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1、2023年Unit 6优秀 Unit 6 Henry David Thoreau (1817-1862) w梭罗，19世纪美国最具有世界影响力的作家、哲学家 w他强调亲近自然、学习自然、热爱自然，追求“简单些，再简单些”的质朴生活 w梭罗的著作都是根据他在大自然中的体验写成。 w他的代表作瓦尔登湖(1854)记录了他于1845至1847年在康科德附近的沃尔登湖畔度过的一段隐居生活。 w在他笔下，自然、人以及超验主义理想交融汇合，挥然一体。 w他是19世纪超验主义运动的重要代表人物 w梭罗的文章简练有力，朴实自然，富有思想内容，在美国19世纪散文中独树一帜。 w他的思想对英国工党、印度的甘地与美
2、国黑人领袖马丁路德金等人都有很大的影响。 w 瓦尔登湖是19 版本，译成多国文字。 世纪美国文学非小说著作中最受读者欢迎的书籍,已出现近两百多个 w令人不解的是，在作者有生之年,这部书一直被认为是模仿之作，倍受冷遇。初版的2000册用了五年多的时间才卖完。直到作者去逝以后，这本书逐渐受到人们的重视，对它的评价也开始发生了变化，梭罗的思想意义才被我们认识到 w在瓦尔登湖生活期间，因为反对黑奴制拒交“人头税”而被捕入狱。他结合自己的亲身体验，写成了著名的政论抵制国民政府（Resistance to Civil Government，后改名为Civil Disobedience）。他所宣传的这种依靠
3、个人的力量，“非暴力抵抗”的斗争形式对印度的甘地和美国黑人领袖马丁路德金产生了很大的影响 w瓦尔登湖的许多篇幅是关于动物和植物的观察记录。梭罗花了大量时间和精力观察鸟类、动物、花草和树木的变化，以致于使其同时代的人误将此书理解成一本有关自然的文献，而忽略了其中关于哲学的内容。 w其实，梭罗的贡献是建立在这两方面之上的。 w在自然观察方面，他之前已经有诸如吉伯特怀特（Gibert White）和詹姆斯奥杜邦（John James Audubon）等人的自然著作问世 w但是只有当梭罗的著作出版后，大家承认他才是自然随笔的创始者。 w在他之前描写自然界的作品，只是以“书信”、“插叙”和“杂志文章”的
4、形式出现，报道他们对于自然界的发现。 w是梭罗使自然散文独立门户，赋予了它新的概念。如果我们把梭罗在瓦尔登湖中关于鸟的段落与奥杜邦的美国的鸟类一书加以比较，不难发现奥杜邦的书仅仅是科学报告，而梭罗的文章则是关于自然的艺术创作 w把关于自然的观察与体验详细地记录下来，并赋予通俗的哲学意义，这是梭罗的书真实可爱之处。梭罗积极倡导一种生活观念，一种与现代物质生活日益丰富对立的简朴的生活方式，他堪称超验主义的实践家 w瓦尔登湖是一门独特的艺术，它是美国现代文学中散文作品最早的典范之一。 w与其同时代的伟大作家们相比，此书的风格独特甚至比、和这些天才作家们更富于20世纪散文的气息。这一特点具体体现于它的
5、句子平铺直叙（straight forward），简洁（concise）和有观点（to the point），完全不像维多利亚中期散文那样散漫、用词精细、矫情和具体，也没有朦胧和抽象的气息。 w通过阅读此书，我们会惊奇地发现这本写于19世纪的作品与海明威、亨利詹姆斯等人的作品风格十分接近，只不过梭罗的风格更显得丰富而已。 w梭罗是一个有责任感的社会批评家，他的目的是揭露时代的弊端 w指出人们自己正将生活变得越来越复杂，最终会导致生命的衰落 w世界经济飞速发展，物质文明日益提高，与此同时人们的欲望也随之膨胀，梭罗当年的忧虑成了严峻的现实。 w细细阅读瓦尔登湖，领悟其思想，改变一些我们的生活态度，
6、这对现实生活具有相当的指导意义 标题解说 wThe juxtaposition presented in the title of the chapter, Where I Lived, and What I Lived For, provides an excellent clue as to Thoreaus philosophy. wFor him, the physical circumstances of life are intrinsically and inescapably tied to a persons spiritual life. wThe appearance o
7、f his cabin, its size and furniture, even its placement on the shore of the pond all contribute to his spiritual awakening. wBecause of this connection between ones physical and spiritual life, Thoreaus retreat to the shore of Walden Pond is neceary; and it is because of this that he urges his towns
8、men to likewise reconsider their physical circumstances A Short Analysis of the Chapter wThoreau reaches deep into the Transcendentalist philosophy in this chapter.In making such bold pronouncements, he is wise to shy from being deadly serious.He describes himslef crowing like a rooster to wake his
9、neighbors up. wIn doing so, and in criticizing their accepted and unquestioned ways of living, he employs a dry humor, characterized by understatement. wThoreaus emphasis on the dawn in this chapter continues the theme of rebirth established in the first chapter. wIn that chapter, he described a sna
10、ke, left torpid by the cold of the winter and only gradually awakening as the weather thawed. wThat snake was a symbol for the sleeping men who are likewise unaware of their surroundings and immobile in combating the chains of routine and tradition. wIt is noteworthy that Thoreau begins building his
11、 house, the physical counterpart to his spiritual awakening, in the winter, and does not move into until summer, when nature and his spiritual self is in full life. wBoth here and in the first chapter, Thoreau appeals to Aurora, godde of the dawn.wThe dawning of the day comes to be a metaphor for th
12、e dawning of spiritual enlightenment and self-knowledge. wSight is also another theme in this chapter. wThoreau compares the views from the lakeside hill and from the front of his cabin. wFrom the hill, he can see all the way to the mountains in the northwest. wFrom his cabin, his only physical vist
13、a is a pasture but with his imagination, he can see to the furthest reaches of history and the universe. wThus, it is important to emphasize that Thoreaus reality is not a historical or factual concept. wThe illusions of which he speaks are not creations of his imagination.Rather, he considers thing
14、s like religion and philosophy to be illusory because they limit and distort a persons immediate experience of himself in the world. wThe theme of sleep plays an important role here. wThoreau elevates the word sleeper to a symbol.This use of sleep and awakene as a spiritual metaphor has a long histo
15、ry, especially in the writings of New England.The Great Awakening, of course, was the name given to the Puritan religious resurgence of the late seventeenth century. wThoreau here attempts to rewrite and undo that awakening, to free New Englanders from the shackles of thought forged by traditional religion and to awaken them to a more spiritually fulfilling reality. Major Themes wThe slumbering of mankind and need for spiritual awa
