Part one of term paper
Henry David Thoreau's Quest for Reformation While strolling through the forests near Walden Pond, Henry David Thoreau stumbled across a man and his family. The father, John Field had moved to America from Ireland with his wife and his son in order to "improve [their] condition one day" (Walden, 139). Henry listened intently to what John had t ...

Part two of term paper
... had been living in nature for the past 2 years in an attempt to become divine and righteous. John has never heard of such a lifestyle and is drawn closer and becomes deeply interested in the argument that Thoreau makes for living simply. Thoreau explains that he "lives in a tight, light, and clean house, which hardly cost him more than the annual rent of such a ruin as [John's] commonly amounts to" (Walden, 140). Thoreau almost makes the identical argument, (although Thoreau is not really "arguing ...