It is apparent to me that as Thoreau spends more time away from modern civilization, he is becoming increasingly passionate (if not somewhat neurotic) in his determination and exploration into living a sustainable life. Perhaps his most obvious and dramatic attempt to live an eco-friendly life was to move to Walden’s pond and immerse himself into nature. While it is understood that he is not entirely alone or away from civilization as he mentions numerous people who visit with him, his simplistic lifestyle does seem to exclude intimate relationships with others. For example, he states that it is important to be alone in order to think and study. Also, it is clear that he believes intimate relationships to be a waste of his time and intellect. In many ways, Thoreau appears to be a misogynist due to his consistent remarks towards what he believes the poor behavior of women. Thoreau makes it clear that he believes that most women are shallow, unintelligent and gossipers. Thoreau sways in many areas within his book, but on this idea he appears to be unwavering. He mentions that to surrender to the human weakness of sex and dependency on another person causes one to lead an impure life. I do not think that he means this perception to relate to chastity, but to the idea that a dependency on sexual relationships causes one to lose focus on nature. Thoreau’s determination to erase any form of sexual gratification illustrates what I believe to be a strong focus in the later chapters of his book-that there is a weakness in enjoying life. Thoreau appears to believe that not only does a sustainable lifestyle require that one reduce physical pleasure, but also that one reduces mental pleasure through only reading academic novels. Also, it is evident in the way that he restricts his diet to the extent that he eats only healthy, organic, vegetarian foods, and even limits the amount of food he intakes, that purity derives from one’s diet as well. Essentially, Thoreau believes that without total physical and mental health, a person can not live a pure or sustainable life.
While I essentially agree with his belief that more people need to eat healthily, become more knowledgeable, and take the time to experience nature, I do not think that because many people fail to do so that their life will be somehow “impure.” Thoreau’s view of purity and its relation to sustainability seem a bit extreme to me. However, perhaps that was Thoreau’s intention. Perhaps he illustrating these depictions of human fallacy so that his readers will be shocked into reality and see how there futures could change if they would recognize how he or she can benefit from a more simplistic lifestyle, such as Thoreau clearly does. One can enjoy life without succumbing to what Thoreau deems the impure aspects of life. It may be seen that Thoreau’s view of sustainable living is in living a life with fewer impurities and a greater focus on nature.
Sustainable Living in relation to Self-deprivation September 17, 2010
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