Question

Look at the play's final passage, where Thoreau compares his return to society as a cruise on the open ocean. Explain why Thoreau feels he should no longer try to escape the world by hiding out in Walden Pond.

Answer 1

In Walden, Thoreau details his experiences of living in a cabin he built near Walden Pond. He explains the reasons behind his decision, and what he wanted to gain from the experience. We learn that this was an attempt to engage in a social experiment, and return to a simple life of self-reliance. Thoreau lived in this cabin for two years, mostly on his own.

However, we also learn that after this time, he started feeling that his time there had been enough. He claims that he started falling into an easy routine, and that it was necessary for him to pull himself out of it, as he had several lives to live and could not spare any more time on that particular one. He decided he needed to go back to society, and not escape it anymore.

Answer 2

Based on the play, Thoreau compares his return to society as a cruise on the open ocean because he considers it as hiding out or escaping the form of the life in the society by confronting or engaging to it directly. It was not easy for him as he went to the woods to live deliberately and not discover at life's end that he had NOT lived at all. Thoreau feels that he should no longer try to escape the world by hiding out in Walden pond as he discovered from this life he chose, and he had not lived at all. Escaping did not give him the life that he expected it to be.