英文毕业论文：梭罗在《瓦尔登湖》中对自然的深刻思考On_Thoreau’s_View_of_Nature_in_Walden (1).docx

英文毕业论文：梭罗在《瓦尔登湖》中对自然的深刻思考On_Thoreau’s_View_of_Nature_in_Walden (1).docx

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OnThoreau?

sViewofNatureinWalden

Abstract

HenryDavidThoreauisafamousAmericantranscendentalist,philosopherandnaturalistinthe19thcentury.Hissuperbbook,Walden,indicatesmanyofideasaboutnature.ThisstudyfocusesontheanalysisofThoreau'sviewsofnatureinWalden,attemptingtoseekoutitsimplicationsformodempeoplewhoaresufferingthepollutedenvironment.ThestudyexploresThoreau'sviewsofnatureinfluencedbyhispersonallife,transcendentalismandEmerson,hismentor.ThepaperconcentratesoninterpretingThoreau'sviewsofnaturefromtwoperspectives:

allnatureisaliveandnatureisameansofself-realizationwhichincludestherelationshipbetweennatureandmanandsomeimplicationsforhumanlife.Intheend,theconclusioncanbedrawnthatmanshouldprotectnatureandco-existwithnatureharmoniously.

Keywords:

nature;Walden-,Thoreau;manandnaturerelationship

摘要

亨利・大卫.梭罗是19世纪美国著名的超经验主义作家，哲学家及自然主义作家。

在他的表作《瓦尔登湖》中，梭罗记录了他对自然的深刻思考。

本文重在分析梭罗在其著作——《瓦尔登湖》，体现的自然观，旨在寻找其生活环境对现代人的启示。

本文试图分析蕴藏在《瓦尔登湖》的自然观受其自身生活环境，超经验主义和其导师爱默生的影响。

本人主要从两方面阐述梭罗的自然观：

自然是有生命的；自然是自我实现的途径，包含人与自然的关系和其对人类生活启示。

最后得出结论：

人应保护自然，与自然和谐相处。

关键字：

自然；《瓦尔登湖》；梭罗；人与自然的关系

Contents

1.Introduction 错误！

未定义书签。

2.Thoreau'sAttitudestowardsNatureinWalden 3

2.1NatureasaLivingEntity 3

2.2NatureasaMeansofSelf-realization 4

2.2.1RelationshipbetweenManandNature 4

2.2.1.1ManBelongingtoNature 5

2.2.1.2ManReturningtoNature 6

2.2.1.3ManRespectingNature 7

2.2.2SimplicityandDiversityofLife 9

2.2.2.1OutwardSimplicity 9

2.2.2.2InwardRichness 11

3.TheSourcesofThoreau'sViewofNature 12

3.1Thoreau'sPersonalExperience 12

3.1.1HisLifeinConcord 12

3.1.2HisLifeatWaldenPond 13

3.2TheInfluenceofTranscendentalism 16

3.3TheInfluenceofEmerson 17

4.Conclusion 18

Bibliography 20

1.Introduction

NatureisaneternalandessentialthemeinAmericanliterature.ItgainsitspeakinRomanticperiodwhentheindustrybeginstospringuplikemushroomandtheenvironmentiscontaminatedgradually.HenryDavidThoreauisoneofthemostimportantprosewritersofthe19thcenturyinUnitedStates.Asarepresentativeoftranscendentalisminthatperiod,heexpresseshisviewsofnaturemainlyinWaldenwhichprovidesoneofthemostpassionate,affectingandphilosophicalevocationsofthevalueoflivingsimplyandclosingtonature.

In1845,Thoreaubeganhistwo-yearresidenceatWaldenPond,puttingthetheoryoftranscendentalismandEmerson'sthoughtsintopractice.Duringthatperiodoftime“Thoreau'ssensitiveharmonywithallofnaturewasextraordinary^^（吴伟仁，1990:

176）.Inhisopinion,manispartofnatureandmancanco-existwithnatureharmoniously.Today,heisregardedasoneofmajorinterpretersofnatureaswellasAmericanenvironmentalsaintinAmericanliteraryhistory.

