April 19th Reading Journal for Walden

In the 2/3 of Thoreau's Walden, Thoreau covers the topics of farming, neighbors, the law and other ways to spend time. Thoreau maintains a bean-field, he grows and sells turnips, peas, and beans; rather he keeps the turnips and peas and sells the beans for rice. In total, Thoreau is able to make a profit of $9. One day while returning from town, he is arrested for refusal to pay taxes and spends the night in jail. After his arrest Thoreau decides to take a break from town life and spends his time fishing on Walden pond.

Through the second-third of the book, Thoreau seems to have developed an even greater appreciation for nature. He believes that everything has a purpose in nature and that certain natural desires cannot be hidden or overcome. Examples of these beliefs appear throughout the story; while cropping his bean field, rather than pulling the weeds growing next to his crops, he leaves them be believing that they will serve another purpose. Hungry birds soon come to feed on them and he believes this to be the realization of his idea. An example of primal desires appears at the end of the chapter Higher Laws. Thoreau is returning from the house of a neighbor and spots a woodchuck, he then feels a strong and compulsive desire to eat the woodchuck. Thoreau realizes his momentarily loss of control and quickly recovers. He then states that he believes controlling ones most primal instincts is a part of "growing up." I do not believe that an experiment like this would work well for me, I am not adept at survival in the wilderness, farming, or fishing and I do not possess the values that one would require to learn or be interested in performing any of these tasks.