his view, the desperate
attempt to make wealth is a hindrance to the spiritual development. Thoreau says, “The mass of men lead lives of
quiet desperation. The incessant anxiety and strain of some is a well nigh
incurable form of disease. We are made to exaggerate the importance of what
work we do.” Thoreau does not deal with the fiscal matters. Rather, he is
accentuating on minimizing the excessive craving for wealth by bringing
analogies and allusions from the real life.
The
author has brought the analogies of the rigid posture of the Bramins, the
challenging tasks of Hercules to criticize the lifestyle of the Americans. The
irony is that the life of the Americans is even harder than that of the Bramins
and Hercules as they are bound in the shackle of materialism. Hercules’s friend
Iolas has helped him but the Americans have no friend because the quest for
wealth leads them to see people in terms of competition, not in terms of
cooperation. They forget that “One human being is no human being.”
Henry
David Thoreau is not against materialism. According to him, there is no wrong
with being successful but there is very wrong with the single-minded pursuit of
money. Wealth cannot give life any enduring meaning since it is transitory. It
cannot satisfy the unnamable hunger of the soul that is the discovery of one’s
own self. Life in the lap of nature teaches us to think in a simple but wise
way and all kinds of vices are replaced with virtues since we get the chance to
practice individualism. Thoreau says, “Old deeds for old people and new deeds
for new.” In Socrates’s words, “The unexamined life is not worth living.” The
sense of individualism offers one to discover one’s own self and give priority
to the deeper meaning of life. The individuals have a clear idea about their
need and also about their lacking. They can stand against the truculent norms
of the society what we see in Arthur Miller’s The Crucible through the character John Proctor. There it is said,
“Individualism is all about taking care of yourself. It is the belief and
practice that every person is unique and self-reliant.” Confucius says, “To
know that we know what we know, and we do not know what we do not know, that is
the true knowledge.” We will never get the touch of true knowledge if we stick
to some certain norms.
There
are four necessities of human life-food, fuel, clothing, and shelter. Thoreau
believes that when our necessities are fulfilled, we should concentrate on
ourselves. The necessities of life can be fulfilled so easily and he shares his
real life experiences to substantiate his argument. He says, “I found that by
working about six weeks in a year, I could meet all the expenses of living. My
furniture, part of which I made myself. The pantaloons which I wear were woven
in a farmer’s family. Thus, I could avoid all trade and barter, so far as my
food was concerned.”
Thoreau
upholds the spiritual wisdom of the ancient people and criticizes the spiritual
poverty of the American people. The inhabitants of Tierra del Fuego and New
Hollanders are “naked savages” and “far from warmth”. Samuel Laing says, “The
Laplander in his skin dress and in skin bag which he puts over his head and
shoulders, will sleep night after night on the snow.” Still, they do not make any
complaint. But the Americans shiver in their clothes. Thoreau observes that the
American people remain busy to add dresses to their wardrobe and says, “They
are no better than wooden horses.” He asks a reflective question, “Shall we
always study to obtain more, and not sometimes to be content with less?” They use cloths and shelter not to retain
their body heat but to exaggerate their wealth. The primitive people can easily
manage their shelter but the Americans cannot do that because they think that
“they must have such as their neighbors have.” They decorate their houses with ostentatious
furniture which are of no use. Thoreau throws a question to the Americans, “Why
should not our furniture be as simple as the Arab’s or the Indian’s?” The
Americans build a “family mansion” and a “family tomb” side by side since they
lose their life before enjoying anything.
The American people forget that “Too much of anything is good for
nothing.” In Steve Cutts’s animated movie Happiness,
it is shown that how human beings are trapped by the cycle of endless
consumption and die through the rats. So, the author cannot understand “why
they begin digging their graves as soon as they are born.”
Henry David Thoreau establishes that life can
be led only in two ways- simply and wisely. When a seed is planted, its face is
upward to the heaven though its root is on the earth. Only the human beings cut
themselves from the “spiritual bread” and customize worshipping by being
submerged into the thought of wealth. Luxury and wealth are like a snowflake
that looks beautiful as it floats but disappears when we try to take a hold of
it. Thoreau brings the allusion of Hippocrates who has suggested that we should
cut our nails with the ends of the fingers, neither shorter, nor longer. The
Americans should not become the “tools of their tools” and should concentrate
on the true necessities of life.”
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