InthehistoryofAmericanliterature,Thoreauencountersmanydifferentviewsofcriticism.Onhisstage,heisnotconsideredasaprofessionalnaturalistandhismasterpieceWaldenisnotuniversallyacceptedandappreciated.Butwiththeseverityofenvironmentalcrisisandtheriseofenvironmentalmovements,Thoreau'sphilosophyonnatureandsimplelifeembarksondrawingthepublic'sattention.Thus,theincreasingscholarsbothathomeandabroadbegintostudyThoreauandhisworkWaldenonmainlyfiveaspectsofecology,philosophy,translation,nature,andbiography,ofwhichecologyandnaturearestudiedonalargescale.Forinstance,JoelMyerson,PresidentofThoreauSociety,compiledTheCambridgeCompaniontoHenryDavidThoreauin2000,presentingtheEuropeanscholars?

latestresearchachievementsofThoreau.

Atpresent,manyresearchesareaboutecologyandimplicationsforthemodemsociety,emphasizingtherelationshipamongplantsandlivingcreaturesaswellastheirenvironment.Basedonthepreviousresearches,thispaperwillcontinuetoanalyzeThoreau'sviewsonnatureinWaldenandstatethathecannotmerelyberegardedasanecologicalwriterbutoneofthemostrepresentativenaturewriters,whofocusonnatureitself.

Byexertingmeansofhistoricalcriticism,discussingandanalyzinghislifebackgroundandWalden,itiscleartofindhisviewsofnatureembodiedandinterpretedinWalden.Hisideasaboutnaturenotonlypredictthearrivalofenvironmentcrisis,butalsoindicatethedirectionwhichpeopleshouldtakeinthefuture.Allinall,Thoreauhasleftagreatlegacytotheworld,pointingoutsomevaluableimplicationsforman.Therefore,itisnecessaryformantopositivelytakepartinthearmyofenvironmentalprotectionandcourageouslydefendourmotherlike

Thoreaubecauseitisaneffectivewaytoprotectandsaveourmother,the

Earth.

2.Thoreau?

sAttitudestowardsNatureinWalden

WiththethrivingofindustryinAmericain1850s,theenvironmenthasbeendevastatedseverelybypeople'sexcessivepursuitsofmaterials.Facingsuchasituation,manyscholarsadvocatethatreturningtonaturepresentspeople'shatingthecomingofindustryandwishtoliveinnature.Absorbingtheessenceofromanticism,transcendentalismandtheinfluenceofthesociety,Thoreau,atypicalrepresentativeinthatstage,formshisuniqueviewsofnature.Inthispaper,mainlytwoaspectsofhisthoughtsofnaturewillbeinterpreted:

allnatureisalive;natureisameanstorealizehumanthemselveswhichfocusontherelationshipbetweenmanandnatureandtheimplicationforhumanlife.

2.1NatureasaLivingEntity

Romanticismgaveprimaryconcerntopassion,emotionandnaturalbeauty.（黄仁，2009:

123）AsarepresentativeofRomanticism,Thoreaubelievesthatallthingsinnaturearealiveandhedeemsmancanfeelthepowerofnaturemerelybyclosingtonatureandlivinginnature.Whafsmore,natureisorganismthatneverdies,forthecycleofnatureisinfinite.

