Thoreau's First Encounter In Walden

The 15th century became the Age of Exploration. Explorers from all across the world headed towards America in search of opportunity, land, and wealth. After arriving in their new destinations, many explorers embarked on a personal journey to seek many unanswered questions about their new home. In 1845, American writer Henry David Thoreau embarked on a similar search, which encompassed the inquisitive nature of the exploration age. Thoreau however was not interested in obtaining wealth or fame. He yearned to encounter life in a different way. Thoreau’s Walden is an encounter narrative in which he chooses to seclude him in the woods and gains a better sense of self through his many encounters economically, spiritually, and through the environment …show more content…
Thoreau decides to put to use the soil outside of his home and begins cultivating beans as a means of not only food but also income. Through his gardening, Thoreau comes to the realization that if you live a simple life you can consume a diet of simple foods. This means that because you are not exerting all your effort into strenuous activities, such as manual labor required by farming, you don’t need to keep performing this labor in order to provide rich foods that keep your body nourished. Thoreau demonstrates this notion in “Baker Farms” when he goes to visit John Field and his family. He stresses to him the importance of living simply,