An Analysis of Henry David Thoreau's Perspective on Classic Literature

Chapter 3 of Henry David Thoreau's Walden is entitled "Reading," and aptly so. The chapter describes Thoreau's reading habits during the two years that he spent at Walden Pond. However, it is not a chronicle of what Thoreau read during that time, but it is instead a philosophical investigation into why and how reading is done. Thoreau insists that reading, at least of meritorious ancient works, has a purpose and effect beyond that of merely speaking and hearing ideas. Still, he is somewhat vague about what exactly this distinction actually is-though he is quite convicted about its sublimity. The haziness surrounding what Thoreau thinks are the merits of noble literature is quite understandable as Thoreau explains that the barriers of language and mental proclivity that separate most men from the Classics. It still might seem that Thoreau is being an intellectual elitist at times, but that is because "Reading" is a fine example of the intuitive approach to explanation. Thoreau does not list in an orderly manner the pros and cons of both literature and oratory but instead alludes to the greater excellence of literature while describing its greatest impediments-linguistics and intellectual temperament-so that readers might feel their own way to Thoreau's point of view.

"However much we may admire the orator's occasional burst of eloquence, the noblest written words are commonly as behind or above the fleeting spoken language as the firmament with its stars is behind the clouds" (Thoreau 73). Thoreau writes about how there is "a memorable interval between the spoken and written language. The one is commonly transitory, a sound, a tongue, a dialect merely, almost brutish, and learn it unconsciously, like the brutes, of our mothers. The other is the maturity and experience of that" (73). What we see is that Thoreau holds good writing in very high esteem, but this may be a little off-putting to some readers-especially those who are not of such a literary bent.