Sincenaturehasbeenregardedasthelivingorganism,eachthingoreveryobjectismeaningfultoThoreau.Heseesnatureandnaturalobjectalivejustlikehumanbeings.Hesays:

"Naturemustbeviewedhumanlyatall;thatis,herscenesmustbeassociatedwithhumanaffections,andsuchareassociatedwithone'snativeplace,forinstance^^.（Brodericket,1981:

163）Itindeeddemonstrateshisideaofthingsaslivingorganism.InThoreau'seyes,WaldenPondisnolongerausualoneinConcord.Itisthesymbolofallthenature.DuringhislifeatWaldenPond,hetreatseverythingalive.AlltheweedsinPondarecleanandbright.AndevenmorehedescribesPondwithbeautifullanguage:

"Alakeisthelandscape'smostbeautifulandexpressivefeature.Itisearth'seye,lookingintowhichthebeholdermeasuresthedepthofhisownnature”.（Thoreau,2004:

143）Itisobvioustodiscernhisromanticviewofnature.

2.2NatureasaMeansofSelf-realization

Thoreauviewsnatureasameansofself-realization.Tosomeextent,Thoreau'swholelifeisinaprocessoftheperfectionofself-realization.Fromhisperspective,natureisameasuretoknowmanandtohaveadeepunderstandingofwhatkindofrelationshipmanshouldhandlewithnatureandwhatkindoflifemanshouldlead.Itisobviousthatmanandnaturecankeepaharmoniousrelationshipandmanshoulddecreasethedesireofmaterialismandmoneyworshipandfocusontheinnerheart.

2.2.1RelationshipbetweenManandNature

Bythe17thand18thcentury,withtheadventoftheindustrialrevolution,theideaofnatureisincreasinglyrelatedtoamechanicalmetaphorwhichregardsnatureasadeadmachinewhosefunctionisjustforhuman'sexportationandmoneyworship.ThisridiculousattitudetonatureisdefinitelynotacceptedbyThoreauatall.Althoughheisnothighlypraisedinhislife,hehasbeenvariouslyobtainedthetitleof”sonofnature（BronsonAlcott）,""bachelorofnature（LeonBazalgette）,^^and“loverofnature”.InThoreau'seyes,mancanmaintainaharmoniousrelationshipwithnaturebybeingadispensablepartofthenature,returningtothenatureandrespectingthenature.

Besides,Thoreauindicatesthatnaturalexuberanceisdamagedbyscienceandtechnology,whichalsodestroystheharmoniousrelationshipbetweenmanandnature.InthechapterofSoundinWalden,Thoreautakestherailwayasanexampletoillustrateit.

2.2.1.IManBelongingtoNature

Itisuniversallyheldthatmanistherulerofnature.Asapuredefenderofnature,Thoreauobjectsitandgivestheprioritytothewholenature.InThoreau'sphilosophyofnature,oneprominentaspectishisbeliefthatmanis“apartofnature“whoequalswithnature.Hemakeshisremarkclearinthefollowinginspiringpassage:

“IwishtospeakawordforNature,forabsolutefreedomandwildness,ascontrastedwithafreedomandculturemerelycivil—toregardmanasinhabitant,orapartandparcelofnature,ratherthan

beingamemberofsociety.^^

（Thoreau,1971:

205）

Fromtheabovedescription,theconclusioncanbereached.Ontheonehand,Thoreauwishestobeadefenderofnature,forits''absolutefreedomandwildness”;ontheotherhand,Thoreauexpressesclearlyhisviewofman'srelationshipwithnature.Ratherthanbeingtheministerofnature,manis“aninhabitant,orapartandparcelofNature.^^ThisideaoftheonenessofmanandnatureisvividlyreflectedinWaldenwhichrecordshiscommunionwithnatureatWaldenPond."IgoandcomewithastrangelibertyinNature,apartofherself.^^（Thoreau,2004:

110）ThisunionofmanandnatureisnotonlythespiritualperfectionwhichThoreaupursues,butalsoadoctrinethatheferventlypreachestoothersandtohimself.

2.2.1.2ManReturningtoNature

Returningtonature,namely,livingasimplelifeisapopularsloganinRomanticperiod.Differentfromothertranscendentalists,Thoreaugoessodeepintonaturethathe