A Study on the main character's inability to live in his environment as seen in Henry David Thoreau's walden or life in the woods

Ningsih, Lan (2004) A Study on the main character's inability to live in his environment as seen in Henry David Thoreau's walden or life in the woods. Bachelor thesis, Petra Christian University.

Abstract

The thesis writer chooses to discuss Walden or Life in the Woods since it is the best well-known book of Thoreau. Moreover, the book has its uniqueness in its language and style. In the beginning, the main character of Walden, the narrator, seems to be dissatisfied with his society. He leaves his society to live alone in the woods. Thus, after staying a while in the woods, he conforms his mind and lives back again in society. the thesis writer wants to analyze the narrator?s inability to live in his environment and the narrator?s way of compromising his idealism to society. With the use of theory of conflict, the thesis writer tries to analyze the narrator?s inability to live in the society and in the woods. As he lives in society, he has inability to live among his townsmen because of his idealism. While in the woods, the narrator has the inability to live alone. He is unable to face the severe winter, his loneliness and despair, and to change John Field?s and a Canadian woodcutter?s idealism. Experiencing both living in society and woods, the narrator learns that it needs a change of mind to see the things differently and to compromise his idealism with the reality.

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