Solitude

Through chapter four in Henry Thoreau’s Book, Walden, Thoreau expresses his view on loneliness and compares them to society’s view on loneliness. Thoreau takes his experiences from living in “solitude” to convey to his audience that being alone is a beneficial part of his life.
The title of this chapter, “Solitude” is Thoreau’s topic throughout the chapter. He talks about his life in seclusion, his experiences, and explains how they are different than what people might think. He says, “I am no more lonely than the Mill Brook, or a weathercock, or the north star, or the south wind, or an April shower, or a January thaw, or the first spider in a new house.” People may think that being lonely is being away from people but Thoreau points out that nature is a companion as good as any. Thoreau’s purpose in writing this chapter is to show the audience that isolation isn’t truly isolation; one can have nature as his companion. He expresses this through his own experiences while living in Walden. After a few weeks living in the woods he says, “I was suddenly sensible of such sweet and beneficent society in Nature…human neighborhood insignificant, and I have never thought of them since.”
The descriptive and vivid diction used throughout the piece helps Thoreau set his tone. His tone is loving toward nature and calm just like how he feels when he is at his house in Walden. He takes in the nature surrounding him and shows nature in a different light. While people might be scared and upset by storms, Thoreau expresses that he is “soothed by their ceaseless roar and pelting.” He also adds many details to the landscape surrounding his house that gives an idea to his isolation. Phrases like “fluttering alder and poplar leaves almost takes away my breath” and “as remote from the storm as the smooth reflecting surface” shows that Thoreau has spent a lot of time in “solitude” and thought out the implications of his “solitude.” Thoreau also uses many rhetorical questions throughout this chapter. For example, he asks society, “Why should I be lonely? is not our planet in the Milky Way?” These questions directly question the audience and their views on loneliness and call for the reader to question these views.
Though the audience for this piece could be just for Thoreau as a reference of his time spent in Walden, it is mainly directed toward people who are surrounded by people every minute of their lives and are not in tune to nature, mostly people that live in the city. This audience is targeted by Thoreau’s rhetorical questions and references of men saying to him “‘I should think you would feel lonesome down there, and want to be nearer to folks, rainy and snowy days and nights especially.’” This way people relate to the situation and then Thoreau gives his perspective.
"Solitude" was a very interesting piece because Thoreau presents a different side to the definition of the word “solitude”, one that most people wouldn’t consider. Thoreau shows through this chapter that people make their own definitions of things based on what they’ve experienced, and for most people that would be the view of the majority of society. Thoreau presents a point that if people don’t conform they will be more enlightened and knowledgeable about the world and themselves.