Henry David Thoreau Autobiography

Henry David Thoreau Autobiography

Full Name: Mr. Henry David Thoreau
Date of Birth: July 12, 1817
Place of Birth: Concord, Massachusetts, USA
Died: May 6, 1862
Place of Death: Concord, Massachusetts, USA
Classification: Artists & Entertainers

Known as one of America’s first nature and travel authors and essayists, Henry David Thoreau became known as a transcendentalist who rejected the material instead for the soul’s own satisfaction through nature. In his most esteemed autobiographical work, Walden has been translated, analyzed, and read across the globe.

As a young boy, young Henry was not raised in a wealthy family. In fact, his parents were considered largely of the lower class, and even though he did well in school, he wasn’t an outstanding student. He did, however, make it to Harvard and pursued his degree. He became a teacher, but found more solace in the natural world around him than any classroom could bring. Therein began his almost isolated existence writing and wandering about in the woods around Concord, Massachusetts. His interest in biology was also significant and his later works reveal more about the flora and fauna of Massachusetts than his own philosophies about how one should live a free life.

Figuring out that he wanted to be a poet and a writer meant he had to work to survive. He did different jobs in order to make enough money to live and never had a family due to this fact. He would rather be outside, exploring nature, and watching the weather patterns of his area. Ralph Waldo Emerson took Thoreau under his wing and became his advocate and his helping hand so Thoreau would have the time and place to write. Thoreau even lived with Emerson’s family for a time. Thoreau, however, found it more appropriate to live by himself on Emerson’s property at Walden Pond, the inspiring location for Walden. He also worked on his poetry, but found that the form of his prose was too limiting to the overall message he wanted to convey.

Henry David Thoreau, although he never published his own autobiography, was one of the first followers of the belief in civil disobedience in order to get attention. He abhorred the war with Mexico and refused to pay taxes, for which he was subsequently jailed. Following, his other works and words return to the solace of nature and are entitled The Natural History of Massachusetts, Walking, The Maine Woods, Cape Cod, and one of America’s first travel memoirs, the more famous, A Yankee in Canada.