Walden

Thoreau opens by denouncing thoughtless toil and, by extension, the capitalist systems that exploit poor men who work without thinking why. He bemoans systems of production whereby “the laboring man has not leisure for a true integrity day by day […] his labor would be depreciated in the market. He has no time to be anything but a machine” (11).

Searching for a different way of thinking and living, Thoreau sets out on a philosophical exploration to pursue “a life of simplicity, independence, magnanimity, and trust” (26). He explains his two years of living in a small house on Walden Pond near Concord, Massachusetts, beginning with an account of his basic needs: clothing, food, fuel, and shelter. He posits that nature provides many of these needs and plans to live as freely as possible with minimal intervention from civilization. 

Thoreau describes shelter as an essential human need, though he acknowledges that one can technically live without shelter. As he explains, “Adam and Eve, according to the fable, wore the bower before other clothes. Man wanted a home, a place of warmth, or comfort, first of physical warmth, then the warmth of the affections” (48). He believes, however, that landlords have indecently capitalized on their fellow man’s need for shelter, charging rental costs that effectively trap their tenants. 

Thoreau reflects that, where men once used tools, they are now being used by their tools. Laborers have been misled to believe that luxuries are necessities. He explains that workers are imprisoned by their pursuit of home, devoting all their time, energy, and thought to simply paying off their material possessions. To free the mind from the pursuit of useless luxury, Thoreau advocates for aesthetic economy. He claims that “beautiful objects” must be stripped from people’s lives, stating that the best place to find and appreciate beauty is in nature. 

Having denounced the luxuries of homemaking, Thoreau describes the construction of his simple house by the pond. He spends days cutting down pines with a small, borrowed axe, hewing the timber with his own hands. He feels a sense of peace working independently in this beautiful natural environment. After months of hard but rewarding work, Thoreau moves into his house on July 4, 1845. 

True to the title of this chapter, Thoreau makes a precise economic inventory, accounting for everything he spends on clothing, food, fuel, and shelter. He includes numerous tallies of his expenses, including full amounts for the entire year:

House,..................................... $ 28.12½

Farm one year,............................ 14.72½

Food eight months,........................ 8.74

Clothing, etc., eight months,..........  8.40¾

Oil, &c., eight months,..................... 2.00

                                           ——————

In all,..................................... $ 61.99¾ (104) 

Thoreau grows his own produce, which sustains him physically as well as financially. He thrives on a simple diet of vegetables and bread. Over the course of the year, he turns a profit of almost 37 dollars (the equivalent of roughly $1,200 today).