Analyzing the Critcism

The criticism that I read of Thoreau was exceedingly long in length. To be fair it was mostly about Thoreau rather than about Walden. But you cant know anuything about the paper without knowing about the man. This piece from Bloom Literary Reference talked about Thoreads Life. One of the first things visited is how he was not as stoic as a man as some people may believe. The author of the criticism claims the Ralph Waldo Emerson is largely to blame for giving people the idea that Thoreau was such a stoic man. He even claims that Emerson edited certain facts about Thoreau's life to fit his image of the man. "To Emerson, Thoreau was a stoic. When he composed Thoreau's funeral address, he overemphasized the negative elements in Thoreau's personality. When he edited Thoreau's Letters to Various Persons, he purposely omitted all homely, personal remarks because they did not conform to his preconception" (Harding). I thought this was pretty fascinating. Everyone rationalizes things to fit their own impressions but to go so far as to change the public perception of a man in taking it to far. These were some of the things I did like about the criticism. Some of the things that I did not like was how the author tried to interpret certain actions. It seemed like the author felt EVERYTHING Thoreau did had a meaning and something deeper behind it. For instance while talking about Walden the author says: "Thoreau went to Walden not to escape from civilization but to discover the true civilization that would permit and foster the greatest development of man's spiritual nature."(Harding) He clearly has no basis for this assumption but his own ideas about who and what Thoreau stood for. There are several more examples where he gives his own interpretation of things that in all honesty were just simple actions. For me at least this was the largest reason in why I personally did not care for the criticism. Maybe his assumptions gave an air of arrogance or self importance that I did not like. I am not very sure I just found myself to dislike nearly everything the author said. I tried to keep an open mind about the criticism as I read it but it just got harder and harder especially when I read things like "But I am not convinced that Thoreau ever more than wavered from his original principles. To the very end he held to his belief that reform must come from within." (Harding). That quote is absolutely rediculous. The man admits the thought he is using as a fact to be one conjured form his own head. Not since the fourth grade have I been allowed to use my own facts that I decided in a paper. How this man felt it would be ok for someone to put their own thoughts so blatantly into such a prestigous paper is befuddling. Though there was some maddening parts to it overall the criticism did keep my attention through most of the reading

Works Cited

Harding, Walter. A Thoreau Handbook by Walter Harding: pp. 131-173 (New York University Press, 1959). © 1959 by New York University Press. Quoted as "Thoreau's Ideas" in Harold Bloom, ed. Henry David Thoreau, Bloom's BioCritiques. Philadelphia: Chelsea House Publishing, 2003. Bloom's Literary Reference Online. Facts On File, Inc. http://www.fofweb.com/activelink2.asp?ItemID=WE54&SID=1&iPin=BCHDT05&SingleRecord=True (accessed November 15, 2010).