In Henry David Thoreau’s, Walden, Thoreau begins his first chapter, “Economy,” by giving a description of his project at Walden Pond, which is very near to Concord, Massachusetts. Thoreau spent two years, two months, and two days on land owned by Ralph Waldo Emerson, experimenting with his goal of living deliberately. Thoreau says, “ I went to the woods because I wished to live deliberately, to front only the essential facts of life, and see if I could not learn what it had to teach, and not, when I came to die, discover that I had not lived” (Thoreau 86).
While this move was not a permanent lifestyle change, it was an in-depth experiment on himself and his capabilities. His goal for the experiment is to see how well he is able to live life at its purest, most natural form. He takes with him nothing that is not essential to life. He builds his own house, gathers his own food, and lives off of the land. Throughout his time at Walden Pond, Thoreau keeps journals of his experiences and writes about them.
The first chapter of Walden provides a sort of how-to manual for anyone pursuing the same task as Thoreau has taken on. He provides insight as to how he lived and made the most of his time there. He claims, “But men labor under a mistake” (Thoreau 5). This declaration about men and their life and work means that men work from their mistakes. Thoreau is writing about his mistakes at Walden Pond, and what he had done wrong with his work there. In knowing the intricacies of his mistakes, other men will be able to work harder, and more effectively because they know what not to do, thus bettering the act.
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While Thoreau’s project could be seen as a sort of failure, because he did build his shack on someone else’s land, with someone else’s tools; the project could also be seen as a success, because he was able to learn from what he did wrong, and use that knowledge to help and inform others. Thoreau never claims to be a successful farmer or builder, so there should be no expectation of some sort of awe-inspiring experience.
Thoreau’s project can also be seen as a success because he clearly learns to appreciate life at its most natural state. He writes that he never had more company than when he lived in nature. This idea is powerful in that it personifies nature and his surroundings. Thoreau was able to find comfort and a sense of kinship in the things around him. This ability to become accustomed to and familiarized with the nature that he was living in proves his project to be an ultimate success.
